Melting Hearts (Loving the Soun - Kat Obie Page 0,2

it while Petey saw Maddy.

He plodded downstairs to see Maddy looking at the bookshelf. He stared at her from a distance for a moment before making himself known. He loved the way she would get on her tiptoes to peer up and the way her long hair flowed down her back. He smirked before he cleared his throat.

She turned and said, "Hey, Petey," as she came up to give him a hug around his broad shoulders.

One of the many reasons he loved Maddy: she was one of the few people in Vancouver that actually called him by his hockey nickname. He was probably closer to her than he was with his own twin brother, Lucas. "What are you doing here? I thought you were studying for the bar exam?"

"You’re leaving soon. I wanted to spend tonight with you. Besides, you could always study for the bar with me.”

She was right. He should probably be studying for the bar exam too. That was if he gave a damn about the law and if it wasn't years away. He didn't even care if he practiced law, unlike Maddy. He was only working on the degree to make his father happy and get his blessing to play hockey. That way he could take over the Peterson Consolidated Group when it was time.

He shrugged and said, "I'll worry about it closer to the time I have to take it. So, what book caught your eye?"

She clasped her hands behind her back before she looked down at her feet. It was an old song and dance. He wished she would just skip the shy bit. "It's not that big of a deal. I can always read it later."

He went over to where she was looking and tried to see if he could figure it out so he could just hand over the books. But there were at least six new ones on there and three related to law. "Okay, I need a clue."

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's fine, Petey. I don't need that book."

"But you want to read it." He laughed. Then he reassured her, "And you have my permission to read it. Just bring it back the next time you visit, or have your mom bring it back. No one will even know it was gone."

"True. They never noticed before."

He almost pushed her forward towards the bookshelf so she could grab the book. Instead, he teased her. "Yet you still worry, and you still have my permission. So go on, borrow it."

Finally, Maddy grabbed two books with a wide smile on her face. "Thanks, Petey." For a moment, he swore she was going to lean up and give him a peck, but she just gave him a side hug. "I swear I didn't come here to borrow a book."

"I know. So what did you have planned?" Maddy would never come there for a book. She wasn’t a transactional person. She was damn caring. If he didn’t know better, she was interested in him, but she seemed so oblivious to his flirtation.

"Come with me."

Maddy

She was happy to spend time with Petey before he went back to Cleveland. He’d seemed so quiet this whole summer. It wasn’t him. He was dealing with something but wasn't sharing much, other than that his ex was a money hungry bitch who didn't understand him. He should have known she wasn’t the one when she refused to call him Petey.

Carrying the two books that he’d loaned her, they walked out to her car. As they were getting in, he asked, "Hey, any chance we could do something simple tonight?"

She started to back up the car. "Of course. What's the deal?"

"Just not in the mood to get hounded." That seemed to be his excuse for not wanting to go out all summer. But most of the time, she wanted to stay in or do something that was pretty cheap too, so it worked out perfectly. She just wished he would share what he was actually avoiding.

Petey gave few clues that he was a billionaire. Hell, he liked to live with one of his teammates in Cleveland. She could see the appeal of hanging out with his roommate and his son. He kept such a low profile. He donated to charities anonymously and never seemed to get himself in the news other than for being amazing at hockey. He was basically the exact opposite of his twin brother, the playboy heir.

"Well, it just so happens I was thinking about