Chapter 29

Max

I woke with a start to the sound of the front door slamming shut. Thinking it was Gav, I rolled over and pulled Lia against my chest. Her hair tickled the bottom of my chin as I wrapped my arm around her naked waist. I smiled and kissed her neck, loving the way she automatically curled against me.

We hadn’t bothered to get out of bed last night, other than to put the cookies into the oven and take them out. The rest of the time we spent in bed, touching, talking, making love until the sun began to rise… It was everything and then some. There was no way I’d ever be able to get enough of her like this. But I was gonna have one hell of an epic good time trying.

The door to my room shot open, cracking against the wall. “What the fuck are you two doing?”

“Colly!” I shot up out of bed, stumbling over the sheets as I stood. Behind me, Lia yipped, seeing the shadow of her brother filling the bedroom doorway.

“Jesus, man, why the fuck didn’t you knock?” I covered my junk with my hands, something I wouldn’t usually care about. But I’d just spent the last few hours in bed with his sister, so any modesty I could grab would be nice.

“Get out of my house.” Collin looked like ass. Face pale, red eyes strained.

Lia scrambled out of bed to stand next to me, her body wrapped tightly in a sheet. Regardless of her cover, I stepped in front of her body. “Sorry to break it to you, but I live here.”

“Not anymore.” Collin barged farther into the room and grabbed me by the arm, shoving me against a wall.

“Stop it. Leave him alone.” Lia tugged at the back of Collin’s shirt, struggling to keep hold of the sheet.

Neither of us had showered after having sex, both too exhausted from the night before to move. Pasted to the crevices of her body and mine were flour and sugar from our cookie making. Though she looked thoroughly loved with her wild pink hair standing on end, I could also see the pain in her eyes from being caught. She’d wanted to tell Collin about us. Having him find out like this was a damn nightmare.

“Go home, Lia. This isn’t your concern anymore.” Collin curled his lip, his arm pressing harder against my throat. Even though he still spoke to his sister, the death threat in his eyes was directed at me.

I also knew he was right. Lia was stupid for wanting to be with me. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t gonna fight like hell to keep her.

“How is this not my concern, you big conceited asshole.” She shoved his shoulder, but he didn’t drop his hold on me.

“You even realize how stupid you’re being right now?” he asked, shaking his head.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” I growled.

His face paled even more as he glared my way. “What right do you have… No. Fuck this.” He moved his forearm to my neck, pinning me in place. It wasn’t hard enough to choke me, but it was enough to prove a point. I arched an eyebrow at him, waiting for whatever bullshit he had to say next. I’d do anything to keep Lia from getting her heart broken over this. If her brother ended up not approving, I couldn’t let her lose him. Yeah, but at the same time, I wouldn’t lose Lia either.

When all Collin could do was snarl at me, I shoved him away and said, “I pay rent, and all my shit’s here. This is as much my house as it is yours.”

“You broke the guy code,” he hissed, running a hand through his hair.

“Never said I didn’t, but maybe instead of being such a dumb-ass, you’ll let me expla—”

His fist flew at my face before I could finish. Then I was down, head throbbing as I palmed my eye—the same eye that’d I’d been decked in a few weeks back.

“The fuck, guys?” Gavin ran into the room, eyes wild with fear, until he glanced at Lia and her lack of clothes. He yanked Collin off me, tossing him toward the bed. Then he pointed a finger my way and whispered, “Told you guys not to fuck in plain sight.”

Thank God Collin didn’t hear him.

Footsteps sounded as Lia raced out of the room. Before my best friend could pummel my ass again, I was up, grabbing my shorts before I took off after her.

I’d known Collin was gonna be pissed at me. I just didn’t know he was gonna go postal.

Lia was in the kitchen, already dressed when I walked in. “I-I’ve got to go home. My brother—”

“No, baby.” I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. She melted against me, shaking. “You stay here tonight. Beaner’s gonna need you here when she gets home, especially if Addie won’t be here.” I tried to smile, though it hurt like a bitch, both physically and mentally. “I’m gonna crash on Gav’s couch and give Colly some time to cool off.”

“How stupid could we be?” She swung around to face me, crashing against my chest. “We should’ve waited, done it at my house or something. Not here. We knew he was coming home today.”

She wasn’t gonna find me complaining about location, because what had happened between us the night before was fucking magic. Yeah, we could’ve been more careful, but I knew she didn’t want to hear it. So instead, I massaged the back of her neck and lowered my forehead to her shoulder. “He’ll get over it. I’ve seen him lose his shit like this before.”

“But what if he doesn’t?” She pulled back and searched my face, her eyes wet. “What if he never accepts us?”

“Then that’s tough shit, because I love you and I am not gonna lose you.”

Her big eyes welled up with more tears. I’d seen the girl cry more in the past month than I had in all the years of knowing her. I wiped the tears away with my thumbs, vowing to do everything I could to make them stay away from here on out.

She lifted her hand and rubbed a finger just over my eyebrow. “You’re bleeding.”

I grabbed her wrist and kissed her palm. “Wouldn’t be the first time.” Then I leaned closer, pressing my forehead to hers, my heart beating the hell out of my chest.

Footsteps sounded behind us just as the front door slammed shut. I cringed, knowing Collin was gone, but turned around anyway. Gavin stood in the entryway to the kitchen, dark circles under his eyes that matched the irritation all over his face. He walked to the freezer, pulling out a bag of frozen peas. He tossed it to me. “What’d I tell you two?”

Lia leaned back against the counter. “It just happened, Gav.”

“Ain’t gonna take it back though.” I winked at her and put the veggies over my eye.

Gavin jerked his chin at me. “You okay?”

“Yup.” Even though Collin punched like he had steel in his knuckles. “Where’d he go?”

“Hospital. I drove him from the airport straight there this morning. His flight got in early. That would explain why he’d shown when he did. Once Chloe fell back asleep, he had me bring him home to get his car. He’s a mess right now.”

“This is all my fault.” Lia lowered her chin. I walked over and squeezed her hand.

Gavin frowned. “It’s not just you guys or Chloe he’s worried about. It’s Addie too. Her mother passed this morning, and he’s going crazy over the fact that he can’t be there for her.”

Lia sighed, the sound filled with the same regret eating away at my gut.

I pressed my hands to her cheeks. “This isn’t your fault. Get that out of your head.”

She didn’t speak, just kept looking at the floor.

Gav cleared his throat. “Anyway, Chloe’s ready to be released, so I suggest you two clean your fucking mess up.”

I laughed because I couldn’t help it. “Our fucking mess, huh?”

Lia shoved me, then yelled at Gavin to go home. With his hands in the air and a smug-ass smile on his face, he did, but not before saying, “I hope you two know what you’re getting yourselves into, ’cause if this goes bad for either of you, it’ll ruin what we have here.”

My spine went rigid. Lia stiffened too. We knew we’d have to defend our feelings for each other to everyone eventually, but we’d just decided to make this thing between us happen. So maybe the best idea was what I’d been avoiding talking about since the night before. The question that’d been on the tip of my tongue ever since we left the hospital.

“We have thought about it. Matter of fact, I’m moving to Springfield with Lee-Lee as soon as things with Addie and Collin are settled.” Sure, I’d planned to ask Lia first, but it seemed like the right response for the moment.

“You’re what?” Lia’s face paled.

“No shit?” Gavin shook his head in disbelief.

My jaw locked as I stared back and forth between the two of them.

“Not a good idea, Max,” Gavin grumbled, leaving the kitchen before I could respond. It wasn’t his opinion I wanted though.

“You can’t be serious about this, right?” Lia glared at me. “It’s too fast, Max. What happened to ‘day by day’? And your business. You can’t—”

“We’re still taking this day by day, yeah. But my business isn’t huge here.” I moved forward, pressing myself against her front, backing her against the fridge this time. “I’ve been in love with you for years, and I’m tired of waiting. I want you, Lia. I want you all the time though, not just on weekends and holidays and vacations. I want you every night in my arms, every morning when I roll over in bed, when I come home from work, when I’m at work, when I—”

“You know I won’t let this happen.”

“Why the hell not?” I jerked my head back.

My throat burned as she stepped back to start cleaning the mess we’d made on the floor, but I couldn’t help. Could barely breathe as I watched her jerky hands sweep the floor, clean up the ingredients, wash the dishes. “I love you. You love me. We’re fucking meant to be to—”

“The answer is no, Max.” She swirled around, eyes flaring.

“Why?” I growled the word, my hands balling at my sides.

When she didn’t answer right away, my blood ran cold. I knifed my fingers through my hair to try to warm them, but they tingled, asleep on my hand.

She’s moving.

I’m not.

She’s leaving me.

She doesn’t want me to come with her.

“Answer me, Lee-Lee. Tell me why I can’t be there with you.”

She blew out a breath. “I love you; I do. And these past few weeks have meant everything to me. But I’m not ready for more than day by day, remember? Not yet. You said you were patient, so prove it to me.”

I flinched, my head throbbing from something other than Colly’s punch. “What’s so wrong with wanting more when I’ve known all along that you’re my forever?”

A tear slipped out of her eye as she shook her head, wiping it away. “Because I need time to figure out who I am before I make a forever with someone else. I’m just learning how to be me again without the help of family and friends. I want to show the world, myself, and my family that I can be the girl I’ve always wanted to be.”

A lump built in my throat, and I could barely swallow around it. Because I loved her and respected her wishes, I drew her close and said, “I get it, baby. I get it.” Even though I didn’t want to get it. Even though I was selfish enough to want to lock her up and keep her with me forever. I loved her enough to let her go. To be the Lee-Lee she needed to be before she could be the Lee-Lee for me too.