Chapter 32

Max

“You sure you can’t stay for one more night?” Mrs. M touched my shoulder, then looked back over her shoulder toward the kitchen.

Lee-Lee was in there, earbuds in and rocking out to whatever was on her playlist as she put dishes away in her cupboard. Her back was to us, and she was wearing a pair of leather shorts and an old, faded T-shirt that I’d watched her put on this morning. Wonder Woman was on the front, and the words below read Girls Will Save the World. I loved it.

Hell, I loved everything she put on her body because I knew I’d be the only one besides her who could take it off.

Already, my hands itched with wanting to touch her again. One quiet night in her new place hadn’t been enough for me. I couldn’t very well let her scream my name, not when her ma was in the spare bedroom next door.

Regret hit me in the gut as I nodded. “Wish I could.” More than anything. “But duty calls.” In the form of another little old lady needing a bridge game catered tomorrow night.

I kept telling myself that things were going to pick up; my client list would expand and my name would spread. But Carinthia wasn’t a big town, the neighboring towns even smaller, and there were only so many old ladies who could handle Mexican food. For now, things were steady enough, I supposed. A graduation party here, one sweet sixteen there. Was it gonna be enough to keep me on track? Distracted? No, probably not.

Mrs. M sighed and patted my shoulder. “Okay. Drive safe then, and call us when you get home. Oh!” She held up a finger, a lightbulb practically dinging above her head. “If you get a chance, could you swing by my house and remind John to water my plants outside? I’m afraid by the time I get back there on Friday, they’ll be goners.”

“Sure thing.” I winked.

One kiss on the cheek later, she was gone, using the excuse that she had to run to the store to pick up new drapes for Lia’s kitchen. I knew what she was doing though, even if Lia didn’t.

There was only a half hour before I had to get on the road, but I’d take it.

The door shut behind me, and nothing but the sound of dishes clanking together filled the air. One click of the lock later, I stalked my way toward the kitchen.

Toward my woman.

Lee-Lee was trying to avoid the inevitable, but if I didn’t say goodbye the right way, I’d fall to my knees and beg her to let me stay for good.

My arms wrapped around her middle from behind. I tugged the earbud out and whispered in her ear, “We’ve got fifteen minutes.”

My fingers glided up the front of her shirt, already tugging the cups of her bra down. I kneaded her tits, circling my thumbs around her nipples.

“We could make it twenty if we did it right here on the counter.” She leaned her head back against me, eyes closed, lips parted.

I grinned at her ambition and pulled her around to face me. “As good as that sounds, I want you naked.” I motioned toward the curtainless windows, seeing the short guy who lived next door outside walking his dog. “And I’m not really in the mood to share you with your new neighbor.”

“Who is very much in love with his partner, remember?” She wrapped her arms around my waist.

I grinned, remembering all right. Some guy named Avery had jogged over shirtless the night before. Just about scared me to death. Not because I thought he was gonna do something to hurt us, but because leaving Lee-Lee here next door to some muscle-bound freak was gonna make me crazy with jealousy.

Then his short little boyfriend came out, eyed me with feigned disinterest, and introduced himself to Lia as shirtless man’s fiancé. After they made us dinner and managed to make Lee-Lee laugh, I decided they weren’t so bad after all.

“Let’s go.” I ran my palm down the side of her face and kissed her lips softly, only to haul her up so her legs latched around my waist.

In the bedroom, I didn’t bother turning on the lights, but I did manage to shut and lock the door—lessons learned and all.

Shirts went off, pants went flying, and not soon enough, I was inside her, driving hard into her warm, wet pussy.

I was home. Lia being my forever address.

The futon rocked beneath us, probably breaking, but I didn’t care. I’d buy her a new bed if it meant I could fuck her senseless this one last time. I grabbed her hands and held them both over her head, needing to keep myself grounded, in control. Blue eyes locked with mine, and Lia moaned my name in approval. We’d both barely broken a sweat when she came on a loud cry.

I followed not long after, watching her the entire time. This was my woman, the one I’d marry someday.

“I love…” I lowered my head to hers, releasing her hands. They were on my back, stroking my spine before I could get out the “you.”

Wordless after that, we kissed and said a few thousand silent goodbyes in the span of ten minutes. It wasn’t enough. Never would be. I didn’t want to go. I wanted to be here with her. Always. Forever. But she needed her space. I got that. I respected that. It just hurt like a son of a bitch.

We dressed and held hands, and she cried a bit, trying to hide it. I gathered the last of my stuff, praying she’d change her mind at the last minute and ask me to leave some things here at least. Maybe open a drawer and say This is yours.

But she didn’t.

As we stood outside by my car, she hugged me close and whispered through her tears, “Give Chloe a kiss for me, okay?”

“I will.” My voice cracked as I forced a smile. I think she knew it too, because after that, her tears came faster, the goodbye still not on her lips.

“Max?” she mumbled against my neck, her lips there, touching as they moved.

“Yeah?” I held my breath, praying this was it. That she’d say Fuck the day by day and live in the here and now once and for always.

But she didn’t do that either.

“Promise me you’ll be safe and call me every night?”

I blinked away my tears, refusing to cry. “FaceTime too.” I couldn’t go a day without seeing her.

“Yeah. FaceTime too.”

I told her I loved her, kissed her once on the lips, and then got in my car, unable to look in my rearview mirror as I drove away. I was leaving for her. I was leaving because she needed me to. I was also leaving because I loved her.

* * *

It was never supposed to hurt this bad, but the second I pulled up in front of my house later that night, something inside me started hurting worse than when I’d left her.

I squeezed my hand around the steering wheel and shoved my car into Park. The door to Gav’s side of the house shot open, and if I hadn’t been feeling so damn sorry for myself, I probably would’ve laughed at the fact that he was obviously waiting for me. He stood on the front porch, barely visible in the dark.

Pushing my car door open, I lowered my chin to block the rain and headed straight toward my best friend.

“You all right, man?” he asked as I stood on the bottom step, unmoving. Rain soaked my shirt and hair, but I didn’t care.

“Good as I can be.” Which was equivalent to shitty. How the hell could I do this thing called life if she wasn’t there to do it with me?

I jerked my hand through my hair. “Let’s go get a drink.”

He nodded. “Fine by me.”

The one thing that sounded appealing to me right now, besides driving back to Springfield for my girl, was to get wasted. “As long as I’m not driving. Thinking I need to get real shit-faced tonight.”

The door to my side of the house flung open before I could ask Gav what his woes were. Collin looked at me for a second before asking, “O’Paddy’s?” Damn, he knew me well.

“Guys’ night,” Gavin grunted.

Collin wrapped his arms around both of our shoulders. “Need to tell Addie first. Gimme a second.” Collin grinned in a way I hadn’t seen him do for a long time. He seemed at peace—happy. Which also meant his and Addie’s sex was gonna get even louder than it already was. That also meant I’d be spending a lot of nights on Gavin’s couch.

While Collin stepped inside, I sat on the front step, too tired to even stand, let alone go out with my boys. But I didn’t want to be alone.

Gavin sat to my right, stretching his legs out. “She won’t be gone forever, Max.”

“Then why does it feel like my heart’s been ripped from my chest?” I kicked at a groove in the wood paneling of the porch step.

“I don’t know why the right thing always hurts, man. Just does.”

Scrubbing a hand over my face, I processed his words. Lia needed to find her own way, so letting her go was the right thing to do. I was just pissed at myself for not figuring out how to make her leaving hurt me any less than it did.

“And you love her, right?”

I nodded. “She’s the one. No doubt in my mind.”

“Then it’s worth it, the waiting and hurting. Like I said, it’s not forever.”

I punched him in the shoulder. “When did you get to be so damn insightful?”

He shrugged and stared at the wooden porch. “Guess I’m just wising up.”

This got my attention. “Yeah? Any particular blond or brunette causing that?”

His hands tightened around his knees, squeezing. Instead of answering, he shrugged. He was hiding something big, but I was too lost in my own head to question where his was.

Collin came back outside, keys in hand. “Ready?”

Like his ass was lit on fire, Gavin stood. “Let me grab my wallet.”

“What’s his issue?” Colly narrowed his eyes after our best friend.

“Thinking it’s a woman.” I stood, then walked to Collin’s truck.

While we waited inside the truck’s cab for Gav, Collin said, “Lia’s doing good. Mom’s got her all set up and already decorating the new place. Thinkin’ Mom was pretty pissed off that Lia had let her old place get to looking so shitty. She’s making up for it now.”

I chuckled, though my chest ached with sadness, and kicked my feet up on the dash. “I could see that when I was leaving.”

The second Mrs. M pulled the U-Haul into the apartment complex, then showed up at Lia’s door with six IKEA bags in hand, I knew Lia was in trouble. And if we hadn’t just christened her bedroom’s walk-in closet, she probably would’ve let her ma have it.

“Mom’s overwhelming, but she means well.”

I cleared my throat, not knowing what else to say as the air grew stagnant between us. Sure, Colly had been decent to me since that day in Chloe’s bedroom, but it wasn’t like it had been before. Things were still strained.

Like he could read my mind, Collin blew out a breath and said, “I know we haven’t talked much about you and my sister, but I wanted to tell you I’m sorry for not trusting you with her.”

“If I walked in on some guy in bed with my sister, I would’ve done the same thing. No worries.”

He cringed. “Do ya have to be so blunt about it?”

“It could be worse.” I crossed my feet at the ankles.

“You’re a son of a bitch.” But there wasn’t a fist in my nose, and he had a smile on his face. I’d call it a win.

Gavin stepped outside the house, but before he could get in the truck, Collin shocked me with words I wasn’t expecting to hear. “I’m good with you and my sister being together, even though I’m not cool with how I found out.”

I winced. “Yeah, still sorry about that.”

“Sure you are.” He groaned. “I need you to promise not to hurt her though.”

Lowering my feet onto the floorboard, I turned to him, my lips flat. “She’s tougher than you think she is.” Punching exes, jail time… I grinned thinking back on the morning I bailed her out. “Nothing on this earth is gonna keep me from loving your sister.”

He leaned forward, grabbing my hand, only to pull me in for a one-armed hug. He wasn’t an affectionate guy, so that hug meant more to me than any words he could’ve said.

Gavin jumped inside, smelling like he’d OD’d on cologne. The two of us turned to look at him in the back of the cab. Collin’s eyes went wide, and I barked out a laugh.

“What?” Gavin rubbed his hand over the top of his head, where all that hair he’d been growing was piled on top in some sort of man bun.

“You look like a pussy.” Collin curled his lip.

I laughed harder. “Smell like a hooker too.” Then turned to high-five Collin from over the console.

Gavin wrapped his arms around the backs of our headrests and smacked the two of us upside the head. “Drive, dickheads.”

For a second, everything was right. Normal. Us. And even though the love of my life was three hours away, I knew I’d be okay for at least tonight.