AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rolling my eyes, I grab my can of soda, fiddling with it in my hands. “He’s not my shadow, and actually, I don’t know.” I shrug, bringing the straw to my mouth and taking a gentle sip.
“Bea, I’ve barely been able to get a minute alone with you since you two started dating. Not that I’m complaining,” she adds, pushing away the guilt that threatens to swamp me. “I love that you’re happy, and I enjoy the group hangouts, promise. It’s just weird to not have him hanging off your shoulder.”
“Yeah, a little, I guess.” I shrug, a frown playing at my lips.
“What?”
“Nothing,” I say quickly. Too quickly. Maisie narrows her gaze on me, her lips pursing. Sighing, I place my can on the table and tuck my chin into my hand. “I dunno, I guess things have just been going so well that I keep waiting for them suddenly not to be. Things are so perfect between us. I’ve not had a panic attack for weeks; my depression is at bay right now. But how long can that really last?”
“Bea—”
“It’s not that I want any of those things, don’t get me wrong,” I rush out, clarifying as her eyes dip, filling with sorrow. “It’s just that’s all I’ve known for over two years, and even with daily medication, it’s never been this easy. What if it’s a fluke?”
“Oh, Beatrice.” She throws her arm over my shoulder, pulling me to her side. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this for you. You’re still going to have shitty days in the future, you know this, but that doesn’t mean that the good days are a fluke. It just means that right now you have more to live for than you do to drown for. That’s a good thing, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I know you’re right. I guess there are just somanygood days at the minute that I don’t know if I can believe they’re really real.”
“Is that why he’s not here right now?” she asks, raising a brow.
Nodding, a flood of shame passes over me. “I told him I need space, to catch up on work and just have some me time.”
“Is that true?”
“I mean, yeah, I have some work to do but . . .” I blow out a breath, my eyes closing as I tip my head back.
“You don’t need space to do the work, and you’re not behind in any of your classes. You’re pushing him away.”
“I think so, and I feel super shitty about it. Why do I feel shitty?”
She chuckles, which pulls my attention back to her. Her lips twitch, and her eyes glitter in amusement as she wrinkles her nose and she shakes her head at me like I’m a child in trouble. “Because, my sweet summer child, you are in love with that boy.”
“No.” I shake my head, a wince on my face. “No way.”
“Beatrice,” she snaps, pulling my hand free from where it’s wrapped in the hem of my jumper. “It’s okay. He isn’t Sebastian. Loving him is not a bad thing.”
“What if it turns out to be? I got it so wrong before, Mais, and I drowned. It’s only now that I’m barely floating that I really see how bad it was. What if I make the same mistakes again?” A tear rolls over my lash, trickling down my cheek as Maisie watches me with watery eyes. “I can’t get it wrong, Maisie, I really can’t. There’s no coming back for me a second time, not with him.”
She throws her arms around me, pulling me tight to her chest as her fingers run through my hair. “Then I will be the first in line to kick his ass. But what if you get it right, Bea? What if he’s your one? The person you’re meant to spend the rest of your life with and you push him away before you even really give him a chance to prove that to you?”
An alarm ringing pulls me from slumber, but when I reach out to grab my phone and shut the offending item up, a heavy weight presses against me, pulling me back into a hard chest.
After my conversation with Maisie in the library yesterday, I found Maverick at football practice, refusing to let my concerns get the better of me. We spent a night watching films at his apartment with the guys, and it was as perfect as every other moment with him has been.
“Uh-uh,” Maverick mumbles, pressing a feather-light kiss to my shoulder blade. “You’re staying here today. I’m kidnapping you, Bumblebee.”
“Mav.” I giggle, brushing his hands away when they start a slow trail along my stomach, one reaching for my breasts while the other grazes over my hip bone, moving toward my clit. “I need to shut my alarm off.”
He grumbles, letting out a huff when I slap him away and reach for my phone on the nightstand. With a finger swipe, my alarm goes quiet, and it’s less than a second before I’m pressed into the mattress, Mavs heavy weight settling on top of me.
He leans down, placing a chaste kiss on my lips. “Good morning, babe.”
“Good morning,” I say breathlessly as his hips move, his morning erection pressing into my stomach as he grinds against me. My body awakens in an instant, heat spiraling through me and ending in a pulse at my clit.
“Mav,” I whisper, leaning up to chase his lips as he smirks at me. “Please.”
“Please, what? What do you need, Bumblebee?”
“You,” I say, my hand finding his dick as he rolls it over my underwear. I nudge my panties aside, pressing him to my entrance. He taunts me, pushing in just an inch before he pulls back out, repeating the movement too many times until I’m a dripping mess beneath him. “I need you. Inside me. Now!”
