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I sigh, raking a hand through my hair. “I miss you. I want us to try again.”
Maya shakes her head but before she can answer, Caleb, our old classmate and my ice hockey teammate in school and college, strides over, clapping me on the back. “Well, if it isn’t the lovebirds! Damn, Maya, you look as gorgeous as ever.”
Maya laughs, the sound like music to my ears. “How’s the team doing?” Caleb is the head coach for the current ice hockey national champions.
“Kicked ass again this year.” He winks at her. “Lets grab a drink later, catch up properly. I’ll let you two continue your little reunion.”
He walks off, lumbering his tall, bulky frame, and I turn back to Maya. When she faces me again, there’s a fierceness in her eyes that wasn’t there before.
“I can’t do this with you again, Axel. I won’t.” Her voice trembles, but her words are resolute. “We’re over. It’s time for you to accept it and move on.”
She pushes past me, disappearing into the crowd. I stand there stunned, her words echoing in my head. Over. Move on.
How can I possibly do that when she’s the love of my life? When she’s always been my everything?
The deejay starts playing “Know My Name” by Alicia Keys, our song, and a lump forms in my throat. Images of Maya and me dancing to this song at prom, then on our wedding day flash through my mind and I have to close my eyes against the ache in my chest.
“Come on, man. I’ll buy you a drink.” Caleb claps my shoulder, face creased in sympathy.
I follow him to the bar in a daze, knocking back the glass he passes me.
“She doesn’t mean it,” he says after a while. “She’s just scared. But anyone can see you two belong together. Even her.”
“She served me divorce papers, Cal.” I stare into my glass, a bitter smile twisting my lips. “I think that’s pretty clear.”
“Shit, I’m sorry, man.” Caleb sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. “But that don’t mean it’s over. Maya loves you. She always has. She’s just… tired of your shit.”
I shake my head, meeting his gaze. “I screwed up. I took her for granted and now… now I lost her.”
The song changes to another slow dance and I spot Maya on the other side of the room, swaying in another man’s arms. Jealousy and regret war inside me as I watch them, wishing more than anything I could hold her like that again.
“It’s not too late,” Caleb rumbles softly. “You just have to make her understand she’s always been your priority, even when you didn’t make it clear.”
His words give me hope and I stand, setting my glass down with a determined thud. I’m not giving up. Not again.
Maya is mine and I’m going to prove to her that we belong together. No matter what it takes.
I make my way over to Maya as the song ends, tapping the other man on the shoulder. “Mind if I cut in?”
He blinks in surprise but nods, stepping away from my wife. She turns around and stiffens at the sight of me, eyes wary. “Axel, what are you doing?”
“Asking for a dance.” I hold out my hand with a smile. “For old time’s sake?”
Maya hesitates, then places her hand in mine. I pull her close as a new song starts, our bodies fitting together as perfectly as they always have.
I whisper against her hair, “I miss us.”
She sighs, a soft sound that makes my heart ache. “We can’t go back, Axel.”
“Why not?” I tilt her chin up, forcing her to meet my gaze. “Tell me you don’t feel this. Tell me there isn’t still something between us and I’ll walk away.”
Maya bites her lip, conflict in her eyes, and I know I got her.
Leaning down, I capture her mouth in a searing kiss. Her lips part on a gasp, warm, soft, familiar, and it’s like the past year never happened. Like we’re back in high school, falling for each other all over again.
After a beat, Maya kisses me back, her hands tangling in my hair, and desire ignites in my blood. I deepen the kiss, my tongue sliding against hers, and she moans softly. The sound completely undoing me.
Breaking the kiss, I take her hand and guide her out of the gym, my heart pounding. We stumble into an empty classroom and I lock the door behind us, pinning Maya against it as I claim her mouth again.
