AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It is.” I knew he’d understand.
I woke again when his finger slipped inside of me. This time, I smiled. That really was the best way to rouse from a dream.
The sun streaminginto the window woke me. I still lay smushed against Max, and that made me smile. We hadn’t separated during the night, or if we had, he’d put me right back against him. Now, he was sound asleep, even snoring just a little. It was the tilt of his neck. I remembered that sometimes used to happen.
I lifted my head to admire him in the early morning light. He was beautiful. I stared at the clock. I had three hours left before I’d have to get up, go back to my hotel room to collect my things, and leave for the airport.
This whole thing was such a whirlwind. I’d gotten there, and I was going to leave again just to come right back. Crossing the country in bursts of speed to get where I needed to go.
His eyes fluttered open, and he blinked. “You really are here.”
“I am.” And I was going to be sad not to be when I got home to Seattle tonight. Now that I’d tasted this again, the absence would be even more acute.
“I’m sorry, but I have to come with you.” He rolled over and grabbed his phone. “I know. It’s too much, but I explained last night. I can’t…I can’t stop it just yet. I can’t have you across the country right now. I have to be with you. I’ll help you pack.”
My mouth fell open. “That’s perfect.”
He stopped touching his phone. “Really?”
“I was just thinking that I was going to be wrecked tonight without you. Please come if you can. I have to pack. Quit my job. Unenroll from school. And go see Layla, Zeke, and Noah. They’re having another baby.”
He leaned on his elbow. “Do you think Zeke will let me in the house?”
I smiled at him. “He’d better.”
It was crazy how fast things moved after that. We didn’t have seats together, but Max shot a pointed look at the guy next to me while he pretty much demanded—rather than asked—that they switch, and it happened. I rested on his shoulder and watched movies on my phone.
Then he was in my apartment, poking around at my things for a minute before he threw me on the bed and took me first fast and then slowly. Then both again. I woke up tangled in both the sheets and Max the next morning.
Packing sucked, but he was better at it than me, and we were halfway through my apartment in no time. Max did things I hadn’t thought about. He called movers, arranged for my car to be transported, and only grumbled a little bit about not coming with me to quit my job. I didn’t want him sitting in the car while I was in there for however long. Plus, I had a surprise I wanted to do without him with me.
My hair stylist was thrilled to put my hair back to red. It wasn’t my exact color but it was close, and growing it out would be less startling. My boss wasn’t thrilled with me. There was nothing I could do. I’d pick Max anytime, I just knew I would. I lived a year of my life without him. I didn’t want to anymore. Unenrolling from my certificate program was fast, and I arrived back home to find he’d packed my whole apartment.
Max actually stumbled when he saw me with my red hair before the smile stretched his lips. “There you are, my redhead.”
I wanted to be his whatever. His anything.
“Forgive me?” he asked before we went to sleep, still panting from making love once again.
“Yes,” I told him again. His nod was the same as it had been in Portland. He wrapped me against him.
For two insomniacs, we were both falling asleep at night, which was such a gift unto itself.
The trip to Layla’s was familiar to me by then, and Max chatted with me about the upcoming menu and his signing on with the Food Network. “I wanted to be able to give you the life you deserve. I knew that this would push me over the edge. We’d be able to have whatever you wanted.”
I stared at him. He’d insisted on driving. “You know I don’t care about that. It’s so much less important to me than anything else.”
“I do know that, actually. That doesn’t mean I didn’t want to give you the life you should have. The restaurant is paid off. You sold your mom’s painting to give that to me. We should be able to live really well now, not worrying about things the same way I had been.”
I sighed. “Max…I think we’ve both proven we can express our love in dramatic ways. If you want to compare who did what, I think you win in the acts of love game. What you gave me…I still can’t fathom what it cost you.”
“Nothing. It cost me nothing. He didn’t deserve to keep living.”
I smiled at him. “I was actually thinking about the Russian mob thing.”
Max winced. “Yeah…that cost me nothing new. Those were old costs.”
“Thank you for everything you’ve done, but if you hate filming, don’t do it.”
