Chapter 28
MACKENZIE
The soft whirr of the air conditioning jolted me awake. I rolled onto my back, every muscle protesting. My hips throbbed, my skin tender where bruises bloomed. Max was draped over me, all limbs and heat, wrapped around me like an octopus.
We’d had sex all night, until exhaustion finally swallowed us both.
I was sticky, grimy, and downright gross. I rolled to my side, lifting his arm off my body as gently as I could. It fell back to the bed like a dead weight as soon as I moved it. Limb by limb, I detached myself, and I finally escaped and tiptoed to the bathroom.
I turned on the shower, letting the hot water hit the tile as I tried to shake off the stiffness and wake up.
A ping from Max’s cell phone carved through the dark.
I froze.
Max didn’t move. He lay in bed like something already emptied out—boneless, heavy, utterly still.
His phone pinged again.
And again.
Each chime sharpened, needling under my skin, echoing off the walls like it was coming from everywhere at once.
Ping.
Ping.
PING.
Curiosity and a flicker of unease compelled me to grab it.
Flipping it over, my stomach clenched as I saw seven unread messages, all from an anonymous number.
I couldn’t read their contents, but his passcode was easy—my birthday.
Of course. Typical Max. He had already changed his phone screen background to a picture of me in my wedding dress.
I opened his messages app.
UNKNOWN
You fucking married her?
I wondered how crazy you actually were. But I thought you were smarter than this.
You really think this changes anything? It doesn’t.
The game started long before you decided she was yours. You just made it bloodier.
I was willing to wait before. The chase was kind of fun. But I’m done waiting.
You don’t get to keep her.
I’m coming for her.
I paused, a cold shock racing through me as my heart thudded painfully in my chest. Who was this? Two more pings made me jump.
When they come for you, they won’t be nice.
I hope you’re already terrified.
I quickly deleted the thread with trembling fingers and silenced his phone. If he saw those, he’d blow up.
I didn’t know if I was protecting him or protecting myself from his reaction.
Another ping made me look down.
TONY WEST
Max. Paperwork’s in. Congrats. You’re officially married.
The legal name change came this morning. Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. McKinnon.
I don’t know what I expected, but the feeling I had now was… relief. Honestly? It felt right. I felt more like Mackenzie McKinnon than anyone else I had ever been.
The phone vibrated in my hand, and I looked back down.
You need to be on high alert from now on.
And keep what we discussed about her confidential. Delete these messages.
What was confidential? What had West and Max discussed behind my back? Anger bloomed low and mean in my stomach. Nurse Campbell’s words from earlier echoed: “Never trust anyone. Not even Max.”
He was my husband. I could trust him.
Right?
The word didn’t feel like an answer. It felt like a lie I was telling myself.
I was about to text West back on Max’s behalf when he stirred, shifting under the sheets. I slid his phone back onto the nightstand. His eyes cracked open slowly, groggily, and unfocused. But as soon as they fixed on me, a grin spread across his face.
“Hey,” he murmured, voice rough from sleep. “Morning.”
“Morning,” I said, hunching over slightly, covering myself. I was still naked.
He didn’t miss a beat. His arm snaked around my waist, careful not to touch my bandage, as he pulled me back onto the bed. He pressed me into him.
“Don’t cover yourself,” he groaned, pressing his chest to mine.
“Sorry… it just feels weird.” My voice was small. “Being like this with you.”
He brushed a strand of hair from my face, his fingers lingering.
“Why?”
“I don’t know,” I exhaled, looking away from him. “We’ve been friends forever. This is new to us. Exposing this side of me feels… strange.”
He leaned back slightly, one brow raised, a mix of disbelief and amusement twisting his features.
“Are you kidding me?” His grin turned wicked. “You’re my wife. Married, remember?” He pointed to his wedding ring. “I can see you naked anytime I want. And I saw a whole lot of you last night.”
He squeezed my hip, and I flushed, heart hammering in my chest. His hand drifted downward, and I snatched it away.
“No,” I whispered. “I’m too sore.”
He groaned, stretching across the sheets, but his eyes darkened with that familiar, dangerous glint. The corner of his mouth twitched. “Fine.”
Steam from the bathroom curled into the room, warm and inviting.
“Shower?” he asked, voice low.
I swallowed, nerves and desire twisting together. “I was going to, but, yeah, you’re welcome to join.”
The tension snapped, charged with heat.
He shut me up with a kiss—hot, wet, open-mouthed. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he got out of bed, walking me to the bathroom. He set me down right outside the glass doors, then pulled me into the shower by the wrist.
Water poured over us, soaking my hair as it traced the lines of his chest and abs, catching on the sharp dip of his hipbone. All I wanted was to taste every drop.
“We’ve got twenty minutes before we have to be back at camp,” he murmured against my lips, backing me into the wall. “Plenty of time to make you cum twice.”
“I don’t want to go back,” I breathed. “I’m scared. I just want to run away with you.”
His skin was hot and slick beneath my palms, muscles flexing under my touch.
“I know, and same,” he rasped, pulling his head back so he could look me in the eyes. His thumbs trailed over the side of my face. “You think we can rent a house at GCU?”
“What?” I asked against his lips.
He framed my face with his hands, dragging his tongue along my jaw.
“I’m going with you to GCU. No way in hell am I doing long-distance.”
In the haze of everything, I hadn’t really thought much about it.
“But—you’ve got a full scholarship to Vanderbilt.”
His lips stilled. He pulled back just far enough to look at me.
“Yeah, I do. But I also have one at GCU, and I made the baseball team there.” He kissed down my jaw again, pulling back to look me in the eye. “Surprise.”
The shock must have been obvious on my face because he smirked, and then I felt him, hard against my stomach. The hunger in his eyes was undeniable.
“I can’t fucking wait to come home to you every day, to be with you every morning. I’ve literally dreamt about it for years.”
“I’m already moving into the dorms. I don’t know how that’s going to work.”
“Yeah, that’s not happening. We’re married. We’re getting a place off-campus, our own space. Just you, me, and whatever chaos we decide to create.”
I laughed softly. “Chaos sounds about right.”
“Yeah,” he breathed, running a hand down my back.
“And, uh, we’ll need a plan for keeping our evenings interesting.
I’m planning on fucking you every day for our first year of marriage, and then, if I didn’t get you pregnant last night, I’m going to work hard to get you pregnant by Christmas. I want our own little trouble.”
I swallowed hard. “Max…”
“Yeah,” he whispered, thumbs tracing circles over my hips. “I want to claim everything that’s mine. I want it.”
I shook my head, heart thudding. “You’re insane. We’re way too young for all of that.”
“I’m in love with you,” he said, dark and serious. “I don’t care if it’s crazy. You’re mine, and I want a family with you. I don’t care how old we are.”
I smiled, half-exasperated, half-molten with desire. Max was leading with emotions again. Part of me melted. Another part wondered what happened to girls who belonged to men who never changed their minds.
“Fine. But you better not get lazy with those baseball practices because I was promised front row seats when you make it to the MLB.”
He laughed. “Oh, baby, you won’t be getting just front row seats. You’ll be getting the suite.”
He bent down, taking my right nipple in his mouth. My back arched as his tongue circled. I was already gasping, clutching at his shoulders, drowning in the feeling of him.
He bent down on his knees, running a hand through his wet hair and flipping it away from his face. He grabbed my hips, steadying me, and pressed his tongue flat against my center. I cried out. He gently inserted one finger as he circled me with his tongue.
“This is my favorite thing,” he said against me.
I placed a hand on the side of the shower to keep myself balanced, and he grabbed my hips tighter, pulling me in closer to his face.
He was licking me up and down, thrusting his tongue inside me, with such ferocious energy that I couldn’t hold back any of the sounds I was making. I closed my eyes, my legs trembling.
The pressure built inside of me. So fast. He made me cum so fast. He grabbed me even tighter, and I saw stars as I came undone. I think I had shouted his full name, Max Alexander McKinnon, because he shuddered with laughter.
He looked up at me, his hands still on my hips, his hair soaking wet, his lips wet from my arousal, and his body glistening under the steam. I grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled his head back.
“Never have I ever cum on someone’s face,” I teased.
“You’re fucking with me, right?” He said, his mouth opened wide. I leaned down and kissed him.
“You know, you’ve been on your knees a lot the past few hours,” I stated. “You haven’t allowed me to be on mine.”
His eyes darkened, and I could see his control starting to falter. His fingers drummed against my hips, and I could feel him holding back. He was waiting for me to take control.
“Never have I ever given head to my best friend at camp,” I whispered, pulling him up and pushing him against the shower wall. I dropped to my knees before him.
He closed his eyes as I took him in my mouth. I was only able to get half of it in before I started gagging. I hadn’t actually done this before. But I didn’t want him to know that, so I forced myself to take him deeper.
“Fuck,” he growled, his fingers tangling in my hair as he gently guided me deeper into him. “And, I’m not just a best friend. Oh, shit. I’m your Hus—s… husband,” he stammered.
He gently guided my head, helping me get to where he wanted me.
I ran my tongue slowly along the underside of his shaft, and he let out a sound so deep it vibrated through me.
His muscles flexed beneath my hands. I opened my mouth again, taking him inch by inch, learning the rhythm, letting instinct guide me.
My throat burned, eyes watering, and Max’s grip loosened just enough to let me find my own pace.
He was patient, letting me explore. I felt his body begin to tense when I found the perfect rhythm.
I heard it in the way his breathing changed.
His hand dropped to my jaw, thumb stroking across my cheekbone.
“Shit, Trouble,” he panted, voice breaking. “I’m gonna, fuck, I’m gonna cum.”
He swatted at me. He didn’t want to cum in my mouth, despite all that dirty talk last night about how many times he was going to fill my sweet mouth with his release.
Too bad I wasn’t sweet.
I shook my head no and kept going. His voice went ragged, deep and desperate, his hips jerking just slightly as he tried not to lose control. I looked up at him, my cheeks flushed, my lashes wet, my lips wrapped around him, and he stared down at me.
I pulled off him for a second, continuing to look up at him.
“You taste so good,” I whined, and then wrapped my lips around his cock again.
He sighed.
“Keep those fucking beautiful eyes open while I cum inside that pretty mouth,” he groaned.
We stared at each other until his body tensed, he closed his eyes, and came in my mouth with a groan.
I swallowed, trying not to gag, and slowly lifted my gaze to meet his as he leaned against the shower wall, chest rising and falling, breath ragged. He looked wrecked, in a beautiful, destroyed way.
Not going to lie, I was proud of myself. Powerful, even. Like I’d just unlocked a new, dangerous little superpower.
“If I had known you had that in you,” Max said between breaths, smirking. “I would’ve tried to hook up with you earlier.”
I rolled my eyes and smacked his chest. “Shut up.”
“I’m serious,” he said, still dazed. “Best head I’ve ever gotten.”
“Better than the head you got at the party?” I scoffed.
He bent down and kissed me, slow and soft, his dick still pulsing from the aftershocks. He lingered there, his forehead against mine, water trickling down between us like we had all the time in the world.
“Way better,” he said. His hands started roaming again.
“Max,” I whined, playful and breathless. “I need to wash my hair and my actual body.”
“I’m helping,” he said innocently, grabbing the soap with a cocky grin.
Helping, my ass.
He lathered the soap in his hands and started gliding it over my body, down my arms, cupping my breasts like they were too fragile not to give full attention to. His fingers slowed when they reached between my thighs, lingering far longer than necessary.
“I just want to make sure you’re really clean,” he said, voice low and teasing in my ear.
I returned the favor, dragging my soapy hands along the slope of his shoulders, across the curve of his chest, the lines of his abs, down his hips, and over his perfect ass. He hissed through his teeth.
Then I glanced up and froze. He was staring down at me, his mouth slightly parted, his jaw flexing.
Like he could see every version of me at once.
The guarded best friend. The scared girl.
The messy girl. The girl in the tattoo shop.
His wife. Because if this wasn’t a look of true love, then I didn’t know what it was.
His expression was so intense, but for the first time, I felt a sense of freedom. Because he knew everything about me, and I no longer had to hide.
I felt safe. I felt protected. He was my family. I was excited to start a new life with him, one where I didn’t have to hide.
Finally, I didn’t have to run.
Or so I told myself.