Chapter Twenty
Max
I know that I should be sleeping. How the fuck I’m still awake shocks the shit out of me, but how can I sleep when I finally have Lucy curled up in my arms?
I’m scared that the moment my eyes close, it’ll all be over.
Something as simple as holding her feels like a dream come true.
I can’t take my eyes away from her. I’m in awe of this woman.
Even the tiny noises she makes as she sleeps melt my heart.
I study the perfect slope of her nose and the freckles that scatter across it. Her beautiful pouty lips, the same ones that have been wrapped around my cock on more than one occasion.
Fuck, now is not the time to fantasise about such things.
It can wait until she’s rested and ready for me, and I will enjoy every minute of getting her there.
After everything that’s happened, I’ve had some kind of epiphany.
Life is too fucking short. We have already wasted years apart from each other.
Either one of us could be gone in a heartbeat, hit by a random car, and then…
poof. It’s all over. All this love and torment of being apart, for nothing.
I watch her for a while longer, until my own eyes finally start to close.
Heavy pounding on the bedroom door jolts me awake.
“Max! We need to get back to the hospital. She’s awake!” Tommy's panicked voice shouts from the other side. I can hear his quick footsteps as he hurries to get himself dressed.
I can’t move out of bed. I feel so tired. It’s almost as if I’m drunk. The world is disoriented, and the room spins around me. It’s as if I have only had five minutes of sleep. Checking my phone, I realise it’s actually been five hours. That still is nowhere near enough sleep for me.
Why did I sleep in here, anyway? I always get into Tommy's bed when I’m here. One, because I’m lazy as fuck and there is a socket right next to the bed, and two, to simply piss him off. Stretching out in the bed, I find the space next to me is still warm.
Lucy!
Where is she? My eyes scan the bed and then scour over the rest of the room, but she isn’t in here.
Dragging my heavy body to a standing position, I chuck my t-shirt and shoes on, from the night before, to search for her.
I don’t have to search for long, though, as her smiling face greets me at the kitchen island.
She stands there, freshly showered and utterly edible, with a hand outstretched to me.
It takes me a second to realise she’s offering me a steaming cup of coffee.
I’m hypnotised as I take the cup from her.
Her wild, damp curls hang over one shoulder, showing the bare skin of the other in the flimsy gym bra she’s wearing.
Fucking beautiful.
She takes my breath away every single time I see her.
“Tommy has left already, I said we would follow after him. I don’t think he could wait.” She smiles, though it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “Maya has woken up. But she’s not acting like herself. She must be so confused.” Her brows droop lower.
“I’m not surprised.” I take a step closer to her, placing my coffee down on the island. “So, no one else is here?” I ask.
“Nope. Just you and me.”
I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her in close. She wraps her own arms around my neck and nuzzles into my chest. This is what peace feels like, I am sure of it. I lean to kiss the top of her head, taking in the scent of her shampoo. Fuck, she even smells perfect.
“How are you feeling?” I ask, without pulling away.
“Sad, confused, lost. But also, a little bit happy,” she murmurs.
“Happy?”
“How could I not feel happiness when I am in your arms, Max?”
“I know the feeling, baby.” I hold her tighter for a second, needing her closer. It settles something deep inside of me. Something as simple as this is something I never thought possible.
“We are going to have to talk about this, us, you know?” She says as she finally pulls away.
“I know. Not today?”
“Not today.”