Epilogue
“You still make me nervous, Max.” Cole places my hand over his chest. “Feel it? My heart bursting into flames.” I give him an A for effort. My hopeless romantic in training. I don’t expect him to read a romance novel any time soon, though.
The garage is full as usual, but today I don’t want to look around. I want to stay in his eyes…because it’s a good moment. The bad ones still exist. We just handle them better…most days.
It’s been two days since I locked my apartment for the last time and moved back into the house we turned into a home together. I can’t leave when I need space now. We have to come up with another plan for when one of us needs a few hours to decompress.
I breathe him in. Every unpleasant fume and salty sweat odor. It’s him. Dirty organically ripped jeans, a range of grey to black tee’s, and boots. Early mornings at the track, practice, drills, and travel. Living his dream and chasing mine. Right now, it’s a slow moment within the chaos. “I could stay right here forever,” I whisper.
His lips meet mine and he pulls away. “The crotch rocket is fixed.”
“Finally got to it?” I glance around him, finding the aggressive, shiny black MT-09.
“I can’t wait to bend you over it,” he hums against my neck.
I press my lips to the obvious muscle below his jaw. “I can’t wait…to drive it.”
He snaps back, half rolling his eyes, and glaring at me sideways. “Noo. Fuck, lovebird,” he groans.
“Then I’ll get my own and prove to you how good I am.”
“Oh, I know how good you are. You’re such a good girl.”
“I love you, cowboy.”
“I know. I’m pretty special.”
“You get the job done.”
“Lovey-dovey birdy baby.” He dramatically kisses my shoulder and chest. “Just wait till you see what I bought…to get the job done.”
“Speaking of jobs.” I ignore his suggestive tone. “I may have broken the showerhead.”
He presses a finger under my chin, tilting me to his reach. He plants another kiss on my lips. “Max, how do you break a showerhead?”
“I was cleaning because Ri and I were going to put those flower stickers on the walls, plus I got her new foam toys, and it plopped.”
“It plopped. Mm…okay.” He walks around the bike gathering tools. “It won’t go back on?”
“No.” I follow him to the tool box where he pulls out a tray. “So, I was thinking we should upgrade. Wait!” His eyes speak volumes. “Yes. Whatever you’re thinking, I’m in agreement, unless it will result in infection.”
“You’re mind is…”
“Creative and kind and…”
“Filthy.”
“Childish.”
“That too, but in the best way.”
“Mama!” My attention darts to the door. Riley woke up from her nap. The first nap she has taken in a long time.
“Sweet pea, you found me.”
“And the baby,” she replies.
“Where’s your baby?” I could have sworn I picked up that baby doll this morning and put it back in her room.
“In your belly.” She points, then spins in her long cornflower blue dress.
“Is there something you forgot to mention, Max?”
“You said it Dad!” Riley shouts. Reaching for Cole’s stainless water bottle from the top of a box, I twist the cap and take a sip. “Last night, you said I’m going to put a baby you.”
Half choking on the water, I wait for Cole to say something. “Uh, help me out, Cole.”
He studies her little face for a moment. “I’m a funny Dad, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I was joking with Mama when I said that.”
“Mm, I don’t think it was a joke.”
I squat in front of her, preparing to make a birds and bees speech. “Do you want a baby sister or brother, Ri?”
“I think so. They’ll need their own dirt bike, though,” she adds. “They can’t have mine.” She walks over to the red 50cc bike, pushing her hands to the seat.
“Well, then I guess we’ll have to wait for a little while because we don’t have any other bikes yet.” He finds a way out of the hole he dug, making his way back to the street bike. I wrap my arms around his chest, holding him near.
“Keep hugging me like that and it shouldn’t be a problem, babe.”
“Can we make it through a year together first?”
“Sounds good.”
“Can we have a dance party in the garage?” Riley wiggles. “Can you play the fun ones?”
“Why not?” Cole slips his phone out of his pocket, connecting it with the device. “I want to rename your playlist since Max Madness is on a permanent vacation.”
“What would you change it to?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Proceed With Caution, Max Crossing.”