Stay (21 page)

I sucked on my bottom lip, remembering how I’d woken
up last time, when he’d stayed by my side when I had too much to
drink.

“Never mind. I can take the couch,” he said before I
could even answer. His voice sounded deflated, like I just told him
they stopped making his favorite cereal or something.

He spun around to leave, but I tugged on his belt
loop. “No, it’s fine. You don’t need to sleep on the couch. It’s
your bed, after all.”

His mood brightened immediately, and when his hand
patted my butt to tell me to give him a few private minutes, I knew
I’d made a mistake.

Chapter 20

Luke

Getting Maggie to agree that I could sleep in
my bed had been a long shot. I had no desire to ride the fucking
couch all night. Jeremy had some girl in his room, and Dean locked
his door quickly after the introductions. I was sure I’d hear all
about it tomorrow, every last dirty detail down to if Dean’s girl
was a true redhead or not. Maggie took me by surprise when I walked
into the bathroom. She had on the pants I’d gotten for her to leave
in my drawer in my dorm room. Whenever I saw something that had a
four-leaf clover, I’d buy it for her. Including those sweats.
Maggie had always been my good-luck charm, whether it was helping
me study for a test to ace, or how I’d always play well when she’d
come watch my basketball games.

For her sixteenth birthday, I’d given her a clover
bracelet, even though we were just friends. It was her first lucky
charm from me. I could still remember how her face lit up when she
opened it. I think her parents almost fell to the floor. That’s
when all the questions about what was going on between us started.
The bottom line was I loved her back then, as much as I loved her
now. I just never told her because we were young and stupid. Even
back in high school, I knew Maggie and I would end up together, so
I tried to keep her as a friend until I was more mature. By
nineteen, I couldn’t hold out anymore. I’d had my fun, and I just
wanted her. And I had her, the perfect girl, but then somehow I
didn’t.

She’d already turned to face the wall by the time I
walked in. It took me a few minutes of rationalizing that this was
a perfectly fine thing to be doing. To get in a bed with the woman
I wanted to eventually marry, and not touch her, for fear of
pushing her away-unless she wanted me to. As I slipped in beside
her, I noticed she was still in the pants I’d gotten her and a
skimpy tank. Now I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to give her an
option. Her breathing grew heavier like she was struggling to get
it together. If she thought she was going to pretend to be asleep,
she had another thing coming. Because I got a glimpse of the small
of her back and I couldn’t hold anymore.

Done fighting my wants, I wrapped my arm around her
waist, and flipped her over to face me.

“Luuuke,” she warned.

“Ma-ggie,” I said back in the same warning tone.

My hands were playing with the tie on her pajama
bottoms. “Luke, what are you doing?” She pulled her hair out of its
band.

“Come a little closer, Blue.” I slowly pushed her
back down, took her chin in my hand, and kissed her. The fact that
she hadn’t stopped me yet was all the encouragement I needed to
keep it going. Because I was so hard for her right now that if she
turned me away, I’d need twenty cold showers to bring me back down
to Earth.

“But...” I hovered above her, kissing her neck, as
she tried to reason with me. And I was afraid her reasoning was
getting ready to tell me to stop, so I did what I used to do when
she acted all virginal and nervous.

“It’s just me, Mags. Relax.” As soon as I said it, I
dipped lower and lifted her shirt up and over her head. I cupped
her breasts before taking them one at a time in my mouth. I was
starving for her. Her body stiffened as my hand slipped between her
legs. I rubbed her for a minute over her sweats, and once I felt
her relax, I slipped my hand inside her panties. I peeked up at her
from kissing her stomach, making sure she was in full agreement
with where I was taking this. “As much as I love that you are
wearing these, can I take them off?”

She bit down on her lip, so I knew she was a ball
full of nerves. I slid my body up hers, nibbling and tasting her
lip. “Maggie, please? Say yes, say you want me too. Because, baby,
I can’t take it much longer.”

She didn’t say anything, but her eyes dared me to
keep going. And I did. I shimmied her out of her pants and tugged
off mine a second later. She was spread out, her hair fanned around
her face, strands lying loosely over her breasts. I pushed her hair
to both sides so that I could get the full view and then settled in
between her legs. I wasn’t ready to take her yet, even though my
dick was screaming to get inside of her. I wanted to enjoy every
minute with her. I wanted to kiss every inch of her perfectly peach
skin. I wanted to never, ever forget this moment. Because being
with Maggie was like coming home. Everything was familiar. The way
her body fit perfectly under mine, the way she kissed me like we
were never meant to kiss anyone else. The way she shivered when I
touched her, like it was always the first time we found each
other.

Slinking back down she squirmed underneath me until
my mouth tasted her sweetness. I could die between these thighs and
go to hell a very happy man. She was soaking wet, and calling out
my name, as she arched her cute little body, while I teased her
with my tongue.

“Luke, please. Now. Stop making me wait.” I gave her
a wicked smile as I lifted her legs to wrap around my hips before I
took us straight to heaven. And I’m not sure if she realized it but
I took her without wrapping it up. And I didn’t give a flying fuck
about the consequences. I almost felt like I was the guy trying to
trap the girl. I was so twisted.

Even as she slept next to me, I felt like a frazzled
mess. Last night had been amazing, and as pumped as I was to have
her back in my bed, I was shitting bricks waiting for the ball to
drop. She had her body curled around an extra pillow that she
always needed to fall asleep. It was the little things I remembered
and always followed through on. No matter what I’d always kept
three pillows on my bed. Maybe it was in case she ever came back
into my life; maybe it was out of sheer habit. I’d never questioned
why I had the extra pillow, I just did.

She moaned a few times as she stirred and the only
thing I could think of was not letting her move. Making her
remember how good it was. How good it could be again if she’d let
me. I slipped my fingers under the sheets, trailing my finger down
the curve of body, delighting in the way her skin felt. The simple
shiver when I touched her let me know she was awake. I buried my
face into the back of her neck, wrapping my arm around her, tugging
her closer. I inhaled her scent quickly.

“Morning, Blue.”

She rolled over halfway, grinning up at me. “Morning
yourself.” She pecked my chin. As she flipped back over, I tilted
my head to look at the ceiling. I thanked God, my mom, my dad, my
baby sister, and whomever else that may have had a hand in this. I
had no idea how it was going to be this morning, but I thanked my
lucky stars Maggie had woken up happy.

“Mags?”

“What?” she mumbled sleepily.

“Can I ask you something?” I know I shouldn’t press
my luck, but my asinine mouth apparently didn’t heed the
warning.

She turned over, pressing a quick kiss to my lips.
“Anything.”

“Are you sure about this? I can’t just have a casual
thing with you. It’s all or nothing. Please tell me that you’re
back, Blue...” When she smiled genuinely, I scooped her into my
arms. “Because I can’t do it again.” I kissed her mouth, but pulled
away.

She took my bottom lip with her teeth, nipping
lightly. “I’m not going anywhere, Luke. I love you. It’s always
been you.”

Well, weren’t those the best damn words to come off
her sweet little lips? I felt fantastic, glorious, triumphant. If
someone asked me to run a damn marathon, I’d lace up and go all
26.2 miles. That’s how amazing it felt to have her in my arms
again. As I held her close, I couldn’t forget the times where I’d
taken too many pills, or had too much to drink to ease the pain of
the last few years. No matter what I’d done, somewhere the little
voice inside my head told me I needed to get my shit together. It
was possible that she’d come back someday, and I needed to be ready
for her when she did. I guess I was right.

Maggie was under the blankets asleep when I went
back to check on her. I jumped on the bed a few times to rouse
her.

She rolled over. “What are you doing?”

I tugged on her hand to pull her out. “I have
something for you. Well, I have something for us.” She grinned but
gripped my hand to follow me.

“You have something for me in the bathroom?” she
asked as we stood in front of the closed door. I turned the knob,
and was hit by the smell of lavender.

“A bubble bath?”

“Yeah, now get naked.”

Before she even took off her shirt I was already
slipping in. She paced by the sink, brushed her teeth, and then
looked back down at me.

“Baby, get in here and stop thinking about it.”

“Can you close your eyes?”

I rolled my eyes, trying to hold in my laugh. “Are
you serious? I’m not closing my eyes. I’ve seen you naked a
thousand times.”

“I know. It’s just...I’m nervous.” She fidgeted with
the tie on her pants, like she wanted to, but was still
hesitant.

I sighed. “All right. If that’s what it’s gonna
take. I’m shutting them.”

I closed my eyes.

Once in, she nestled between my legs. The smell of
lavender hit me again as the bubbles moved around her body. I
looked over and noticed she’d lit the candle on the sink while I
had my eyes shut. Damn! Should’ve thought of that.

I swiped her hair to one side of her neck, letting
my mouth wander down her throat, splaying my fingers across her
belly. “I decided to take that pastry class,” she blurted out.

“Good.” I kissed the back of her head. “Now turn
around.”

Water sloshed and bubbles moved as she straddled me.
I stared into her eyes for a few seconds running my hands up her
stomach until I moved them around to cup her ass, lifting her
slightly. When she arched her back, I bent down to get a hold of
her nipple in my mouth, but I kept moving back and forth from one
to the other. I couldn’t get enough. I would never get enough.

“Luke...we can’t,” she moaned.

“I’ll pull out, baby.”

My mouth found hers again, her tongue sliding in and
out, nibbling on my lips every few seconds before she’d slip her
tongue back in. I almost combusted before it even got going.

I shifted her hips for better access and slid
inside. She moaned my name one more time and then the door flew
open.

“Oh, shit! Sorry.” Dean laughed, lingering for an
extra second. He started to close the door, but leaned back in.
Maggie had already stuck her head under my armpit in her attempt to
hide.

“By the way, you need way more bubbles, and Mags
your tits are really not that small.”

Maggie groaned, while I chucked a handful of water
at him. “Dude, get the fuck out!”

The door slammed. Maggie slowly pulled her head from
her hiding spot and peeked at the door to make sure it was
closed.

I looked at her apologetically. “I guess I forgot to
lock it.”

When she turned back to look at me, we laughed
uncontrollably.

Like music to my ears.

Chapter 21

Maggie

The first two weeks after the bath incident
were perfect. We did everything together and had the most amazing
nights in bed, fooling around, staying up all night talking. But
then Luke started to work like crazy, and our shifts never seemed
to mesh, and he barely seemed to have time for me. He slept all day
since he worked late, and the only thing he wanted to do once he’d
got home was to hold me. Which I wasn’t complaining about-I loved
being in his arms all night. Part of me wondered if something had
happened or if he’d decided I wasn’t worth it anymore. That perhaps
we shouldn’t have started off like we had no past. It was probably
just me being paranoid, the insecurity slamming back into me like
an iron fist.

Dean was now seeing a girl named Taylor who was
adorable and fun to be around, but they spent more time at her
place than here. Jeremy was still behaving like Jeremy since he’d
found out about Dad-bringing home random girls’ once in a while.
Maybe it was his way of coping, or trying to forget about it,
because Jeremy had never been a player. He didn’t have it in him
before. Apparently he did now.

It was just past nine when the knock at the front
door caused me to jump. I’d been watching the Cooking Channel,
trying to learn a few things since I had the apartment to myself.
Jeremy told me he wouldn’t be home until ten from work, and Dean
wouldn’t be back at all.

Peeking through the peephole, I backed up, almost
tripping over the stool. My hand flew to my mouth as I contemplated
if I should open the door. It’d been over three months since I’d
heard one peep from him, but now Max was standing on the other
side. Nervously, I took the few steps to unlock the door. Before
actually swinging it open, I inhaled and exhaled several times to
get the courage to tell him I was back with Luke. I should’ve
called him ages ago, but it was not something I wanted to do over
the phone. And since he’d pretty much written me off by not getting
in contact, I’d assumed he moved on.

When I finally opened the door, Max looked into my
eyes, smiling shyly like he was unsure of how I would react. I
flashed a brief smile. Not sure what else to do, I ushered him
inside. I walked toward the kitchen to get my head together, and
then he swung me around wrapping his arms around me.