“Peace out, sistah!”
I feel something soft and warm at my ankle. I’m surprised to find Tedwood purring up at me. I lean down and scratch him behind the ear. “Oh, I bet you know Mommy’s had a bad night.” Cats sense shit like that, don’t they? “You’re a good boy when you want to be.”
Unzipping my dress, I work it down my body, stepping out of it and throwing it into my bedroom, and then make my way down the hall and step into the bathroom. I start the shower, step in, and wash away the shitty night I’ve had.
After a good, unnecessary half-hour in the shower—unnecessary, because I didn’t wash my hair—I wrapped a towel around me and walked into my room. As I make my way into my room, I come to a halt in the doorway.
Max sits on the edge of my bed, facing me. “Hey.”
My gut sinks. He’s here to break up with me. I tighten my grip on the towel and respond weakly, “Hey.”
He stands, taking the four steps towards me. “Don’t ever do that again.”
I lower my head, ashamed. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have done it. She just said it and I don’t know what happened.” I look up into his eyes, pleading for him to understand. “I just lost it.”
He makes a face. “Not that.” He takes a step closer, looking down at me menacingly. “Don’t ever leave me again without giving me your mouth.”
Huh? I ask confused, “You’re not upset with me?”
He lifts a hand to my lips, outlining them, following his finger with his eyes. “Why would I be?”
I mutter against his fingers, “I attacked a female club patron.”
He leans down, gently placing a kiss at the swollen side of my mouth, then nods. “You’re passionate.”
I close my eyes and murmur, “I let her words get to me when I know better.”
He shrugs. “Because she insulted Ceecee. An insult to her is an insult to you.” He catches my chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing my gaze up to his. “How could I ever be mad at you for loving my daughter?”
I like that. Oh boy. I really like that. Bottom lip quivering, I squeak out, “So you’re not breaking up with me?” He sighs, yanking at my towel. It falls and I’m left naked. Max wraps an arm around my back and the other under my ass as he lifts me. “What are you doing?” I ask in disbelief as I cinch my arms around his shoulders, holding on tight.
He carries me over to the bed, laying me down in the middle. Undressing himself, he mutters, “I’m gonna fuck you until you stop being stupid.”
Leaning up on my elbows, I gulp at the sight of his bare chest. “Might take a while.”
As he pulls down his boxers and climbs over me, he grins and utters, “Challenge accepted.”
His body covers me in hard warmth and his mouth devours mine with such passion that I moan out loud. Relief pours through me as I realize Max is still mine.
For now, anyways.
Chapter Thirty-One
Helena
Knocking at my front door wakes me, but before I can get up to answer it, Max leans over me and kisses my forehead, slipping out of bed. I hear low murmurs of conversation before Max tiptoes back into the bedroom. Half-asleep and deliciously sore from last night’s sexathon, I ask a hushed, “Who is it?”
As he dresses himself, he looks over at me and responds cautiously, “It’s Nik. I told him I’d give you guys a minute.” My palms sweat, and reaching down, I slowly pull the covers up to my nose. Max smiles softly at the action. “This isn’t round two, all right? He just wants to apologize.”
I don’t want to admit it, but after seeing Nik like he was last night, I’m a little scared to be alone with him. However, I do trust Max. I whisper through my covers, “Okay.”
He smiles down at me, climbing over my body to bury his face in the crook of my neck. “You want coffee?”
With his mouth on me, it’s hard to concentrate. “Is a frog’s ass watertight?”
His breath warms my throat as he chuckles. “Two sugars with a splash of milk, right?”
My eyes snap open. He knows how I take my coffee? My heart beams. Whelp, shit got serious and someone forgot to inform me. I lift my arms out of my cocoon of safety and wrap them around his shoulders as I breathe into his ear, “Yeah, honey.”
Lifting his head, he kisses the tip of my nose before standing. I ask through narrowed eyes, “You’ve still got your key, don’t you? That’s how you got in last night.”
Max grins so hard his dimple cuts deep into his cheek. “You’re so pretty.”
When I roll my eyes, he chuckles and calls out to Nik, “Don’t kill each other, okay? I like this one.” I smile to myself. But my smile falls to the ground with a plop, when Max tells Nik, “And I plan to keep her.”
Does he mean that? I can never work out whether the means the things he says or if they’re just for show.
The front door opens then closes, and I close my eyes and sigh knowing I have to face him sooner or later, and the later I wait, the more awkward this will become. Gaining what little courage I have left in me, I slide out of bed and dress in my pajama shorts and loose pink Cupcakeinator tee and walk out of my room, into the living-slash-kitchen area.
Nik stands at the open fridge door, rubbing absently at his belly, looking somewhat disappointed. “What are you living on? There’s nothing in here.”
A shocked laugh bursts out of me. “Your brother says the same thing only all the freaking time.”
Nik closes the fridge door and turns to me, a strained smile on his face. “We’re alike, him and me. My sisters are a little different. They don’t need food every hour to live.” I smile, but it’s as strained as his. He steps forward and starts, “Listen, Helena, I’m sorr—”
But I cut him off with a shake of my head. “Please, don’t apologize. You were right. I screwed up, and I’m the one who’s sorry.”
He pulls out a stool from the counter and sits, staying quiet for a while before he utters, “I’ve always been protective of Max. I don’t think anyone would blame me for it after what happened with Maddy.”
I know about Maddy, but not from Max. I haven’t ventured there, but I’ve been told by Nat it just isn’t something Max likes to talk about. With good reason. As far as I know, he only has bad memories of the woman. Nik adds, “But when he told me you were dating, I was happy for him,” he looks up into my eyes and utters sincerely, “because you’re a good woman.”