“I never heard you complain, Maggie.”
“You never gave me reason,” she smirks.
“Yep, so you just remember that fact, woman. Now, are we agreed? We’re having a bonfire?”
“I guess. It does seem like a waste, though. I’m not going to lie.”
“We have stuff for smores,” I tell her, and she turns to me like I just delivered the secrets of the universe.
“Well, what are you waiting on, Matthews?” she snaps, her eyes twinkling.
Damn, I love this woman.
24
Bryant
Four days have gone by quickly. Being with Maggie is so fucking easy and with her guard down, I can honestly say there’s never been anything better. The time together has been great, but I know neither of us is going to make it the full two weeks. We’re missing Terry and I’m anxious to get Maggie to move back in our home and Maggie keeps talking about an appointment she needs to make. I don’t want to cause her trouble at work. I haven’t told her I have a vehicle close—well relatively close by—but only because we haven’t truly discussed everything. Still, there’s a difference now. The walls between us are gone. Maggie’s guard isn’t up and being with her right now reminds me of how it was when we first got together—back before the pain of losing Brylee swallowed us up.
We haven’t found any more surprises left by Ida Sue, although when I remarked on the fact that Ida Sue stocked us up on peaches and watermelon, Maggie went crazy and threw it all out. She refused to explain why. I didn’t really care, so I let it go.
Yep, things are almost perfect and what’s more is that we haven’t had sex. That doesn’t sound like something a man should brag on, but lately, our coming together has revolved around sex or Terry. We haven’t taken the time to just enjoy being with one another in so long that I forgot how much I love it.
That doesn’t mean I don’t need her, however.
I’m so damn horny, I’m dying. I think my balls might have skipped blue and gone straight to purple. There’s a fire that has sparked between us and I know we both feel it.
“In the end,” Maggie play-growls, imitating the guy on the television, “there can be only one.” She then dissolves into a fit of giggles.
I laugh, too. We found the movie doubling up in another DVD case. You thought we would have found gold when Maggie discovered it. I like that our memories mean as much to her as they do to me. I pull her from beside me on the couch to sitting across my lap, her head falling back against the couch arm.
“I just remembered why I love this movie so much,” I tell her. She’s still smiling, laughter apparent on her face, even in the way her eyes are sparkling.
“Why?”
“Because I love your giggle, Maggie May. In fact, I love every single thing about you,” I admit, bending down so our faces are closer.
“Bryant…”
“And you love me.”
“Maybe we—” she starts, her eyes clouding.
“Deny it,” I dare her.
“We’ve been through this. You know I can’t,” she murmurs, her teeth worrying her bottom lip.
“You have a problem, Maggie,” I tell her.
I watch as her eyes lazily close when my fingers stroke gently on the side of her neck. They open back up slowly, her breath coming deeper, causing her chest to visibly move with the effort to inhale.
“What problem?” she asks so softly that I feel her breath from the words, more than hear the sound.
“I want to make love to you.”
“What’s stopping you?” she asks.
“I need you to tell me it’s what you want, gorgeous,” I respond, my heart skipping a beat in my chest.
She brings her arms up and loops them around my neck, her fingers sifting through my hair. She moistens her lips, the tip of her tongue coming out to move over them. “Make love to me, Bryant,” she says.
“Fuck, yes,” I growl, as if I hadn’t had her body recently. When Maggie is involved, I will never get enough.
“Bryant,” she gasps a second before my lips crash onto hers. Heat ignites between us that quickly. She’s like a wildfire that always blazes out of control when we touch. My hand moves under her shirt, the pads of my fingers sliding against her stomach and along her ribs, not stopping until I palm her full breast, the full globe filling my hand and then some. I can feel her nipple pressing against my skin through her bra. Immediately, I shift my hold so that my thumb can tease her hard nipple against the satin material. Maggie groans and I swallow down the sound as I plunder her mouth, not stopping despite my lungs burning from lack of oxygen. Eventually, Maggie pulls back, inhaling loudly.
She looks up at me, her face flushed. Our breathing mirrors one another and it echoes even louder than the pounding of my heart in my ears. She slides off my lap and stands up. My heart thunders in my chest as I wonder what her next move is going to be. With Maggie, you always get a surprise. I’m just praying that this time it’s a good one. I know we’ve made progress the last few days. I feel that in my bones. It burns that I have to admit Ida Sue was right when she colorfully chastised me and said I needed to find my balls. I did. My only excuse was that Maggie and I had slipped into a pattern that was comfortable. I wasn’t home a lot, so it became a habit and in my head I guess I pretended everything was fine. I had Maggie often on my days off and I was afraid to rock the boat.
Clearly, I was an idiot.
This right here, standing in front of me, is what I want.
My woman, wanting me, her eyes filled with a hunger that only I can answer.
Maggie and I have wasted so much time and I don’t want to waste a second more.
She reaches out her hand to me and I take it eagerly. We walk hand in hand into the bedroom. It’s as if we make the decision to go there together, to put the cloud of the past exactly where it belongs, in the past.
Finally—finally—the two of us have decided to step into the future.
25
Maggie
I’m scared.
I’m not even going to try and pretend to myself that I’m not. I’m kind of terrified. This moment feels huge. I know that Bryant thinks all of our problems are behind us. I wish I had that confidence, too. I feel guilty for misleading him. I know I am, but I can’t seem to help that either. If my tests come back okay? Then, I will give my second chance with Bryant my complete energy. If I don’t have breast cancer, then it will be like a huge sign that the universe is okay with me being happy. If it doesn’t give me that sign, then…
Shit, I’m not sure what happens then.
I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to have to deal with it. Bryant will be in Washington, though. I can send Terry to him. They’ll hate me, but I can shield them for as long as I can…
“Maggie?” Bryant prompts me, and I realize I’m getting lost in my terror of the unknown and not in the moment. I swallow and push my fears away.
“I’m here, Bry,” I whisper as I reach up to unbutton my shirt.
Bryant’s dark eyes seem to grow even darker as he watches me. This moment is unlike any we’ve shared in recent years. It almost feels like our first time all over again—except we can actually stand up to undress. There’s not much room in cars, which seems to be a normal thing when the two of us get together. Sometimes, I think that we’ve made love in cars more than we have in a bed.