Leaning back against the bed with a huge grin on my face, I stretched my legs and opened them wide. Yeah, my hand was fucked, but my buddy had his forever. And hopefully, soon, so would I.
“Jesus, shut your legs.” Gavin pressed the heels of his hands over his eyes.
I looked down and shrugged. “It’s cold in here. What can I say?”
“Cold?” Gavin jerked his head back. “Your dick gets hard when it’s cold?”
“I’ve got a brand of special in me you’ll never have, big guy.”
“I’m leaving.” Collin stood from the end of the bed and nudged Gavin’s shin with his knee. “Might need to grab some bleach for Gav’s eyes on the way out.”
“Sorry it’s so pretty you’ve been blinded.” I winked at Gavin.
He smacked me upside the head, not even caring that I was laid up in this hospital bed. It’s what I loved about my boys. They never made a big deal about anything.
* * *
Lia
The entire drive home was silent on the Maxwell front. Even as Mom and I pulled into the Carinthia hospital parking lot, nobody was answering my phone calls. I was exhausted and on the verge of a mental breakdown. Yet knowing I was so close to Max pushed me to get out of my funk. I didn’t expect him to call me, but at least Addie or Collin could have called with an update. Even my dad wasn’t answering the phone.
Two hours into the drive, Mom and I had switched positions. I’d slept fitfully during that last hour on the road, which only made me feel worse. Still, I loved Max wholeheartedly and would lose years and years of sleep if it meant I got to be there in person to make sure he was okay.
“You ready to go in?”
I nodded. “Yeah, just drop me off at the front door. Dad’s probably at home waiting for you. You can take my car home. I’ll grab an Uber to come by and get it after visiting hours are over.”
Her soft, brown eyes narrowed at the clock on the dashboard. It was past seven at night. “You sure?”
“Positive.”
She pulled me into a fast hug, then leaned back to hold my face in her hands. “You’re a good girl, Leanne. I love you.”
I hugged her once more, not holding back. I refused to cry as I inhaled the lavender scent of her shampoo. She sniffled in turn, wordless in her love as she patted the back of my head.
“And no need for an Uber. Just call Dad or me when you’re ready to come back to the house.”
I leaned back and nodded, already missing her.
* * *
Max’s hospital room was quiet and dark when I pushed the door open a few minutes later. I’d taken time to call my principal, to explain what had happened. Said that I’d either be late on Monday or wouldn’t be able to come in until Tuesday, depending on what happened tomorrow with Max. She was awesome about it, proving that I’d found the perfect beginning for a forever career.
I set my bag on the chair next to his bed. Taking a deep breath, I turned to find his dark, sinful eyes open and focused on me.
“Hey, Lee-Lee.” He looked exhausted and sounded like he’d swallowed fire. But the smile on his lips and the sweet way he spoke my nickname somehow managed to lessen the burn in my throat. “You didn’t have to drive all this way. I’m good.”
“And miss the chance to kiss you better?” I tsked. “Never.” I kissed him on the lips to prove the point, then sat on the edge of his bed. “How’s the hand?” I pointed to it, frowning at the massive cast.
“Hurts a little. Luckily it’s the left hand, not the right.”
“A little…” I mocked and rolled my eyes.
He waggled his eyebrows. “It’s a good thing I’m made of titanium.”
I sighed and leaned forward, pressing my forehead to his chest. Breathing in his familiar scent made me feel like I was home.
“I gotta admit something.” His voice crackled. I leaned back to look into his eyes.
“What’s that?” I ran my knuckles down the side of his cheek, and he nuzzled his mouth against my hand. I opened my palm wide so he could kiss it.
“Nothing will ever hurt me worse than missing you.”
I shut my eyes, shivering at his words, his touch, his simple kiss.
How was it that we had been apart for less than a week when it felt like so much longer? “I love you,” I whispered against his chest.
“You better, ’cause I’m in love with you.”
I smiled, blinking back tears, the happy kind. I did love this man. I loved everything about him, in fact. His goofy tendencies, his protective nature. The fact that I loved the way he looked didn’t hurt matters either. But it was his heart that made me feel alive. Made me want to better myself, not just for my family anymore, but for him too. And because of that heart, I knew what had to happen.
I laid my ear against his chest, listening to him breathe and to his heartbeat.
“I’m gonna be laid up for a while, I’m afraid, but I’ll be good as new soon. Wouldn’t think about missing my trip to see you in a couple of weeks.”
The simple thought of leaving him like this hurt me worse than before. I leaned back, just enough to look in his eyes. “How will you work, Max?”
One shrug later, he lifted his bad hand. “Gonna have to master things one-handed, looks like.”
“And if you can’t?” Optimism was never my strong suit.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” He touched my chin, stroking his thumb back and forth.
I leaned in closer. “But what if it takes a while?”
“I’m paid up on my lease at the store for a year.”
“And bills?” I bit my lip. “How will you pay your bills? Or cook for your gigs?”
His face grew serious, and he stared out the window instead of at me. “Guess I’ll be tapping into big daddy’s money after all.”
I pulled in a breath, nervous. “What if there was a different way?”
Even in the dark, I could see his gaze swing back to me. Feeling far needier than I should have, I silently took him in as well.
Feathered dark hair I adored…dark-brown eyes I’d memorized like my favorite love song…and that sly little grin, the one that managed to make everything around me feel frozen, except for my rattled heart…
God, he was sensational looking. How could I ever not want him with me all the time?
“I really suck at cooking, Max.”
He scowled at me, but I kept going.
“And who’s going to wash your back in the shower?”
I sat up along the edge of the bed and looked at my lap, my face growing hot. “I can’t do life without you.”
“Yes you can.” He urged me onto his lap with his good hand, cradling me against his chest. “Don’t say that. Don’t even think that. This is your dream job. And I’m sorry if I worried you.”
My point wasn’t coming across the way I intended. So, I sucked in another big breath and laid my head back to look up at him, trying a new angle. “I got a new bed, Maxwell. Mom ordered it for me. It’s huge. After she found out I was sleeping on that futon, she had a fit.”
“Good.” He kissed my nose. “You deserve a nice bed. That futon was a killer on my back.”
“But it’s going to be a lonely bed without you.”
Half of his mouth curled up into his swoony Maxwell grin. “Then we’ll have to make enough memories on it during my visits to make sure you’ll never miss me again, yeah?”
I shook my head, frustrated. He wasn’t getting it. Though I wasn’t being clear either. So, I let it go. All of it.
“Move in with me. Live with me in Springfield. Once your hand is better, we’ll come back on the weekends and do your catering gigs together. Then after I’ve completed my year, I’ll quit and try to apply for a position closer to Carinthia. We’ll move back here together.”
His
eyes narrowed in confusion. “But what about you getting tenured and I thought…”
There were so many ways I wanted this man, and I’d only just begun to discover them all. Apart from him, I couldn’t do that, but together was another story.
“Nothing matters but us.”
He sighed, looking unconvinced. I’d pushed the idea away, so there’s no doubt I confused him. “Look, I have all this room in my closet and a dresser with three spare drawers. I need them filled. By you and your stuff. Your presence. I just need you.”
He moved to adjust his bad hand, then sat up a little straighter, still with me on his lap. Eventually, he leveled our stares, pressing his forehead to mine in that way I loved. “It’s a damn good thing you asked, ’cause I was thinking about sneaking into your car when you weren’t looking. Hitching a ride, then permanently planting myself in your house like a protestor until you decided there was no other option.”
I laughed out loud, my head tossed back. Whether it was from happiness or exhaustion, I didn’t know. Either way, I had the answer I wanted. Max was going to move to Springfield. With me.
Our chests smashed together. I tangled my hands in his hair and pressed my lips to his. What had I done to deserve someone so amazing?
A minute passed, then two. Our tongues danced, and our bodies did things that hospital beds weren’t made for. Touching and caressing, all sorts of naughty things that I couldn’t wait to expand upon once he got out of this place.
He kissed my chin, slowly moving around until his lips were inches from mine. “Are we really gonna do this then? You’re okay with it?” He tucked some of my hair behind my ear, trailing his fingers down my cheek only to stop at my chin. Fascination lit his eyes. “I don’t want to rush you.”
My throat was tight with emotion, but I managed to swallow and say, “Yeah, we are. That day-by-day scenario sucked the second you pulled away from my place.”
With his nose nuzzled against my neck below my ear, Maxwell shook with laughter. “You’re it for me, Lia. You know that, right?”
Unable to deny what I’d known for so long, I said, “Yeah, I know. You’re it for me too.”
“Hell yeah.” He growled low in his throat. “Now, come here and kiss me some more.”
With a smile, I did just that, only to get to the point where neither of us could breathe from exertion. The sun could have been falling from the sky, or zombies could have been rising from the grave, but I didn’t care. Not when I was right where I wanted to be. Forever.
Almost.
“Hold on a sec,” I whispered, then straightened my legs out only to shimmy out of my shorts and panties.
No hesitation.
No fears.
No regrets.
I slipped under the covers, pulled his hospital gown up to his chest, and sank down onto his lap before he could ask me what I was doing.
There. That’s better.
Once I’d adjusted to his fullness, I lowered my hands to both sides of his head and whispered against his mouth, “Think you can keep it down, Soldier Boy?”
He palmed my ass one-handed, grinding against me, urging me to move faster, when I wanted slow. “Doc said no strenuous activity for a few days.” He bit at my lip, only for his heart monitor to beep a little louder. “But damn it, I need you real bad, Lee-Lee.”
Equally as desperate for him, I kissed his cheek, his brows, his nose. “Well, it’s a good thing we’re going to be roomies, because I can’t get enough of you.” Slowly, I arched my back, loving him not only with my body, but with my heart.
“And it’s a damn good thing I was blessed with stamina then.” He wrapped his one good arm around my waist, somehow still managing to help my movements along.
I giggled and he grinned back at me, his eyes bright.
And then together we discovered just how amazing secret hospital-bed sex could be.
Epilogue
Gavin
Two months prior
Darkness tried to pull me under, and I leaned to my right to try to stay awake, only for something to smack me upside the head. A window.
“Fuck, that hurt.”
I reached up and touched my scalp, attempting to shake off the haze. I was in the backseat of a taxi, next to the hottest woman I’d ever kissed. Between my knees sat a bottle of peach schnapps that she’d insisted we grab before we went back to my place.
“You okay, St. James?” she purred, reaching over to rub her hand across my forehead.
“Never been better.” I smiled, looking at her, hoping to see something besides a drunken haze of lust in her pretty eyes, but that’s all there was. “How about you?”
She nodded, swaying closer. “I’m peachy.” Then she reached down, grabbed the bottle, and guzzled from it.
“Whoa, there.” I swiped it from her and set it on the floorboard by my feet. Though a sheet of glass separated us from the driver, I didn’t want to take the chance of getting caught.
Fingers tugged on the end of my beard. “This…” She licked her lips. “I’m dying to know how this feels.”
“You’re touching it now, aren’t you?” I frowned, confused by what she meant.
“No, no, no. Silly…” She giggled, then tugged me down to her face. Our lips were close, our noses touching as she said, “I meant how it’d feel between my thighs.”
“Holy hell.” I kissed her, hard, sloppy, drunk kisses that I couldn’t get enough of.
In a flash, she sat up, soon straddling me. She rode me dry like she owned me, and damn if I didn’t love it like I was pretty sure I loved her.
“Touch me, Gavin.”
I did, reaching down between our bodies to push her skirt up a little higher. The skin on her thigh felt like silk to my hands, and my cock jumped as she moaned her appreciation in my ear. Needing more, I slipped her panties aside, finding a kind of heat I hadn’t touched in years.
The second my thumb brushed across her clit, she let out another low moan, coming alive when I needed her silent.
This woman made me crazy in so many ways. She’d been pushing me away for a month now, told me she didn’t do relationships while I told her I didn’t do casual. Yet here we were, weeks later, getting ready for a night I wasn’t sure she’d even remember.
I would though. This was too perfect to forget.
Kisses happened, hands wandered. Her mouth on mine, my tongue grazing hers.
“I want you,” she whispered.
“You got me,” I groaned back, tangling my fingers in her hair while I worked her clit with my thumb.
Minutes later, we pulled up to the front of my duplex, barely taking a breath as we tucked the bottle up under my shirt, paid the cabbie, and raced to the front door. We laughed running up my driveway like we were sixteen and hiding from our parents—something I’d never done. Mainly because I didn’t have parents to hide from.
“Wait.” She pulled me to a stop on my front porch, her hands at the base of my shirt, her breathing as staggered and wild as my own.
“What’s wrong?” I touched the side of her face, and she leaned into my palm, shutting her eyes like she was savoring my touch. I liked it. A lot.
“This doesn’t change a thing,” she whispered, then looked up at me. “I can’t be the woman you think you need.”
My heart thudded faster, my tongue thick as I lied. “No. It changes nothing.”
I wanted it to change things though. I wanted her to want me the way I wanted her. Not just drunk, but sober too. All the time, all the ways, and all the days.
But if I couldn’t have more, I’d settle for tonight.
“Good.” She rose on her tiptoes and kissed my chin. “Now open the damn door so I can test my theory.”
I frowned, scrambling for my keys in my pocket. The outside light from Collin, Max, and Addie’s side of the duplex flickere
d on, highlighting the side of her gorgeous face.
“What theory?” I asked as I unlocked the front door.
A grin stretched her lips as she said, “That the quiet ones are always the best.”
The next thing I knew, we were kissing again as we bumped into the walls of my house and made our way to my room. I heard the glass schnapps bottle shattering all over my hall when she tugged my shirt up and over my head. For once, I didn’t care about order. I just needed her naked and under me as fast as I could get her there.
Clothes went flying, and soon she was right where I wanted her. I kissed her swollen lips, she kissed mine, and when I pulled back to look at her, her face was pink and burned from my beard. I kissed the skin, making my way down. In between breaths I whispered, “You’re so beautiful.”
I probably should’ve been nervous, worried I wouldn’t last. Should’ve hated myself for not taking Max’s advice to get laid more often for the sake of practice. But there I was, finding my way around a woman just fine.
Sex was like riding a bicycle. I’d never forget how to do it.
“Yes,” she hissed, arching her back as I sank inside. My hands were on her naked breasts, her fingers grazing my ass. She pulled me closer, harder, urging me to go faster. Sweat stuck between us; her heeled boots, still on, scraped over my calves. I was too far gone to care about the pain.
The bed rocked beneath us, slamming hard against the wall. “Shh,” I finally had to whisper when her cries grew too loud. The last thing I wanted was for Colly to come knocking on my door, bitching at me because I’d woken Beaner.
A giggle slipped through her lips, as her hazy eyes peered up at me. “Can’t help myself.” She slammed her hips up, hard, her experience overshadowing mine.
I grinned and said, “That so?” Another push of my hips, relentless in their need.
She nodded, pulling her lip between her teeth to curb her moans. “You’re a damn natural.” Then she reached around and smacked my ass.
I froze, my cock pulsing inside her. “Did you just spank me?”
The Right Kind of Reckless Page 25
