She, the Kingdom (She #1)(70)

“Do you miss her? Sophie?”

“I didn’t love Sophie. I loved who I thought she was. I don’t think that person exists.”

“Have you heard from her?”

“She’s called.”

“To apologize?”

“To beg.”

I sucked in a breath. I didn’t think about the possibility of her wanting to come back.

Max crawled over me, hovering just a few inches from my face. He leaned down to peck my lips, and then smiled. “I told her I was madly,” he kissed me, “completely,” he kissed me again, “hopelessly in love with you.”

“You did?” I asked, feeling irrationally emotional.

“I did. You know what she said?”

I shook my head so subtly that I wasn’t sure he’d noticed.

“That she already knew that.”

It took me a while to respond. “Oh.”

He lowered himself, settling in between my legs, our chests touching. His round, intense eyes scanned my face. “I’ve never had the peace that comes with lying next to you.” His nose traced the line of my jaw, and he stretched a bit to reach my earlobe with his lips. He breathed out a laugh. “You’re very quiet. It’s somewhat unnerving.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. No one’s ever spoken to me the way you do.”

He met my gaze. “Then no one has deserved you until now.”

I reached up to touch my hair, twisting a tendril nervously. “Like that. What am I supposed to say to that?”

He moved back to his side, propping his head on his hand, his elbow sunken into the mattress. “Only one thing matters to me.”

“What’s that?”

“What you said to me last night. What you say to me with your eyes when I speak to you the way everyone should. Yet, you still kiss me like it could be the last time. You don’t seem to understand. I’m not going to walk away. I’m not here until I find something better. You were the something better. I gave you my heart months ago.”

“And if you realize that being with a single mother who grew up so far from what you know isn’t what you thought and you want it back?”

“I won’t. I have no use for it without you.”

I wasn’t sure who turned off the light, but we were suddenly in darkness together, holding each other in silence, letting the last few days sink in. Over the next weeks, we’d have to figure out how to function in a relationship with the children, how to keep it from the children until we figured out how to tell them the truth, all while navigating the rumors circulating Kills Cross. There were still so many questions to answer. What Colton was planning; if Sophie had just given up so easily, or if she planned to get Max back; how to pacify Nick, and where I would find work in our dusty little town. It seemed like as much as we’d been through, we still had so much ahead.

Max was breathing deeply, his eyelids seeming to get heavier each time he closed them, but he struggled to look at me for as long as he could before giving in to sleep for the night.

I reached up to touch his cheek. “Sleep, love,” I whispered.

My words and warm hand against his face seemed to ease him into unconsciousness. We both needed rest. We had a long road ahead, and we were going to have to hold on tight to make it through. Part of me wanted to fast forward to the end when we were either healing from broken hearts or sliding strong into the rest of our forever, but I didn’t dare miss the in-between. The in-between would be our love story, and whether it was through happy or sad tears, I wanted to witness it.