To Have It All(92)

“What?” I laughed.

“You jacked up Pim’s Barbie ATV?”

In the past year, Pim had gotten three other ATVs which we also tricked out. She loved coming to the garage with me and hanging out. She was no mechanic just yet, but she liked pretending to be and I loved our time together. “My girl will always have the baddest rides,” I informed her. “Whether it’s a cage or a bike.”

She snorted a laugh as she swung her arms around my neck. “You spoil her, ya know?”

“She’s my girl,” I shrugged slightly. “I just need to finish cleaning up and wash up real quick,” I informed her before bending slightly and kissing her. Hopping up on my workbench, she let her legs dangle over the edge as she watched me finish up, her lower lip caught between her teeth.

“Stop,” I grumbled, doing my best to keep focused on my task. She knew biting her lip like that was my fucking undoing.

“Stop what?” she questioned coyly.

She was wearing a flowy white top that hung off one shoulder. Her hair was down and curled, begging me to the thread my fingers in it. She was my one true weakness. Dropping my tool, I moved between her legs and grabbed her ass, sliding her to the edge of the bench. “I don’t want to get you dirty,” I told her.

Kissing me, she gently bit my lower lip. “Maybe I like being your dirty girl,” she whispered.

That’s all it took. In seconds our shirts were off, and she was lifting her ass as I tugged her jeans off. Every time we were together, every time we joined our bodies, it was erotic in all the ways sex can be physically, but making love to Waverly went beyond physically satisfying. Amidst the kisses, the bites, the skin on skin, the pants and moans, I found a peace that surpassed everything. She was my home, and when we joined together, when I took her body, she filled me with calm. It was the safest place I’d ever known.

Her legs were wrapped around my waist as I moved in and out of her, her fingers digging into my back, as she moaned, “I love you, baby,” over and over again. This was my heaven.

When we were finished, we were both breathless as we remained joined. Kissing the tip of my nose, she whispered, “I have something to tell you.”

“Oh yeah?” I chuckled as I moved, but she grabbed my hips, holding me in place.

“Don’t move,” she begged. “Not yet.”

My brows furrowed as I peered into her eyes. That’s when I saw it. She was worried. “What’s wrong?”

Her head dropped, but I lifted her chin, forcing her to meet my gaze again. “Don’t do that,” I told her. “Tell me.”

Swallowing hard she breathed deeply. “He did it. Max signed the papers. He gave up his rights to Pimberly.”

My chest hurt for some reason. I knew Waverly had wanted this for a long time, but I’d hoped when Max woke up he’d turn over a new leaf. I’d hoped he’d grab hold of his second chance and ride it like the wind. That’s what I had done and would continue to do every day for the rest of my life.

As bad as Waverly had wanted Max to sign over his rights, I knew it didn’t offer her the relief she’d thought it would. It was just another hurt chalked up to the diabolical Max Porter.

“There’s more.”

“There is?”

“He sent a check with the papers. A check to help care for Pim. He sent a million-dollar check, Liam.”

I struggled with the news. I wondered why. Why did he sign the papers? Or rather, how could he? I doubted he’d send a check that large if the decision hadn’t been made with some guilt. On some level, he cared about Pim. If he didn’t, he would’ve signed the papers and washed his hands of it all. A part of him must have wanted to give Pim something, to make sure she was taken care of.

“That money will last a long time for Pim,” I noted.

“I know,” she nodded. “Just feels a little like a pay-off.”

Brushing her hair back over her shoulder, I kissed her. “I’m sorry.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. I hated that Max had, once again, disappointed her. Months after I was released from the hospital, I went to his apartment to speak with him. It felt like the right thing to do, after all, I had inhabited his body. He refused to see me. Waverly wanted reasons why. Why didn’t he want Pim? I could have given her something from the sessions with Max’s therapist, but it never felt right; that was information that should come from him, if, or when, he was ready. I had my own questions, and part of me wanted answers, but I think there are some things we’re not meant to know and even if there were answers, I knew they’d never be good enough. It’s hard and unfair, but that’s life sometimes. We would probably never understand Max, but I understood, more than anything, how fucking lucky I was.

“I don’t hate him, ya know?”

I lifted my brows in surprise. “I never thought you did, not really.”

“I did,” she admitted. “I did for so long. But in the end, he did right by Pim and me.” She put her hands on my neck, her thumbs brushing against my jawline. “He lived so we could have you.”

I nodded a few times, her words hitting hard. It was such a fucked up situation and impossible to understand fully, but in the end no matter what the man had done or how fucked up he had been, he gave us each other. I’d given my life to save Max’s when he didn’t even want it, and now he’d given me his.