Chapter 1
What do you say to the man who hasn’t spoken to you for weeks, because you admitted you were catching feelings for yet another man in your already overcrowded love life, after just finding out that you’re pregnant with twins and have no idea which of your many lovers could be the father?
Exactly.
I froze in the doorway, mouth catching flies. It was like time stopped. I was in an emotional vacuum, so shocked by the appearance of my estranged boyfriend that I could not process a single thing.
Until I could.
Intense happiness, sadness, anger, hope, and despair exploded over me like a water balloon finding its target and I began to shake as the violently clashing emotions warred for supremacy within. It was the perfect recipe for ugly crying and I was powerless to keep my tears at bay.
Max hurried over to me, hugging me so thoroughly and tightly my feet left the ground. He swept us back out through the doorway and into the hallway, so our reunion would be more private.
“I am so sorry, Maya.” Max apologized to me earnestly and vehemently, while still holding me like he would never again let me go. “I should never have frozen you out like that. I’m sorry I was such an ass,” he apologized again, while letting my feet find the floor so he could slide his hands soothingly along my back, my nape, and through my hair.
It took my body an embarrassing length of time to stop shuddering and for my breathing to relax back into normalcy, but if you’ve ever ugly cried before, you know it doesn’t just turn off because you want it to stop. Max held me the entire time, lending me his strength, solidity and warmth. Letting me realign myself to his presence and reconnect with the missing pieces of my heart and soul.
I had missed him so much. More than words could adequately portray. Even though I was mad at him for ignoring me, I still needed him and wanted him in my life.
He kissed my forehead and used his thumbs to swipe away the moisture from under my eyes, then gently cupped my face, hunching down a little so he could look me in the eye without giving me a crick in my neck.
“Please say you forgive me, Maya,” he urged in a fervent plea. “I know I was wrong,” he added. “I came here to tell you that to your face and to beg you not to be mad at me for needing some time to get my head back on straight.”
Max buried his face in my neck and breathed me into him as his arms once again wrapped around me and I hugged him back.
“I can’t live without you, Maya. I will always need you in my life. I missed you so badly,” he whispered, squeezing me even closer. “I love you so much and I’m so sorry for making you cry.”
“I missed you too, Max,” I offered, squeezing him back and making a conscious decision to let go of the hurt he caused me. “I love you too much to stay mad at you,” I told him as he reluctantly extricated himself from my neck so we could once again lock eyes. “But you need to do better,” I told him in a firm voice, making sure not to blink and holding my tongue for a few long moments, giving it time to sink in before speaking again.
“I don’t want to waste any more time on negative emotions when I know you have the power to bring me so much joy,” I went on.
“You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that,” he replied, leaning in to steal a quick, heartfelt kiss. “I’m just sorry that I ever made you feel shitty in the first place,” he stepped back, giving me room to see the sincerity in his face. “I’m sorry that you had to waste even a minute of time doubting how I feel about you, when that has never and will never change.”
“Yeah?” I asked slyly, reconnecting with my saucy attitude. “And how’s that?”
“I’m fucking crazy about you, Maya,” Max declared, suddenly gripping my shirt front and pulling me into a hard, needy kiss.
We didn’t pull apart again until we were both breathless and dizzy.
“I fucking missed the hell out of those lips,” Max grinned, still breathing hard. The mischievous sparkle in his eyes told me he was currently thinking about a lot of other, naughtier things he had missed as well. And so was I. “I missed everything about you,” he continued in a ragged whisper. “Your body to hold at night, the scent of you on our pillows, the way your smile lights me up inside, your exasperated laugh. Just everything, Maya.”
His words and his kisses made me want to lock myself in a room with him and forget the rest of the world existed until he had fucked me sideways and six way to Sunday.
“I like it when you look at me that way,” Max whispered, stepping back in close.
“Like what?” I taunted.
“Grinning at me like a feral cat in heat,” he replied pressing his body into mine, pushing me back until I was pressed against the wall, then slowly devouring my mouth.
I groaned into his kiss when his hand found the back of my thigh, lifting a leg around his hip so he could better grind his hard parts into my soft ones.
“I want to be inside you now,” he gasped into my mouth, making me moan.
Someone off to the side cleared their throat. Maybe they been clearing it for a while? I admit, my mind was a bit too preoccupied at the moment, with Max, to notice anything outside of our little lust bubble.
“Am I interrupting anything?” I heard Foster ask with absolutely zero remorse. “I mean, I’m happy to watch you two fuck each other in the hallway, but I wasn’t sure if you would mind the rest of your audience...” he trailed off.
When his words finally sunk through the fog of my desire to be with Max, they got my attention, as intended. I finally looked around and noticed how many people were milling about. There were sound guys, band managers, and venue workers all hustling about and my face began to burn crimson.
“Oh wow,” I muttered with embarrassment, shocked by my own lack of awareness and decorum.
Max chuckled in my ear and allowed my leg to slide to the floor, stepping back.
“Maybe we should hold this reunion somewhere a little more private,” he offered sheepishly.
“You guys better be back in time for the show,” Foster warned, before giving us a nod, in blessing, heading back into the dressing room and shutting the door behind him.
