Chapter 36
Jackson
Six months later…
“You are such a clown!” Maia says, whacking me in the arm.
“What?” I ask, as I sling an arm over her shoulders. “I’m just saying that purple pants are a great idea for his groomsmen,” I say laughing.
Blake’s fiancée, Emily throws a cushion at me and grins at him adoringly. Who knew we’d be here? Sitting in Maia’s apartment, with this guy who I nearly murdered at one point, discussing his upcoming nuptials with his future wife.
“Man, if I don’t get laid tonight because of you…” Blake says, pointing a finger at me with mock seriousness.
Emily flicks her long, blonde hair over her shoulder and grins at Blake. Every time I see them, I swear I think of Barbie and Ken. “I’ll consider it, let’s get going,” she says and they stand to leave.
“You guys are noisy as hell,” Jade moans, walking out of her bedroom with a sleepy expression and bed head.
This time its Maia’s turn to jibe. “Well, if you spent your nights sleeping instead of entertaining half the female population in Providence, you may need to sleep less in the day!”
“Look who’s talking,” she says. “You guys do sleep in the bedroom right next to mine, don’t claim innocence,” she rebuts.
Maia throws me a positively sinful look. “Anyway, you have a big day tomorrow, so no late nights,” she reprimands, poking me in the arm.
Yup, my first day as a Criminology major is scaring the shit out of me and it hasn’t even begun yet.
“I’m going out,” Jade says, walking into the bathroom as Blake and Emily leave.
“Surprise, surprise!” I tease.
Maia and I finish up the dishes in the kitchen. She washes, I dry. It’s the same every night. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Do I really have to go to bed now?” I say with mock childishness, linking both arms around her waist from behind and pulling her back into me. She leans her head onto my chest and with her free hand reaches back and grabs a handful of the bulge in my jeans.
“Hey!” I tease. “Really? The crotch grab, just like that?”
She swings around and pulls me into her, her ass resting against the kitchen countertop. “Why not?” she smiles, biting my bottom lip gently. “It belongs to me, after all. All mine.”
She looks up at me, eyes blazing with lust, just before our lips crush together. Maia does this to me, all of me. She is f-ucking irresistible in every single way. Even in the worst of ways.
“Let’s put you to bed,” she says, grabbing my hand and leading me into the bedroom.
We set the bed on fire, as we usually do, and both of us spent and exhausted, we curl up together, ready to drift into a peaceful sleep. Sleep alludes me tonight, but not in the ways it used to. In the last six months, Maia and I have both had our share of nightmares. We’ve battled our own demons, but slowly and surely, the love we have for each other is killing them off, one by one. Maia’s breathing evens out. I’ve watched her fall asleep a thousand times. And it never gets old. Reaching into my bedside drawer, I finger a soft velvet box carefully tucked into the back corner. Tomorrow marks a year since we met. And I’m taking Maia back to the galley at the Bean and opening that box, and f-ucking sweating until the answer she gives me is hopefully yes. I may be crazy, and yes I have considered that many times since buying this ring, but there is no other option for my forever, however long that turns out to be.
I don’t plan on asking Maia to marry me. The ring tells me that her that her and I, we’re forever. It’s finally all real; the good, the bad, and all the shit in between. I’m not even giving her this ring because she’s all mine. I’m giving it to her because I’m all hers. From the moment her towel turban-wearing self walked into my life. I want her to say yes to never leaving my side, and I don’t care if the legal piece of paper or the name change never comes. I just need Maia.
We were both so scared of the future, the past. I think of how many times we nearly let each other go, and I am grateful that the universe had other plans. Turns out what we found was hot and crazy and messed up, but amazing. In the end, we were both so scared, but we really were just scared of beautiful.