Page 208 of Piece Us Together

All I can manage to say is, “Oh, Maison,” because the sheer joy and relief surging through me is overwhelming.

He tugs Nolan away from me, settling him in his lap. They both look at me with big eyes full of hope. With tentative smiles.

“What do you say, Hunter?” Maison asks. “All cards on the table.”

“All cards on the table,” Nolan agrees. “We want forever with you.”

Is this what it feels like for your dreams to come true? When something even better than your dreams, even better than you could have possibly imagined, comes true?

I blink away tears.

I say, “Forever sounds perfect.”

Epilogue

Maison

Dr. Singh gives me a goal for the week: Be Selfish.

“It’s a stupid fucking goal. Especially for the week of Christmas. Who is selfish at Christmas time? That’s just downright rude. Who does he want me to be, Scrooge? Should I walk around with a frown on my face and mumble bah humbug? What even is that, bah humbug? Is that like a made-up phrase just for Scrooge? Is he that big of a dick, he coined his own angry Christmas phrase? What am I supposed to do, pout whenever I don’t want to do something this week? It’s ridiculous.”

I look up to find Hunter with his elbow on the breakfast bar, his chin resting on his fisted hand. He’s smirking. It’s not sexy. I refuse to allow it to be. I am embracing the Scrooge-vibe and Scrooge doesn’t get turned on by smirks.

Though if Hunter Meridian smirked at him, I bet he’d change his tune…

“What?” I ask in as cranky of a voice I can manage. It’s pathetic. I am losing my touch. This man is clearly ruining me.

His smirk widens. “I just love you.”

Goddammit.

See what I’m working with here?

“I hate you,” I say in response, but it’s very pouty and grumbly and from the way his smirk stretches into a grin, I know he doesn’t believe it. Of course he doesn’t. Still, it bothers me to have the lie sitting out there. The untruth of it is too much. I make sure I sound just as grumbly though as I say, “I love you, too...”

“Would you like to tell me what exactly you and Dr. Singh talked about tonight?”

I shrug, letting my eyes fall to the Christmas cookie I’ve accidentally added far too much icing to. Nolan is going to be home any minute now and is totally going to give me shit for that. He’s going to make me eat the plain cookies if we run out of icing.

“Maison, he would not tell you to be selfish this week in particular if there aren’t things you’re worrying about related to this week.”

I scrape some of the frosting off the star cookie and add it to the stocking.Stockings can be yellow, right?Fuck it. This one is yellow.

“Sweetheart, what’s going on?” he asks, not sounding amused anymore. I look up just in time to see him stand and come around the island. I turn to face him as he brackets me with a hand beside each of my hips on the countertop. He tilts his head, his eyes scanning me. I feel stuck. Observed. It takes a lot for me not to run from it. Not to lash out. It helps when his eyes focus on mine and his hand finds my throat. It’s nothing more than a grounding touch, but it’s enough. “Whatever’s in that head of yours doesn’t belong to you. Give it to me.”

There’s no argument from that. It's undisputed. Inevitable. It's as easy as an exhale, looking into his eyes and whispering, “What if Carter wants to kneel at the party?”

“Ah.” He breathes heavily through his nose, nodding. “I somehow did not even consider that. That was smart of you to think ahead, Maison. That would be hard for you to see, wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah. I don’t think - Ican’tsee that. Not yet. I’m not ready for him to be at Trav’s feet in front of me.”

“Then we tell them.”

I shake my head. “That’s not fair. You said your friends will have their subs kneeling and I already said Nolan can kneel for you. Carter should be able to kneel.”

“He’ll understand. You’re not saying he can’t ever kneel at these parties. You’re saying you’re just not ready for it this time around. We’ll practice, for the future. We’ll have them over for dinner and practice. We’ll figure it out. For tomorrow, you’re going to be selfish. Aren’t you?”

I squeeze my eyes shut. “Hunter…”

---