Page 60 of It's Not Home Without You

I laughed. “Oh, baby, you take what I give you.”

Her legs tried pulling me tighter against her, making her heels dig into my ass. I smiled into her neck when she grunted in frustration.

“Max, I need more.” The desperation in her voice stopped me from taunting her. I slammed into her with more force than necessary. Freya’s head hit the concrete wall as she cried out my name.

“Give it to me,Freya.” I looked into her eyes as her face filled with pleasure when I hit her G-spot.

“Keep your eyes open,” I ordered. And she did, not once breaking eye contact with me. When I let myself go, I hugged her tighter because I knew this moment was a gift.

“Fuck.” My cock pulsated against her pussy walls, marking her, and I never felt more at home in my whole life. All those years of hell without her were worth it to feel heaven wrapped in her wet silkiness.

I put her down gently, loving the way her body slid offmine. The rain making us stick to each other. How many times did I search for this feeling with all those women and none of them compared? Freya’s hands were fisting my shirt like she didn’t want to let go.

“Baby, are you okay?” I bent my head, so I could look into her eyes. Thefire I had seen earlier was no longer there;her gaze was blank. That’s when I noticed she was shaking.“Freya, talkto me?” I demanded, scared out of my mind. Fuck, did I hurt her? Did she hit her head harder than I thought?

“Please step back.” She pushed me, but I wasn’t moving. “What did we do, Max?” Even through the rain, I could see she was crying. “We shouldn’t have done that.”

“Freya, calm down, baby.”

“Move the fuck out of my way, Max!” she yelled, and I did as she wished.

As soon as I stepped away from her, I felt cold. She started to walk away, and I stayed put, even though every cell in my body was yelling for me to go after her.

“So that’s it, you’re just going to leave again?” I took a step toward her but stopped as she backed away from me like I scared her. Flinching, I took a step back. For one second, everything was perfect but the next it was all falling apart again.

“This was a mistake…” She sobbed into her hand. “Stay away from me.” She ran away, tears still in her eyes.

I couldn’t move.

Freya delivered a killing shot, and she didn’t even know it. I stood in the rain letting the water wash away themistake that was just made. I was a weak man whenit came to Freya Pratt. She was the only person who could make me lose control.

Freya had destroyed me once, and I was dumb enough to almost let it happen again. She was my weakness, and I was…nothing. I half expected to turn and see the wall covered in flames, asignof what Freya and I had shared, or perhaps a sign that said I justhad the best sex of my life, but the wall showed no evidence.

I was about to leave when something caught my eye. I saw the thin scrap of lace on the ground, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why I picked it up. Walking out of the alley soaking wet, only then did the impact of what had just happened hit me.

My wedding was three weeks away, and I had slept with someone else.

Worst of all, I didn’t regret it.

I’d do it all over again if I could.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Eighteen years old

My hand was shakingas I grabbed a pen and tore a piece of paper from one of my notebooks. It was time—time for me to rip my heart out, then try to stop the bleeding so I could get on with my life. A life without my boy. A life without Maximilian Dunnett.

Dear Max,

God, that sounded pathetic. A tear fell down my face, ruining the nearly blank page. The paper had tear droplets all over. I threw it away and started another.

The last few years with you were amazing. You are everything a girl could ask for, but I think we have been lying to ourselves. There’s so much difference between the both of us. We were good together but not great. I’m tired of feeling inferior every time we go out. I’m tired ofwondering if things will eventually get better. We come from very different families, and we want different things from our lives. You have plans, you know who you are, and I can’t be the girl who tries to fit into all that.

God, this was killing me. If I had it my way, I would say how he was my hero. Max came into my life when I needed someone new to believe in me. He made the empty ache in my heart full again. When your heart was full of love, there was no need for sticks and stones. I knew nothing would touch me because Max wouldn’t let it. He was my shield, but shields didn’t last forever. More tears fell as I wrote, and I had to lean back and wipe them off before they marred the words on the page.

Max had to believe I didn’t love him anymore.

Every moment I spend in this town feels like I’m drowning. I’m suffocating here, Max. I will never be the girl at town events, hosting parties, and attending fundraisers. While you were busy running around town, helping with the elections, I met someone. He isn’t from around here. He makes me laugh; he understands me and reminds me that all I ever wanted was to be free.

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