Page 70 of Craving You

That made him laugh. “I’m a man who has a beautiful woman who wants to sleep with me. That part I like,” he said with a hint of amusement. “The more time I spend with her, though, the more I want. I want us to be a couple. I want us to be more than two people who live together and sleep together. I want…” Shaking his head, he paused.

“What?” his father gently asked. “What is it you want?”

Max’s shoulders sagged. “I want it all. I want her to feel for me what I feel for her. I want her to fall in love with me and trust that we can make this work. Unfortunately, I’m so afraid of spooking her that I’ve stopped trying to convince her to marry me. She’s admitted that she’s afraid and that she’s trying, and I told myself to just be patient, but…it’s difficult. Every time we’re…you know…intimate…I think, ‘Is this it? Is this the time she’s finally going to realize we’re meant to be?’ And I get my hopes up and ultimately end up disappointed.”

“That’s understandable, but you deserve to be heard too. I get that you don’t want to spook her, but there are two of you in this relationship and if you don’t openly communicate with each other, nobody’s going to win.”

“Easier said than done. Trust me. I tried. I thought I was saying all the right things and proving to her I was all in, and it just seemed to push her away.”

His father studied his food for a moment before picking up his fork. “Have you thought that maybe then she isn’t the girl for you?”

“Dad, we’re having a baby together!”

“And I get that, but that doesn’t mean you’re right for each other. You put a man and a woman together who are sexually attracted to one another, and you can get pregnant. That’s simple biology. It doesn’t mean you’re destined for happily ever after.”

“Oh my God. You did not just say that!” Laughing softly, Max shook his head.

“What? What did I say?”

“Happily ever after? Seriously? I don’t think people think like that.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. People do think like that and it’s what most of them want. Being alone is…it’s awful. I know some people thrive on that sort of thing, but I know I’m not one of them, and I don’t think you are either.”

“I used to think I was okay with it…”

“Until you saw what it could be like with someone you truly care about. Trust me. There’s nothing like it.” Pausing, John solemnly nodded. “It was like that when I met your mom. I still remember the moment I knew…” He paused again and Max could hear the raw emotion in his voice. “We were at a little Italian restaurant in Richmond, and it was someone’s birthday. The whole place sang ‘Happy Birthday’ and the look of pure joy on your mother’s face just…if I close my eyes, I can still see it so clearly.”

“Dad…”

When his father looked up at him, his eyes shone bright with unshed tears. “She was so beautiful and she had the biggest heart of anyone I’d ever known and I thought…I want to spend my life with her. I want that joy and laughter and light with me forever.” He let out a shaky breath. “I just wish our forever lasted longer.”

Max felt himself getting choked up. “Me too, Dad. Me too.”

They ate in silence for several minutes before his father spoke again.

“Don’t wait, Max. Tomorrow isn’t promised. I get that you’re trying to be respectful, but…” He shook his head again. “You know Hailey better than I do, but I hate the thought of you living your life afraid of being true to yourself, that’s all.”

After that, they talked about sports and the new house, and all the plans Max had for it. It was a good night, and it reminded him how wise his dad truly was.

So he had gone home with plans to tell Hailey how he felt—he was in love with her and he wanted to marry her and even though he was willing to wait, he couldn’t hide how he felt any longer.

Only…she wasn’t home when he got there.

Now it was eleven-fifteen, and he wondered if he should call Chloe and see if everything was okay. But no sooner had he taken his phone out than he saw the headlights from her car pulling into the driveway. Max let out a long breath and finally relaxed. The house felt too quiet without her. That was something that hadn’t bothered him when he stayed here while his brother and Billie were on their honeymoon. The dogs were wandering around and were good company, but it wasn’t the same as being here with Hailey.

“Hey!” she said when she walked in the door and spotted him. She was smiling and looked the most relaxed he’d seen her in weeks. “Did you just get home too?”

He walked over and helped her with her coat. “No, I got home around nine and was just sort of wandering around.”

“How was dinner with your dad?”

It was crazy how much he loved that even though he could tell she’d clearly had a great night, she was asking about his first. “It was great. We haven’t had a night with just the two of us in a while, so…he seemed to appreciate it.”

“Once we move, we should make it a weekly thing where he comes for dinner,” she said as she walked over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. “We always had weekly dinners with the entire family. My parents had us all over every Sunday. It was typically chaos, but it was a great way to catch up on what was going on with everyone.”

“Your cousins do that and whenever Billie and Marcus are the ones hosting, they include my dad. It’s been a bit of a change getting used to being around so many people. Our family is small and for a lot of years, Marcus wasn’t around, but it’s nice.”

After taking a sip of her water, Hailey just looked at him and smiled.

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