Page 91 of Cream and Punishment
Vicky didwhat? When she already had Max? The very possibility blew my mind to smithereens. Why would someone want anyone else when he exists?
He smiled. Not quite melancholy, not quite happy.Content. That seemed like the best word for the curve of his lips and the slight crinkle of the skin by his eyes. “Not the kind of relationship we had at the time—comfortable, and nothing else. So she made the call I couldn’t even see had to be made. Andyouhelped her see that.”
Putting this spin on the day that would live forever in infamy in my head felt like trying to walk after taking a ride on the KitchenAid’s paddle. I knew what the picture was supposed to look like but getting it into focus—acceptingit—wouldn’t happen immediately. It would take some time, maybe some wooziness while I was at it. For the first time, though, I believed itwouldhappen. There were no shortage of things I’ve done wrong, but maybe I could finally let this particular one go.
“But that isn’t why it’s one of my favorite days,” he continued, one corner of his mouth lifting higher to lend a roguish quality to his smile. “It’s one of my favorite days because I met you. No matter the circumstances.”
My jaw dropped. My mind went blessedly blank for one second. Nothing but white noise. “I’m sorry?”
He chuckled and shifted the tiniest bit closer. “Do you have any idea how hard it has been to resist you since you moved in? First I chalked it up to curiosity, especially since I found you hiding from me that first day. Then I told myself I had to show there wasn’t any ill will toward you once I found out you thought I’d been plotting revenge.”
I cringed and hid my face behind the book. “I’m not sure which one to be more embarrassed about.”
“How about neither?” He lowered the book until our eyes met, his face achingly close to mine. “They brought you closer to me, didn’t they? So as far as I’m concerned, they aren’t embarrassing. They justare.” His eyes lit with mischief. “And they make for an excellent story.”
I pushed him playfully. “For you, maybe.”
He winced as soon as my hand touched his chest, but he didn’t scoot back to his corner of the couch.
I froze as I remembered how badly he’d been battered with paintballs yesterday. I impulsively stretched his shirt collar down to see where I’d touched him, only to find a smattering of purplish-blue bruises in radial patterns where each paintball had hit. As bad as my bruises were, his blew them out of the water. I could only imagine how much more noticeable they’d be on my pale skin compared to his.
“Max!” I gaped, eyes wide as I finally let his shirt collar go. “Did you ice these?”
He grimaced. “Does going out for drinks with the guys after paintball count as icing it?”
I was already on my way to his freezer. Surely he hadsomethingthat would help. Not that I was convinced icing bruises made much of a difference, but I couldn’t donothingwhile he was in pain.
After taking a mental note of the ice cream flavors he had, I found a bag of frozen fruit that could work for an ice pack. When I turned from closing the freezer, I nearly barreled into his chest.
“Holy ham hocks, Max,” I breathed, clutching at my heart before passing him the berries. I hadn’t even heard him stand, and yet he’d already made it to the kitchen. “For such a big guy, you’re really light on your feet.”
“All the practice you give me, keeping me on my toes, I’m sure.” He reluctantly held the fruit bag to his chest, flinching again from the pressure it put on his bruises. “They really showed no mercy yesterday.”
I gave an awkward laugh. As much as I doubted Hattie and Annie would hold back regardless, I couldn’t help thinking our girls’ night discussion might have heightened their aggression.
“Uh, nope. No mercy. Anyway” —I rushed into a topic change before he could read the guilt on my face— “you were saying something about how irresistible I am? My social graces and cunning wit, I think?”
“Something like that.” He grinned, then looked down at the fruit he held to his chest. His expression turned thoughtful, his smile fading and his eyebrows pulling together. “You know, I think I like being taken care of, as long as it’s you.”
“I like taking care of you,” I murmured.
Besides feeding him and making him hold frozen produce to his battle wounds, I wasn’t sure I had much to offer him. But maybe relationships weren’t about what you could bring to the table, anyway. Maybe they were about choosing your person and then choosing them over and over again because that’s what love was, in the end. It was choosing.
“Then it appears we’re at an impasse” —his eyes sparkled like sugar crystals as he tucked an errant curl behind my ear— “because I like taking care of you, too.”
I breathed him in, drank in the snapshot of the moment exactly as it was. “How about we meet each other where they are? Some days I’ll have a bum ankle, and you’ll literally carry my weight.”
He chuckled at this, his hand lingering to caress my face.
“And others,” I continued, “you’ll have battle scars that need tending to and I’ll get to fuss over you. Or maybe you’ll have a hard day at work, and I’ll be here for you through that, too.” I shrugged, attempting to play off the depth of my devotion for fear of scaring him off. “I’m only a wall away.”
His thumb rubbed gentle circles against my cheek as he cupped my jaw, his expression intense yet unreadable. When he finally spoke, he looked over his shoulder toward the flower print hanging on his wall. “My mom has a massive flower garden, but hydrangeas are her favorite.”
I fought to keep my expression neutral. Considering how many random topic changes I had sprung on him, it only seemed fair that he could do the same every now and then.
“She’d tell us all the time about how the soil the hydrangeas are planted in will determine their coloring when they blossom. Cultivate good soil, and you’ll get the flowers you want.” He smiled and finally retracted his hand. “I want good soil for us. I want to do this the right way.”
I frowned. My soul wanted to take flight at his words, but I had no idea what he actually meant. “Dowhatright?”
