Page 106 of Can We Skip to the Good Part?
“God, look at you,” Max murmured, more reverence than command now. “You have no idea what you do to me.” The sight of Ella like that—on all fours, bare, waiting, already trembling with want—nearly unraveled her.
Ella glanced over her shoulder, flushed. “Then show me.”
Max pressed a kiss to the base of her spine. “Tell me if anything’s too much,” she murmured. Another soft kiss, as she caressed Ella’s very smooth ass.
Ella looked back over her shoulder, eyes heavy with heat. “The only thing too much is not having you inside me.”
That sent a jolt straight through Max’s core. She reached between Ella’s thighs, teasing her with fingers, building the pressure until Ella’s hips rolled against her, seeking more. When Max finally entered her, Ella let out a sound that landed somewhere between a gasp and a moan.
Max placed one hand on Ella’s hip and, with the other, moved with slow, controlled thrusts, watching the way Ella’s body responded to every shift and grind. She was so expressive, so open, it undid Max completely.
Max kept her rhythm steady, each thrust angled with intention, her free hand sliding around to stroke Ella exactly the way she liked. The combination made Ella arch back into her, a litany of soft, breathy moans falling from her lips.
“Just like that,” Ella gasped. “Don’t stop.”
Max pressed a kiss between her shoulder blades, her own breathing ragged. “I’ve got you.”
Ella’s hands fisted the sheets. Her whole body trembled, so close, so ready. Max could feel the shift in her, the way tension coiled tight in her core.
“Let go,” Max whispered. “Come for me.”
And Ella did, her body clenching around Max’s fingers as a cry tore from her throat, high and broken and beautiful. Max held her through it, slowing her movements but never letting go, her own heart thundering.
“That was so good,” Ella said, breathless and falling onto her side.
Max met her there so they were lying face-to-face. She touched Ella’s cheek with her fingertips. “Do you know how much I’ve missed this? How much I’ve missed you?”
“I’m starting to understand,” Ella said, brushing a strand of hair off of Max’s forehead. “Come here,” Ella said, pulling Max to her. “I want you close.”
“You’ll always have me close, Ella.”
Ella wrapped her arms around Max and held on, savoring the overflowing emotion, the well of feelings, the love. “I’m so in love with you, Max. There’s nothing that compares.”
“I love you, too,” Max said, kissing her softly, thoroughly, like they had all the time in the world, and they did.
THIRTY
Fries, Mayonnaise, and Us
It was almost as if the universe knew that things had fallen into place. A week went by. And then six. Each moment Ella spent with Max was better than the last. They were so very different, which kept life interesting and full of silly debates and discoveries.
“I don’t understand how fries dipped in mayonnaise are allowed by law when ketchup is sittingrightthere,” Ella once told Max as she watched her across the table at Maple and Main, the little diner near the center of town.
“I have a feeling you’ve never tried it.”
“Oh, and I think we’re gonna have to leave it that way. Pass the ketchup, weirdo,” she’d said with a challenging grin. It earned her a kiss first.
“Did you taste the mayonnaise?” Max asked, nodding with authority.
“Gasp and glare. You tricked me with your mayonnaise lips, and know it.”
Max had sat back in the red vinyl booth looking like the winner of the third-grade spelling bee. “Worth it.”
But at the same time, the two of them were in sync in the ways that mattered. They took care of each other when one had a hard day, instinctively knowing to take up more of the slack. They were tolerant of conflicts in their schedules and took turns compromising when necessary. Ella had even had dinner with Max’s parents at their home. Twice. Mayumi told her all about her treatment plan and how encouraged the doctors were feeling about her progress. Max’s father, Glenn, promised to show her how to box just like he’d taught Max. She was looking forward to it, and enjoyed shopping for her own gloves with Max.
That morning, Ella woke to a gorgeous March offering that made her want to lift her shoulders to her ears. Crisp and only mildly chilly, with sunshine streaming in through Max’s kitchen window, as if it were painting the walls with warmth.
Max was dressed for work in gray pants and a white dress shirt with oversized cuffs as she stood, sipping her coffee near the pot, when Ella padded in, still happily wearing Max’s oversized Commanders T-shirt, her newfound favorite.
