“Do you need a friendly face in the audience cheering you on?”
She rises onto her elbows, a teasing smile on her face. “Are you inviting yourself to my event, Max?”
“Well, I think I can make myself available if you need the moral support.” I wink and ruffle her hair. “And if you want me there.”
“I’d love it if you came.” A bright smile stretches across her lips. “That would be awesome.”
“Then I’ll be there. Now, tell me more about the kids. What are they like?”
“They’re so great and positive. They go through so much with their diseases, but yet they try really hard to be optimistic. They’re such an inspiration, and I feel like this is the least I can do to help. So we find volunteers to come and hang out with them while they’re in the hospital. They’re the buddies. And we use donations to buy games and toys and electronics so the kids have things to keep them occupied when their buddies visit. The whole experience keeps their spirits high and their minds occupied so they aren’t thinking about being sick.” A shadow clouds her face for a second. “It’s so sad to know they might never get better, but making new friends helps them through the dark times, you know?” She sighs. “It’s not always easy. There’s this one kid, Eli, who was just admitted. I’ve heard that he’s really unresponsive and confrontational. I still have to meet him and introduce him to the program, but it doesn’t sound like he’d be up for it. I don’t know, I need to find just the right person to pair up with him, someone who can get through to him and help him come to terms with his diagnosis. Someone who can make him smile and look forward instead of focusing on the present which is pretty crappy right now.”
“You really are an incredible woman, Sloane.” I flip over onto my stomach, leaning over her. “It takes a really special person to put an organization like this together.”
“Sometimes it’s nice to have someone to talk to and play video games with.” She nudges me.
“Yeah” I brush her hair off her forehead and lean down to gently graze it with my lips. This girl does so much…she gives so much…she deserves so much.
How can I possibly give her even half of what she gives to others, knowing my past is on the hunt for me?
I have a battle to fight, but I don’t know if I can win it.
I stroke the side of her face, pressing my lips to hers as a reminder that winning is everything.
It means I actually get to live.
I crack open my eyes, squinting at the blinding stream of light that managed to cut through the curtains. One of my arms is wrapped tight around Sloane. I drop a kiss onto her shoulder and she lets out a tiny moan, sliding that perfect ass against my cock.
Which, under normal circumstances, would make me want to fuck her until she forgets her own name and make her scream her hot little head off for hours on end.
But there are too many other things that keep my dick limp as a fucking noodle…things that can hurt her, things that can destroy whatever this is between us, things that should have kept me tossing and turning in my own bed last night instead of invading hers.
Instead, I came over here in the middle of the fucking night with a shit storm tearing my mind apart.
I had no right to show up on her doorstep.
I had no right to put her in danger.
I had no right to make promises I can’t keep.
Her deep, even breaths tell me she feels comfortable, secure, and safe.
That’s fucking irony for you. I’m the last person anyone should feel safe around. Especially now.
Waiting is pure torture. I know what’s coming, but I don’t know when, where, or how.
I only know nobody is safe around me. Yet, here I am, literally wrapped up in the girl I’ve been in love with for as long as I can remember.
Now she’s at risk…just like everyone else, because that’s how it works when you’re dealing with people who have nothing to lose.
They take everything because they have nothing.
They want you to feel the same pain.
I scrub a hand down the front of my face.
I have to get out of here. It’s daylight, and my car is parked outside next to hers.
Anyone could be out there…