Brooke gasps, squeezing my hand. “Is he alright?”
“No,” I tell her softly, wanting to lessen the blow as much as I can. “He’ll never walk again. His pelvis and legs were crushed beneath the dash. He’s lucky to be alive, but if you asked him, he’d say otherwise.”
“Shit,” Brooke cries. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not here to get your sympathy or pity,” I tell her. “I just wanted to let you know that his accident has sort of put life into perspective for me and has had me thinking about all the things I’ve fucked up in my life. Yet the only thing I regret is how I treated you.”
“What about all the other girls you fucked around on?”
“None of them meant what you meant to me. You’re the only one who I let inside and when things started to get real, I panicked.” I watch her a moment before continuing. “I really did love you, Brooke, and I hate that I hurt you. I hate it even more that this prick was willing to do the same. You don’t deserve that, especially after what I’ve already put you through.”
“No, and I didn’t deserve it when you did it to me either.”
“No, you didn’t,” I say regretfully, wishing there was some kind of way I could take it all back and still be her man. “I don’t think I’ve ever apologized for it.”
Brooke’s lips flatten into a tight line as she shrugs. “I’ve never given you a chance to get that close.”
“No,” I grin, able to recall each and every single time I’ve tried. “You sure as hell haven’t.”
I’m finally graced with a smile and I’m unable to stop myself from pulling her back into me. “Come on,” I tell her, laying back down in her bed. “Just let me hold you and you can go back to hating me tomorrow.”
“I don’t hate you, Max,” she tells me, getting comfortable on my chest, right where she belongs. “Not anymore.”
Relief sails through me, but I still feel like a fucking prick for everything I’ve put her through over the past year. “I really am sorry,” I murmur into the too-quiet room. “You don’t know what I’d give to go back to senior year and do it all differently.”
“Yeah?” she questions.
“Definitely.”
I feel Brooke nod against my chest before falling quiet once again. I wonder if she’s thinking about a response, but when the silence draws out, I look down and realize that she’s fallen asleep.
A smile plays on my lips. I thought a moment like this would never come around again, yet here it is. Somehow this beautiful woman is content enough around me to let her guard down and fall asleep and it’s the best damn feeling in the world.
I feel as though I’ve managed to gain back a slither of her trust and despite what my body is telling me, I slip out from under her. The last thing I want to do is take advantage and stay here the night, knowing that’s not what she would want.
I make my way to her door and look back as I let out a long breath. “I fucking love you, babe,” I tell her moments before shutting off her light and slipping out of her room.
I lock up the girls’ home and not a second later, I’m back in my car, working out my next move.
Chapter 11
Brooke
I wake to an empty bed and disappointment instantly fires through me. Part of me had wished Maxen had stayed and the other part…I don’t know. I’m at a loss and the fact that I feel this disappointment for none other than the guy who broke me, is confusing the absolute shit out of me.
I should never have dropped my guard and fallen asleep last night. In fact, I should never have allowed him through the door in the first place, though I have Tora to thank for that brief lapse of judgment.
Yet, I can’t find it within myself to regret it. I saw another side of Maxen that I haven’t seen for a very long time and that little girl inside of me who’s always been so desperately in love with him was screaming out, needing to feel his arms around me, needing his lips on mine.
Oh, God. I’ve missed him.
I may have spent the night in tears, but the second he laid me down on my bed and I curled into his strong chest, it became startlingly clear that the tears were for him and not for Lukas. In fact, from the second he walked into my kitchen and I saw his familiar face, Lukas hasn’t even crept into my mind.
Maybe I wasn’t falling for him after all. Maybe I was just simply clinging to the idea of having someone who cared, someone to love and treat me the way I’ve always wanted. The way that Maxen used to. I guess that was an epic fail.