Evan and the horrific scene after class. And Maxx.
I sat up abruptly, pushing aside a blanket that hadn’t been there when I had fallen asleep. My room had grown darker, and I could see the soft glow of my alarm clock displaying the time. It was just after eight in the evening.
Crap! I had slept for almost three hours!
I heard a soft exhale of breath, and I looked over to see Maxx curled onto his side. His hair was messy and fell onto his forehead. He had one hand tucked beneath his cheek and the other reaching outward.
He looked incredibly young. Vulnerable, even.
My heart twisted and turned painfully as I watched him sleep. Love that had never gone away re-ignited unobstructed in my chest.
I knew I should push it away, seal it back into the box I had tucked it away in. But I couldn’t.
Not now.
Maybe I was still in a state of shock. Maybe I wasn’t thinking clearly, given the horrific experience I had just gone through. Whatever the reasons, I found myself once again drawn toward the very person I knew I should stay away from.
Without thinking about what I was doing, I slowly lifted my fingers and let them hover above his skin. I wanted to sweep his hair back and feel the soft strands.
But I couldn’t let myself touch him. Even as my fingers tingled with the need to.
I wanted to lie back down beside him. To press myself against him the way I had done so many times before. To fall back into that crazy, passionate place that had dominated my life.
My heart demanded that I never let this man leave my side again. That he belonged there. He wouldalwaysbelong there.
But my head said something else entirely. It warned me of the price of loving him.
But was it a price I’d be willing to pay?
I thought about Renee. And Brooks. And Dr. Lowell. The people who believed in me. The ones who gave me my second chance.
I wouldn’t be disappointing just myself if I allowed this to happen.
But having him here, after what had happened, made my emotions run high. Irrational emotions that had always gotten me into trouble.
I wanted to be smarter. I wanted to be strong and turn away.
I was struggling.
Maxx’s lips quirked into a sleepy smile, and his eyes slowly drifted open. “The whole watching-someone-while-they-sleep thing is a little creepy, you know.”
I blushed, embarrassed at having been caught.
I cleared my throat and looked away. “Yeah, well, you have drool caked to the side of your face.”
Maxx frowned and wiped at his cheek, and I couldn’t help but grin. He rolled his eyes. “You’re hysterical, Aubrey,” he deadpanned.
I smirked, chuckling to myself before sobering. “You shouldn’t have stayed,” I told him firmly but quietly.
I sounded ungrateful, and I knew that. But it was my last-ditch effort to keep him at arm’s length. Because I knew all too well there was a very big difference between doing what was right and doing whatfeltright.
Maxx sat up. His hair was mussed, and there were fine red lines along his jaw from the crease of the pillow. There was something rugged and raw about his face that made it impossible to look away.
“There was no way I would have left you, even if you had tried to make me.” His eyes flashed vehemently, and I believed him.
“I know,” I sighed.
Maxx ran his hand over his face before looking at me again.
