“It’s what I want, Mais,” I said honestly, leading her into my building when we reached it and pressing the button to call the elevator. “I’ve lived every phase of my life to the fullest, you know? When I started playing hockey, I went at it hard and I didn’t stop until I could say that I’d played D1, even though I knew I wouldn’t go pro. When I partied, I partied hard, but I’ve been there. I’ve done that.”
“So you’re ready for the next phase?” she concluded for me as we climbed out on my floor.
“Yep.” We paused at my door and I unlocked it, looking down into her eyes before I pushed it open. “I’m ready to give it everything I’ve got now.”
Her cheeks flushed and she smiled but ducked her head to hide it again. I waved her in ahead of me. When the door clicked shut behind us, I found the lack of music, lights, shrieking, and laughter such a relief that I immediately sank down on the couch.
“Thank God,” I groaned. “I’ll get you a drink in a minute. I just need to decompress for a second.”
“I know what you mean.” She slipped off her heels and pressed her toes into the rug like she needed to feel the solid ground.
For a moment, we were both quiet, me just sitting there appreciating the lack of any stimulation and her taking a look around. Her gaze lingered on the sparsely decorated walls and the bare spots on the floors. I hadn’t really bothered decorating the place, and she was clearly noticing.
“This is very you,” she said finally, a smile tugging at her lips.
“What does that mean?” I asked, shrugging out of my jacket and kicking off my shoes. “Clean, but empty?”
She shot me an amused smile. “No, actually. Modern. Masculine. Maybe a little lonely.”
“You should’ve seen it before I bought furniture,” I joked to deflect from how badly her words had stung. Maybe because they’d been so accurate.
Maisie laughed, the sound soft and real in a way that went straight to my chest. She walked over to the couch and sank down beside me, close enough that I caught a whiff of her perfume and nearly moaned out loud. She leaned back, her head tipping against the cushion.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
Her eyes opened and she gave me a tired but genuine smile. “Yeah. I just can’t remember the last time I had this much fun.”
I bumped my shoulder into hers. “Good. I wanted you to. Prepare to be bored at Westwood parties until next Halloween, though, if that one was your speed.”
She chuckled. “I’ll just have to find a way to survive, but seriously, thank you. That was a good night.”
I shook my head. “Don’t do that. Don’t act like I’ve done you some huge favor. I like having you with me. I like being with you. With Brody.”
She studied me like she was trying to figure out if I meant it. “You make it sound so simple.”
“That’s because it is.” I gave her a smile that I could feel was soft. “Our situation is complicated. Life is complicated, but me wanting you? That part is easy, Mais. It always has been.”
Her breath caught and the space between us suddenly felt charged. For a second, it looked like she might argue again, but instead she shifted closer, her fingers brushing mine.
“You always know what to say, don’t you?” she murmured, turning her head to look directly into my eyes.
“Only with you.” I couldn’t hold back anymore, and without even thinking about it, I found myself leaning in, slow enoughto give her time to pull away, but when she didn’t, I pressed my mouth to hers, soft but sure.
She kissed me back with zero hesitation this time, one of her hands coming up to wrap around the nape of my neck as she leaned into me. My heart started pounding. My cock got all sorts of ideas about what we could do with her.
This wasn’t our first kiss, far from it, but it was the first one during which I actually felt like she was mine, and that? That changed everything.
CHAPTER 30
MAISIE
Just like before, I barely had time to look around Callum’s bedroom before he was kissing me again, but tonight, he stood me in front of his bed instead of laying me down on it. His kisses were different too, slower and more reverent. Like he was truly drinking in every moment.
As exhausted as I was, I was in no hurry either. Being with him here, like this, with only the two of us in the intimacy of the moment, it felt like we were already together. Already in love. Married. Settled.
It was hard to even remember that I was keeping something so major from him as his tongue stroked my own, his hands gentle as they moved to the zipper at my spine and tugged it down. If I was being honest, I would admit that it probably felt like we were already in love because I was at least halfway there—if not more.
I didn’t know for sure how he felt about me, but recently, I’d started suspecting that this wasn’t only an arrangement for him anymore either. Something about the way he’d been with me and with Brody made it feel like it really was becoming more. Like we would’ve ended up here, no matter what.
