Fuck.
Trying not to hurry, I stepped out of the living room and into the hall and froze at what I heard from the kitchen.
“What I’m trying to say, Maia, is that you seem like a nice girl, but I need to know you’re in this for real before Baird gets hurt.”
Fuck!
I moved to step into the room, but Maia’s response stopped me on the threshold. Their backs were to me as they stood at the sink.
“I would never hurt Bear,” she replied vehemently, sounding offended. “He’s my favorite person in the whole world.”
My chest tightened. In a good way.
“Bear?” Mum asked.
“I call him Bear. Because he gives good bear hugs.”
Mum laughed softly. “He does. He always has.”
“His hugs make me feel safe,” Maia continued quietly. “Your son is one of the best humans I’ve ever met. He makesme feel good about myself, he makes me feel safe to just be me, but he also makes me feel like I can be more than who I am right now. Like there’s more in me and I don’t have to be afraid to explore that with him. It’s exciting. It’s …” She trailed off.
My heart was in my fucking throat.
Blood whooshed in my ears.
Hope grew so big inside me I could barely breathe around it.
“You should tell him that,” Mum said, her profile soft. “He deserves to hear it.”
I cleared my throat. “I just did.”
Maia whirled on a gasp while Mum beamed from ear to ear. She looked between us, at Maia’s pink cheeks, and then at me. Whatever she saw on my face made her bridge the distance between us. Mum stroked the back of her knuckles over my cheek. “I’m so pleased for you, sweetheart.”
I nodded because I didn’t think I could get the words out.
Then she looked back at Maia. “Did you know your wedding invitations ask the guests to RSVP in just one week?”
The abrupt change in conversation made Maia blink rapidly. “No. What? One week?” Her shoulders slumped. “Unfortunately, none of the decisions regarding the wedding are ours to make. Part of the agreement.”
“Not even your dress?” Mum was aghast.
“Thankfully, since I’m the bridal buyer for Pennington’s, there are very few gowns I don’t like in our collection.”
Mumhmm’dand then patted my shoulder as she passed.
I knew that noise. Just as I saw the sadness and frustrationon My’s face. It hadn’t bothered me when we made the deal with Pennington’s. I hadn’t thought beyond using the campaign as a way to show Maia what was really between us.
But hearing her say those phenomenal things about how I made her feel … knowing that this wasrealbetween us … it was shit that Maia didn’t get to choose how our wedding would go down. Mum clearly thought so too.
And this was it.
Me and Maia … it would take an apocalyptic event to end us, and maybe not even then. Which meant our wedding was going to happen and we would be legally married. And it wouldn’t even feel like us.
I could practically hear my mum telling me to fix it.
I just didn’t know how.
Yet.
