“All I want is to focus on this. Us. The future that we have in store. Whatever it holds, I don’t care, because as long as it’s you and me… It’s all I need,” Max says, leaning over the tray between us and placing a kiss on my lips. “All I’ll ever need.”
Epilogue- Maxwell
Fourth of July
“Maverick!Don’tjumpoffthat side of the dock, you are go-”
Splash.
Mav surfaces again, splashing and groaning. “Fuck, my knee!”
“Well if you stopped for a second and listened to me yelling at you, you’d know you were about to bash your knee in,” Clayton scolds like a disappointed parent.
I walk over to the edge of the dock, holding my hand out to help Mav up. Dragging him to the edge of the dock and out of the water, his knee is bloody and cut up.
Laughing at his pain, I help him down the dock where Clayton’s parents are sitting onthe shore.
Amy holds up a first aid kit, already prepared. “Happens often, doesn’t it?” Mav mutters.
“Sure does. Kids run around here forgetting where the rocks are. Been bringing a first aid kit with me for years.” She leans forward on her chair, patting her leg for Mav to lift his foot. He hesitates for a moment before putting his big ass foot on her small thigh.
Amy disinfects the wound and Mav cringes, shutting his eyes at the sting. She then slaps on a waterproof bandaid, tapping his leg to let him know he is good to go. As if nothing happened, Mav runs to the dock and jumps off the opposite side.
Dax comes strolling down from the camp-site, a granola bar in his hand and finally awake from the dead. I’m not even kidding, we tried to wake him up like five times.
It feels so good to be here. At a lake with everyone that I care about. The only thing that would make it better is if Mom was here.
Clayton told me to invite her and I did, but I think she might stay put. I’m sure if she tried to get away, my father would tell her not to come. Not because he controls her, but because it had something to do with me. I call her a few times a week, sending texts and updates just to let her know that I am perfectly okay.
I’m content with my life. It’s not like I’ll never see her again. Just later, when things aren't so heated and tension riled between Randall and I. It will never be fixed between us, but that’s okay. I don’t need it to be.
My life the way it is is enough.
Clayton and I both work for the same hospital. He is an ER technician and I’m an EMT until we decide where we want to call home.
Mav and Dax stayed in Florida, both of them becoming EMTs as well. The goal is for all of us to be a nurse, but we had to get some experience under our belt first. I’d love to go somewhere that Dax andMav will be, but what matters most, is being with Clayton. I can jump on a flight anytime I want to see my friends and they’re more than understanding of that too.
Our day consists of swimming, eating, playing cornhole and badminton. This is exactly what our weekend is going to look like and it’s such a good time to have everyone with me. Dax and Mav are fighting in the water, splashing one another like kids and dunking each other below the surface. That’s the thing about a body of water. No matter how old we get, it turns us into a bunch of children.
“Where’d you go?” Clayton asks, pulling me from my head.
“Just thinking about how perfect this is,” I admit.
“Yeah? What makes it perfect?”
“Everything. The food. The games. The weather. My friends. Your parents. You.”
“Well, buckle up, baby, because we have an entire weekend of it.” Clayton says, a cheese smile playing across his face.
“Jesus, I didn’t realize you guys were fucking badminton masters,” Mav grunts, pissed that he has lost yet another game to Clayton and I. “Can we switch up the teams or something?”
“What? Are you a sore loser?” Clayton jokes.
“No.”
Dax is silent and he has been pretty quiet today considering. “You good over there, Dax?” I ask.
“Yeah, why?”
