Page 99 of You Saw the Best In Me

I let her go, and she’s trying to catch her breath.

“Good girl,” I whisper into her neck, kissing her hard enough to leave a mark.

“I love you, Maverick,” she says as I finish, letting my release go inside her.

“You’re a goddess. I love you, too,” I kiss her, soft and slow, until neither of us can breathe.

“We should cook dinner,” I say, still completely naked underneath her.

“Yeah, you probably should,” she laughs, and I toss her off me.

We race to the bathroom, and I beat her there. I lock the door behind me and listen as she begs to come in.

“You have to say please, kitten,” I tease, and she groans.

“Please,” she huffs, and I happily open the door.

I give her space to clean up and change into sweatpants and a t-shirt.

I pick through the things Karina bought and this woman shouldn’t be trusted with food.

It’s like she picked the things that would never go together and thought, “Yes, this is cohesive!” while tossing it in the cart.

Luckily, I can always make something out of nothing, and an idea starts to form.

Once Karina is dressed, she runs next door to see Harper, and they both come back to keep me company while I cook.

I will absolutely get used to this.

During one of our late-night pillow talk sessions, Karina made it a point to stress that I never formally asked her out on a date. We merged our lives and became one overnight.

“I promise I’ll take you out on a proper first date,” I kissed her scrunched-up nose, knowing she’d hold me to it.

Tonight’s the night, and I’m taking her to a new steakhouse that opened recently. I found my best button-down shirt, choosing the light blue one and matching it with black pants.

I thought about wearing a full three-piece suit to mess with her but ultimately decided against it.

I feel like this is important to Karina as she wants to feel a bit of normalcy in our relationship, so I’m taking it seriously and intend for this to be the perfect first date.

Once I’m ready, I walk across the hall and knock on her door, flowers in hand.

Harper answers, inviting me in.

My face bounces off something, and I realize I’ve been pranked.

The girls hung cling wrap across the door frame, ensuring I’d walk into it.

I can’t help but laugh, enjoying the feeling of the days when Karina and I would prank each other. God, that feels like eons ago.

“Gotcha!” she calls out, bent over the side of the couch from laughing so hard.

“Very funny. I will get you back,” I smile, hugging her from behind.

I take her in, and she looks fucking incredible.

Her hair is pinned up in some fancy updo, and she worked hard on her makeup.

My mouth almost falls open when I see her dress. It’s black, with tiny sequins that make her sparkle, and, of course, shows off her cleavage.