Page 38 of Max

And apparently, I needed to remind Skylar that we had an unspoken agreement.

She was now living with me.

“It’s the house I could live the rest of my days in,” she said offhandedly. “But it needs a porch and a back deck.”

I almost didn’t hear that last part.

Everything in me stilled.

“Hey, I could design it for you,” she turned to me, her eyes unfocused, a bright smile on her face.

“Even if you’re moving, you shouldn’t rob a family that will live here of that experience. Plus, it will increase the value of the house.”

She kept blabbering, but I was focused on one thing she said.

“You want to live here?” if she said yes, I would give it to her.

She should get something she wanted. I planned to restore the house and flip it. Then find something she would like, but if this was the house she wanted, it was hers.

“Nah,” she said and went back to looking up at the sky. “Not if you’re not here.”

That was it.

I had her.

She was mine.

Those five whispered words pulled me under, and I fell to the depths I never knew existed. Skylar Jackson would get anything she ever dreamed of, and then some. There was nothing in the world that would stop me from giving it to her. With the decision cemented in me, I pushed it aside for a moment and crouched by her chair.

“Hey, Bean,” I called to get her attention. “Can I take you to bed now?”

She smiled a blinding smile.

“Sure.”

I didn’t wait for her to change her mind and find something else that her drunk brain wanted to focus on. She squealed and then giggled when I picked her up.

“Hey Max,” her delicate hand touched me for the first time to turn my head to her.

“Hmmm?” I hummed my question.

“Will you say my name?” she requested quietly.

Her eyes were clear and expectant. Her face open and hopeful. Without a second thought, I did.

“Skylar.”

Even I could hear the roughness in my voice, I still said it. In response, she closed her eyes, leaned her head on my shoulder, and sighed, mine.

“Max.”

Hearing her say it the way she did and having her in my arms was the best goddamned moment of my life.

“There it is,” I looked up and saw Rory leaning on the door frame, her eyes on us.

“What?”

She glanced at now sleeping Skylar in my arms.