“Hey…Max…you know you’re Wilson’s everything,” Joanie choked. “Nick was a distraction from all the pain she was in. She needed you to come for her and you never did. You never came.” Joanie turned away from me and carried her suitcase back into the Browlers’ cabin. When the door shut I was left with Joanie’s echoing words ripping through my head while Wilson waited for me in the car. In an instant, Aspen had grown even colder.
Chapter Five
~ Wilson ~
I sat there in the freezing car, alone, wondering if I should just get out. I wanted to confront Max again about those huge gashes across his knuckles. Wanted him to tell me what he did to Nick. Maybe it’s better I don’t know. Maybe Max just needs some time to cool off. Besides, if Max won’t tell me what happened, Joanie will. What the heck is up with her staying at the Browlers’? I can’t imagine her staying there very long knowing Cindy will be near, prodding her for details about Max and me.
The driver’s side door flung open and the freezing chill that was lingering and tapping on the windows found its way in. Max plopped into the driver’s seat, preoccupied and inattentive. He pushed the key into the starter and the engine roared to life. Max stole a glance, his eyes dark and distant like something beyond the problems I’d caused for us by kissing Nick. He forced the shifter into gear and took off. The car hugged the road, rounding curves and bends. I tried to find the courage to say something but couldn’t. Finally, when he reached for the radio, I said something to break the silence.
“You know, J didn’t come with us so we could have some time to talk…alone.”
I looked over at him. His expression was stoic as he stared at the road. The muscles in his jaw flexed, his lips compressed tight, as his eyebrows bent heavy around his narrowed expression. I swallowed hard, waiting for the pins and needles to stop attacking my skin.
He looked like he wasn’t going to engage in a conversation. His head swayed back and forth, like he was trying to clear away unwanted thoughts. I felt the influence of the car’s speed weigh against my chest before I felt my body sway and push toward him. The seatbelt pulled at my shoulder and before I knew it we were stopped on the side of a mountainous road. The sun was dropping behind the trees as night decided to take over.
Max sat silent for a moment. His head dropped and his damp, black hair tumbled forward. An endless break in our lives sat squarely between us as I waited anxiously for something to come out of his mouth. I wanted to reach over and grab him, to tell him how much I hated that I hadn’t been there for him earlier that day as he buried his father. I ached to tell him how wrecked I felt knowing he’d needed me and I wasn’t there. I wanted to annihilate the vacancy growing between us so we could just be Wilson and Max again—a couple who’d fallen in love even when everything screamed they shouldn’t.
Max turned to me, his emerald eyes narrow and clouded with red as every moment of forever lingered between us. His lips struggled to formulate the words locked in the wreckage behind his eyes.
It was like he wanted to open up to me but something was stopping him. I wanted to know what the hell it was. What changed from the point where he came back for me and right now?
Max cleared his throat before he began to whisper the thoughts that crowded his head.
“I can never take back my mistake of not coming for you; just like you can never take back kissing—” Max choked as he dropped his eyes from mine. My heart crumbled in my chest. My eyes stung with regret.
He continued. “Do you think we can find a place where we can bury our mistakes and pick up where we left off?” Max looked at me, his eyes narrow and damp as they wandered up my body to my face. “Wilson, I am so sorry I never came for you. I’m sorry I let you…down,” he uttered regretfully.
Silently I reached over, tangling my fingers in the random pieces of hair that dangled in front of his eyes. I pushed them aside as my thumb trailed against his forehead. His skin was so soft, something I’d missed feeling. He caught my hand and dragged it down to his lips. I felt his warm, lively breath push against my palm, his damp soft kiss as he closed his eyes.
“I love you so much,” I answered as he opened his eyes and leaned toward me. His jacket collar folded and fell away from his neck, exposing a cluster of rash-like marks across the front of his throat. Instantly, I pulled down on his jacket collar exposing the damage that was so prevalent and yet unnoticeable until now.
“What happened?” I gasped.
“Nothin’,” Max spat as he pulled away and repositioned his jacket collar to cover his neck.