“Really?” The word broke and cracked coming out of her mouth.
As our eyes danced, a sorrow grew in her gaze. I pushed the backs of my fingers against her face, clearing away her damp hair, before I pressed my palms to her cheeks. She was shaking.
I leaned into her, pausing only long enough to answer her.
“Really,” I whispered, tickling her lips before I pressed my mouth against hers. I kissed her softly at first, trying to see if I was going to taste regret. I didn’t. Pulling her tight against my chest, I ran my hands up against her back and stopped at her shoulder blades. She was cautious at first, but once I pushed past any fear of tasting her, our tongues tangled and exploded into a familiarity that my body knew so well. She was so warm—so damaged. Truth was I could stand there all day wishing away all that had happened between us, but the fact still remained: she found comfort in someone else when she was hurting. And I will never let that happen again.
“I love you,” she moaned as I pulled away from our kiss. Her eyes were still closed in the moment of indescribable relief.
I waited for her to come back.
“I’m sorry I let you go,” I said. “Promise me something.”
“Okay,” she breathed deeply.
“Promise me you’ll never kiss another guy…who isn’t me.” I felt the words vibrate in my chest as I said them.
She nodded, her expression bent to anguish as she broke down and sobbed. I held her, kissing the salty tears from her cheeks. I couldn’t get enough of her.
Yeah, I was still raw from the fact that she’d made a bad decision and kissed Nick. But she’d lived a lot of broken moments in her life. She’d never had something this intense before. I couldn’t erase the fact that she loved me enough to let me be her first.
“Oh my God. Really? You’re really going to forgive her that easily? Come on, Max, she made out with my brother. They were frickin’ grinding against each other when I walked in! I suppose you’d have forgiven her if she slept with him too?” Cindy groused from the top of the stairs. She twisted her body and thrust her hip up dramatically.
“Are you for real? I can’t believe you just said that,” Joanie hollered at Cindy.
“It isn’t like I called her a slut, Joanie. I am just calling her out on her shit,” Cindy snapped back.
Joanie started up the stairs but I caught her arm and stopped her. The last thing anyone needed was more problems with Cindy.
Actually, I was caught off guard by Joanie’s intensity. She wasn’t the type to settle anything with violence. Whenever she was hanging out with Wilson and me, she always came across so docile and gentle.
“Joanie, let me handle this,” I demanded before she looked at me. “I don’t need you in the middle of this mess too,” I whispered, making eye contact so she knew I trusted her abilities to protect Wilson.
Joanie nodded as Wilson pushed past me and stood on the step above her.
“J, Max is right. You don’t want to be involved in this,” Wilson asserted.
“This isn’t over, Cindy,” Joanie hollered back up to her.
“Oh that’s right, Joanie—this is far from being over,” Cindy yelled as she turned around and went into her bedroom, slamming the door.
The only thing I wanted to do was make sure Wilson and Joanie got out of the Browlers’ cabin. Good or bad, it seemed to be the perfect opportunity to get Wilson to come home with me.
“I want you both to get your things and meet me at the car.”
Joanie nodded while Wilson tried to say something. I leaned down close to her and stopped her from talking.
“I’m not asking,” I whispered as I pulled away, my eyes locked on her so she knew it wasn’t negotiable.
I ran upstairs and stood in front of Cindy’s bedroom door. I took a deep breath, hoping the oxygen would slow my heart rate. I felt the familiar need to protect Wilson swell in my body. Come hell or high water, I wasn’t about to let Cindy destroy what I was just getting back.
I didn’t knock, didn’t make a sound as I went in and shut the door behind me.
I stood there for a moment watching Cindy stretched across her bed, lying on her stomach…crying. Every moment of wanting to rip her head off and tear her to shreds vanished.
What the hell is this? I don’t get it. She’s always so vindictive, and manipulative. I didn’t expect to see her crying when I came in. She either sensed someone was in the room or heard the floorboards squeak because, as I took a step toward her, she vaulted up off the bed and startled me.
“What are you doing here?” she sneered. She ran her fingers under her eyes and down her cheeks, trying to dry any evidence that she wasn’t the bitch everyone thought she was.