Beyond Eighteen(40)

Wilson tightened her arms and held her just that much longer. And, right there, was why I fiercely love my girlfriend.

“I know, I’m so sorry…I wasn’t there today,” Wilson whispered.

“But you’re here now,” my mom answered as she pulled back from their embrace and played with Wilson’s hair, bringing it into a loose ponytail.

“Thank you for accepting me back into your home,” Wilson finished with a wavering tone. They stood holding each other an arm’s length away, keeping a gap of just enough comfort between them.

“You are always welcome here, honey,” she said as she let go of Wilson.

I liked watching my mom fuss over my girlfriend. There was something satisfying about seeing Wilson with my mom. They let their arms drop and my mom continued toward me. I stood, frozen, waiting for the moment she was going to lose it in my arms. It always seemed like all her major break-downs were saved for me. I don’t know why. Surprisingly, though, she didn’t cry.

“Night, sweetheart,” she mumbled to me before she wrapped her arms around the back of my head and pulled my forehead down to her lips. “Thank you for looking out for me,” she stammered a little. Her words shook, but no major crying.

“No problem, Mom.”

“Love you, Max,” the words rolled off her tongue.

“Love you too, Ma,” I answered back automatically. She pressed her finger into my chest. “Take care of that love, and never take it for granted. Trust me.” And with that pearl of wisdom, she walked away to go to bed.

Calvin stood for a moment longer before he looked around the room and realized he’d just become the third wheel.

“Gary will be here at 10:00 tomorrow,” he murmured as left through the dining room.

I turned to Wilson, inhaling an exaggerated breath and pulling her against my chest. I felt her breathing become ragged, and without warning, I felt the pain of the day swell in my chest.

“I love your mom,” she said as she looked up at me. I shifted her body in my arms. I could see it in her eyes, she was about to tear up.

“She loves you too. But obviously not as much as I love you,” I teased, dragging her leg up around my hip.

“Obviously,” she uttered deliberately before pushing me down on the couch. She slipped on top of me, her knees burrowing into the cushions on either side of my legs as she lowered herself onto my lap. She knotted her hands in my hair, pulled my head back, and dropped her lips down against my mouth. I guess she doesn’t want to talk about my family or what happened in the bathroom earlier…fine by me. I slipped my hands between her shirt and skin, sliding my fingertips up her back, causing her to shiver and me to smile.





Chapter Seventeen


~ Wilson ~





Maybe making out with Max right then gave me the reprieve I needed to just be swallowed up by him. Was I scared about what happened between us in the bathroom? Hell, yes. But I was also anxious about going back to California and finishing my senior year at Wesley without him. The irresistible comfort of always knowing that Max was nearby turned into nothing more than a vacant desire. It tore my soul open and encouraged an unsolicited, searing pain into my heart. Why did Calvin have to remind us about Frank’s will? All it did was create a frenzy deep in my core. Tomorrow they would read their dad’s wishes, and every fear I had of living without Max for the next five months would be cemented by the words Frank had written before he even had a chance to meet me. I guess that’s when reality will take over, for all of us. So right now, whatever I can give Max, whatever we can share before his life becomes something different than he ever expected, I’m going to do it.

The heat we were generating smoldered between us. It didn’t help that the raging inferno in the fireplace made the room feel like it was over a hundred degrees. I could feel the humidity our bodies created, especially with my arms wrapped around his neck. My fingers continued to entangle in the loose wisps of his silky black hair. I wished, silently, that he’d open his breathtaking green eyes, as I kissed him, but he didn’t.

Max dragged his hands up my spine, memorizing every sway and curve before reaching their destination at my shoulder blades. He pulled me tight against his chest. We both realized that my bra couldn’t pad the evidence of what he could do to me. In his desire to feel me completely he shifted his body, pinning me under him on the brown leather couch. And that’s when his eyes opened. I became breathless, melting in his gaze. I felt my eyes rush damp; I couldn’t help it. A tear dropped from the edge of my eyelash, tracking down the side of my face toward my ear.