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The emotional roller coaster of today has left me raw and jumpy, but I’m so grateful Maggie is here. “After the way I lost my temper today, I’m surprised you’re still talking to me, to be honest.” I shove a bite of chicken and noodles in my mouth so I have an excuse not to keep talking. The moment the spices and salty sauce hit my tongue, my stomach wakes up and demands more.
“To be honest, so am I. And I want to be clear—I was definitely hurt by the way you treated me. But I think we can save that conversation for when you haven’t just spent hours in the emergency room with your surrogate dad.” Maggie gives me a soft smile over her forkful. “Heavy conversations should never be had when starving, or emotionally exhausted.”
“Cheers to that.” I tap my fork to hers, earning me another smile. There’s a comfortable silence while we both eat. Maggie picks at her food while I shovel it in to subdue the rumbling in my belly.
“Will you give me an update on Greg? Or do you not want to talk about it?”
“It’s a femoral neck fracture, showed up clear as day on the X-ray. He’s scheduled for a total hip replacement tomorrow.” I load my fork up again, forcing myself to eat slowly even though I want to pick up my plate and shovel the food into me.
“How’s Jackie?”
I chew and swallow before I answer. “She’s okay. My mom is going to go over there tomorrow morning so she’s not alone while Greg’s in surgery.”
Maggie reaches a hand across the table to squeeze mine. “And so you don’t have to?”
The lump is back in my throat at the concern in Maggie’s eyes and I nod, words failing me. A shaky sigh rattles my chest as I squeeze back. Maggie is out of her chair in a moment, pulling my head against her chest, her arms wrapped around me. The fact that my face is buried between her breasts is nothing more than a fleeting thought as I sink against her. Instead, I let the weight of the day go, Maggie supporting me physically and metaphorically while I admit the depth of how hard this day has been.
“I Facetimed June so I could tell Olive what happened. And it was just like before. When I was practically living at the hospital and no one knew what to do and Olive couldn’t get a vaccine so the only times I saw her were through the phone screen. It all came back the second she popped up on the screen and I barely kept it together to tell her what happened.”
Soft hands stroke the top of my head, comforting me in a way that June couldn’t during those terrible months. “I’m so sorry, Kel. That had to be so hard. And I’m sure Jackie was depending on you to be strong and explain what was going on, right? You’re everyone else’s rock. Let me be yours. Even if it’s just for tonight.”
I slide my hands around her hips, grateful for something to hold on to. We stay like that for a long moment, Maggie’s heart beating steadily in my ear, her chest rising and falling with steady breaths. I close my eyes and concentrate on matching my breaths to hers—I hadn’t realized how fast I had been breathing. As my heart slows, one hand slides beneath her sweater to touch her soft skin.
A soft, needy sigh escapes Maggie at my touch, making me smile. “I’ve used up my quota of words for the day, Maggie, but I still owe you a proper thank you.”
“You don’t owe me anything—” Maggie breaks off in a squeal as I push her sweater up with my fingers, kissing her exposed belly button. “—but I will accept your appreciation however you choose to express it. As long as you don’t tickle me.”
At her invitation, I slip her sweater all the way off as I push to my feet. My chair falls over with a crash, but I don’t care. Lips tangled, I back her up, navigating us to my bedroom while Maggie kisses me. Her tongue sweeps against mine, her quiet moans and sighs offering encouragement as I help her avoid the furniture. Moving her backwards is too slow, so I lift her under the thighs and carry her the rest of the way. Maggie’s hands had been on my cheeks and shoulders when we started kissing, but as I carry her, she lets go.
When I set her down on my bed, I discover she’d been taking off her bra as I carried her. Now her full breasts are on display as she pushes herself backwards on the bed. “God, you’re beautiful.” I pull my flannel off as I speak, tossing it on the floor behind me, eyes locked on Maggie’s.
“I thought you were all out of words for the day.”
A laugh escapes my chest, surprising me. How can this woman be comforting me and making me laugh so easily? Where does this lightness come from? Whatever magic Maggie is creating, I want more of it.
“Those were from my emergency stores.” I pull my tshirt over my head, dropping it on the floor without a glance. “It was absolutely necessary that I tell you that.”
Crawling up the bed, I cage Maggie between my arms, leaning down to capture her lips again and lose myself in her. Her kiss. The play of her lips against mine. Teasing her with my tongue, nipping at her bottom lip with my teeth. I don’t know how long we lay there, lips and bodies confessing what words can’t say.
Pushing everything else from my mind, I focus only on the sensation of Maggie’s fingers trailing over my back, the way she squeezes my ass when I deepen my kiss, her leg wrapping around my mine and pulling me closer.
Lightheaded, I tear myself away from her lips, kissing along the column of her neck. I roll onto my side, pulling her with me as our legs tangle. The back of my hand drifts across her collarbones as I kiss my way along her jaw. When my hand brushes across her nipple, Maggie gasps and squirms, her hips pressing against my already hard cock.
“Pants.” She gasps out the word before burying her nose and lips under my jaw. “Pants. Off,” she adds when I don’t stop feeling her perfect breasts.
“I’m busy.” I chuckle as I continue what I’m doing, pinching one rosy pink nipple between my thumb and pointer finger. “What’s the rush?”
Maggie stretches her body along mine, pressing her torso against me in a delicious warmth. Her breath tickles my ear as she whispers. “Because you’re about to make me come and I’d prefer to do it with my pants off.”
Instead of going soft against me, Maggie rolls away, standing up beside the bed before I’ve gathered my thoughts. She unbuttons her jeans and shimmies them down her legs, taking her underwear with it. “Your turn.”
I pop the button on my jeans and slide the zipper, grateful to let her take charge. Apparently I’m too slow, because Maggie knocks my hands away and grips the edge of my boxers and jeans, easing them down my legs and tossing them on the floor beside the bed. I prop myself up on one arm and reach for her, but Maggie stays just out of reach, kneeling on the bed between my feet.
“Will you let me take care of you?”
Still leaning back on my elbows, I grin, wagging my eyebrows. “I don’t think I have enough willpower to turn down that kind of offer, Sprinkles.”
She laughs and instead of sliding between my thighs toward my eager dick, she picks up my right foot, digging her knuckles so hard into my instep that my whole leg locks up for a moment and my groan borders on a sob. Maggie keeps digging her thumbs and knuckles into the bottom of my foot, ignoring the involuntary noises I make. My body is at war—part of me sagging into the bed as muscles that haven’t relaxed in the last five years release, while my dick and balls scream that I need to make this woman mine before I take another breath.
