Page 100 of The Chase

I pulled away before she could kiss me back. I cradled her face in my hands and looked into her eyes. “Maxine, you drown out the darkness inside me. You’re my other half, my better half.”

“T, I’m not any of that stuff.”

“You are, and so much more. I like the way you take care of me. Like when you bring me an ice pack without me having to ask when I’ve taken too many hits into the boards. I love that you get along with my sister, and you keep me in line. You make me feel like maybe I deserve love. Even on those days when I feel like such a fuckup.”

“You deserve love, but maybe with someone a little less broken.”

“If you’re broken, so am I, and we can fix our broken pieces together to become whole.”

She squinted at me. “Are you making a sex joke?”

I barked out a laugh. “No, but…” I waggled my eyebrows at her, and she finally broke out in laughter. The sound of that was angelic music to my ears.

“Such a perv!”

I gave her my lopsided grin. “Your perv.”

“TJ, I don’t know if I can be a good girlfriend to you. I feel like I messed up so much already.”

“You messed up, but so did I. We might both mess up again, but what’s important is that I don’t want this to end.”

She looked nervous, like she didn’t quite believe me. “I don’t want us to end either.”

“Then stop making me chase you. Let me love you and be loved by you.”

“We’re both bad at this relationship thing, huh?” she asked as she stroked her hand across my freshly shaved jaw.

I held up my thumb and forefinger. “Maybe a little, but I want to try. Being without you…the world felt dark.”

She stopped stroking my jaw and threaded her hands through my hair. “I didn’t realize how much I loved you until I thought you were gone. I don’t want to feel like that again.”

“Then kiss me already and say you’re still my girl.”

She laughed but closed her eyes and pressed her lips to mine.

CHAPTER THIRTY

MAXINE

I yelped as TJ came up behind me and slid his arms around my waist. “Let me help clean up,” he whispered in my ear. The way he kissed my neck told me it was the last thing he wanted to do.

He kissed the slope of my neck, and I bit back a moan.

“Baby, let me clean up,” I said but not convincingly. Especially when he slid his hands up the inside of my sweater.

“These leggings should be illegal,” he growled into my ear and continued kissing me while his hands roamed up higher.

“Why?”

“Because they make your ass look amazing.”

I giggled and tried to push him away, but he spun me around and lifted me up onto the counter. We kissed as if we had been apart for years, not mere days. He framed my face with his hands while he consumed me with his kisses, devouring me like he needed me to breathe. Our fight had barely lasted a week, but the uncertainty in our relationship had been hell. I wasn’t sure why he was giving me a second chance, but I wanted him to know how much he meant to me.

“T…” I moaned as his thumb brushed against my nipple.

“Yes, no bra.”

“You hate bras.”