My breath catches when she opens her front door.
She looks good. Beautiful. So much better than I feel.
Has this past week not been torture for her? For me, it’s felt like someone shoving bamboo sticks underneath my fingernails, even after I had a plan. Even after I knew I wanted to win her back.
“Hey,” I mutter, glancing down at my shoes.
“Hi.” Her tone is light. “I’m happy you’re here.”
My eyes snap back to hers. “You are?”
She nods, opening the door wider. “Come on in.”
I cross the threshold and my shoulders relax as relief flows through me. I missed her house. I missed her space. Fuck, I missed me with her.
I follow her into the kitchen. She turns and leans one hip against the countertop, her eyes on mine. “Coffee?”
“Okay.” I sit on a barstool.
Her goldfish swims around in the fishbowl, unaware of the tension, of the heaviness, unfolding in the space.
“Thanks.” I wrap my hand around the mug when she places it down in front of me.
“Sure.” She leans back, taking a sip of her coffee.
After a beat of silence, I realize it’s now or never. I need to be all in, invested and talking about the future and the vision I want for our relationship, or I need to leave this kitchen and let Maisy Stratford go so she can move on and build a life with someone else. Like Anna. And Marisol.
Ha. As if I’d fucking let that happen.
Sighing, I grip the back of my neck and tell her the fucking truth. “I’m in love with you, Mais.”
Her mouth drops open.
“I’m fucking crazy with want for you,” I continue. “I don’t know how to say, never mind explain, all the things I feel for you. But it’s intense. It messes with my head. It makes me question pretty much every fucking thing.”
“Axe.”
I shake my head. “Let me get this out.”
She nods.
“I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you more, more of what you needed, from the jump. And I’m sorry as fuck for not introducing you to my family when I should have. I hate the impression I left when I met yours.”
“You didn’t—”
“I wanna man up, Maisy,” I say before she can stop me. “I wanna man up and be your man. The guy you count on. The one you know always has your back, is in your corner, and you can say whatever the hell you want or feel however you wanna feel and know, with certainty, that I’m not going anywhere. That I’m yours. And you’re mine.”
She gasps at the possessive edge in my tone, but I don’t care. I want all of her. And I want everyone to know it.
I pull an envelope out of my back pocket and slap it on the counter between us. “Give me another chance. A real chance to show you, to prove to you, that you’re everything I want in a partner. That the future you dream up is the one I want to live, with you by my side. Give me time, please, to be worthy of every damn thing you selflessly give to me.”
Hesitantly, she reaches for the envelope. Pulling out the paper inside, she gasps. “Witch’s Rock.”
“I want to take you to surf camp,” I say, snorting at the end. Asher knew exactly what camp Maisy had mentioned and helped me plan the trip. How fucking ridiculous will I look on a surfboard? And who fucking cares. “I want to hang in Costa Rica with you and do yoga on the damn beach. I want to live out your dreams, with you, because you’re my dream. I was just too scared, too clueless and closed off, to admit it.”
“You’re, I, for real for real?” Her eyes are wide, searching my face as if I’m going to prank her.
God, she’s the best woman I know. “For real for real,” I confirm. “I’m not ready to hang up my skates yet. And I gotta wait for Lol to graduate. But then, Costa Rica, Europe, hell, even a small fishing village in Maine, I’m in for whatever you want. And I’ll build us a house, you’ll make it a home, and we’ll fill it with kids. Whatever your heart desires, I want to give you. I just need a chance to prove it.”
Tears well in her eyes, tracking down her cheeks. I’m off my stool in an instant, rounding the kitchen island, reaching for her. “Don’t cry.”
“They’re happy tears,” she sobs, wrapping her arms around me. She sinks into my arms and cries against my chest. “I swear, I really am happy.”
I hold her close, breathe in the scent of her hair. “I missed you too fucking much.”
She pulls back and looks up at me, her blue eyes dark with unshed tears. “I love you, Axel. I love you so much that if this doesn’t work out, it will destroy me.”
“Never.” I push her hair away from her face and cup her cheeks. “There’s not a chance this won’t work between us. Because one week without you was the worst week of my life.”
Her face crumples again and I pull her closer, kiss her forehead.
“For me too,” she admits, wiping her fingers underneath her eyes. “I was miserable.”
“I never want you to be anything but happy.”
“We’re really going to surf camp?”
I chuckle. “Asher sent me a Hawaiian shirt and board shorts.”
Maisy laughs and hugs me again. I grasp the back of her hair and tug lightly, until she lifts her face to mine.
“I know it’s too early, but I’m done waiting. I never wanted to be your rebound—”
“My what?” She laughs, like the thought is inconceivable.
I shake my head. “Be my home, Maisy.”
Her eyes hold mine, serious and earnest. “Always.”
Then, I press my mouth against hers and kiss her hard to seal the deal.
Maisy Stratford is mine. She’s my greatest weakness. And my greatest fucking strength.