“No?”
Dad thinks for a moment. “It’s more like he’s the version of Max I always knew he could be. He seems less like the world is weighing him down like he can enjoy his life, savor it. It’s a truly amazing thing.”
“You’re honestly the best dad ever.” I hug him again. “I mean that. You have no idea how happy this makes me.”
“Of course I do. A blind man could see that. I love you, Maddie.”
I hug him tighter. “I love you too, Dad.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Maxton
“Are you ready?” I ask Maddie, as we stand at the deck of our new ship.
Her character walks up beside mine. I glance across my office, catching her eye in real life as our avatars get to find the next star to mine for its power. We don’t have to use headsets now, since we’re playing in the same room.
“I’m ready,” she says.
We spend the next couple of hours having fun in the game just like we did in the old days, except now it’s so much sweeter. Even if I hoped for the best, a dark part of me was certain the scene with Steve was going to turn into a complete shitshow. I was mentally preparing myself for the worst reaction, for resentment and hate.
But he meant it when he said he’s given us his blessing.
Over the past week, he’s been nothing but supportive.
I keep waiting for his mask to crack – for him to tell me I’m a piece of shit, he’s changed his mind, anything.
He hasn’t, and as each perfect day passes, I’m sure he’s not going to.
The clincher came last night when I asked him an incredibly important question. After what happened, it didn’t feel right not to get his blessing.
Maddie laughs as my avatar stands still in the cargo hold of our ship. It’s not as high-tech as our old one, which took months to build. But just like our shared life, our journey, we’re going to work on it together, improving it every single day, until we have something we can be proud of.
Hell, I’m already proud of what Maddie and I have.
She hasn’t officially moved in yet, but she’s stayed here every night, and I’ve made it clear I’m ready for her to move her stuff over whenever she is. Earlier she mentioned she’d contacted a moving company, and my heart felt like it was going to pop with joy.
“Stop dillydallying, Smolder,” she teases from her desk. “We’ve still got to make the journey home.”
I smile over at her. My days of resting prick face are long gone. It’s impossible not to smile when my gaze lands on her, her brown hair tousled around her shoulders, her eyes wide and ready, looking so damn sexy in her baggy PJs because I know what the material conceals.
“I’m ready,” I tell her. “But I need to show you something before we make the return journey.”
“Okay…”
She turns back to her computer screen.
“Come to the observation window with me.”
“But the star’s dead. We’ve just harnessed it. What are we looking at?”
“Just come, Maddie.”
I swallow, realizing my hands are trembling slightly as I navigate my avatar to the elevator. She steps in next to me, and together we ride back up toward the observation window.
I look at her again in real life. She’s turned to the screen, showing the virtual world glimmering in her eyes. She looks so excited, so ready for our future, so beautiful it hurts. I wish I had a camera. I could capture her like this, even more, gorgeous not knowing I’m watching her.
“What are we doing?”
There’s a tremor in her voice. Maybe she knows. Maybe she’s been waiting for this as achingly as I have. But I needed to leave some time between telling Steve and asking him the big question. He deserved that, and he’s been amazing about it since.
There’s nothing stopping us now.
I lead her to the observation window, ignoring her question. Through the glass of our level-three ship, we look out upon a landscape of stars, clusters of them, hundreds, thousands, maybe more… much more than ever featured in the game before. The point of Star Search is to cross the yawning chasms of space to find stars, but I’ve brought them to her.
“I did a little coding. The whole universe is watching, Maddie.”
“What’s happening, Max?”
There’s a catch in her voice, on my name, as though she can’t quite believe I’m going to do this. But it’s the only thing I can do, the only way to ensure the life we both deserve.
I love her. I love her so much it makes me want to bellow it out from the rooftop.
Standing, I walk across the office and place my hand on her shoulders. She whimpers and reaches up for me, clasping my fingers.
“Watch the stars, Maddie,” I whisper. “Listen when I tell you I love you… and watch the stars.”