“Do you mean it?” she finally asks, referring to every last word I just spoke.
I nod watching as a perfectly round tear falls and slides own her plump cheeks. I wipe it away, reveling in the touch. “Every fucking word,” I breathe.
Brooke continues watching me for a moment and I see the desire in her eyes. She wants this just as badly as I do, but she’s scared. She doesn’t know if she can risk her heart like she did the first time, she doesn’t know if she can trust me not to hurt her, and she doesn’t know if she’s willing to give me a second chance.
Brooke swallows as I place my hands back on her waist. I give her a gentle squeeze. “Come here,” I murmur, needing to feel more of her touch.
She melts into me and leans forward, instantly pressing her lips against mine.
Fucking home.
Everything settles within me as she begins to move her lips against mine. Her tears spill over, rushing down her cheeks and fusing with her lips. I taste them between our kisses but I don’t dare let her pull away, but what’s more, she doesn’t want to.
My hands move up her back, holding her close as she gives me everything she has. It’s so much more than the stolen moments we had over the summer and the reckless wild sex from the other day. This is Brooke wordlessly letting me know that after all this time and all my fuck-ups, she’s still mine.
Brooke pulls back and rests her forehead against mine as we catch our breath. “I know that I don’t deserve you, Brooke. I screwed up and I hurt you, but I want to make this right. I want to earn your forgiveness and I want you to be able to trust me again.”
Brooke searches my eyes and the pain sits heavily beneath the surface. “I don’t know,” she whispers. “You really hurt me, Max. You tore me apart and broke my heart into little pieces.”
“I know, baby. I’m so damn sorry. You must know that I’d give anything to go back and change that. I hate that I hurt you and I hate that it’s taken me this long to apologize for it.”
She pulls back so she can look at me better. “I should hate you.”
“You should,” I agree.
Another tear runs down her cheek as she finds my hand and laces her fingers through it. “But I can’t,” she murmurs. “I’ve tried so damn hard to hate you. I’ve tried to move on, I’ve tried to forget you, but I just can’t. It’s always been you, Max. Every single day it’s been you. I’ve never been able to stop loving you.”
I reach up and tuck the hair behind her ear, desperately needing to see her whole face while hating that I’m the reason for her tears. “Give me a second chance,” I beg. “Let me prove to you that you can trust me. I promise I’ll never let you down again. I love you so goddamn much.”
Brooke leans back into me, curling herself into my chest as she holds onto me. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to trust you again.”
“I know,” I murmur into her hair. “I’m not asking you to forgive me right now. I don’t deserve that, but what I’m asking is that you give me the chance to fight for you, because your worth it, Brooke. I’ll fight for you until our dying days if that’s what you need. Just please, I know you’re hurting, but let me make you whole again. You deserve to be happy and damn it, Brooke, I know I can make you so fucking happy.”
I feel her tears soaking into my shirt before she raises her head off my chest, killing me with the sight of her red-rimmed eyes. “You promise?”
I nod, letting her see right down into my soul. “I do.”
“Then okay, let’s give this a try.”
Chapter 14
Brooke
I crush my lips against his as my heart fills with undeniable joy. How is it possible that a quick decision that has the potential to shape the rest of my life has the ability to make me so damn happy?
I’m not going to lie, there’s more than just happiness swirling around in there. There’s fear and a shitload of it. I meant it when I told him that I wasn’t sure I’ll ever be able to trust him again, but there’s a part of me that so desperately wants to, and I have to give it a shot.
Am I a fool for giving it a shot?
Maxen is the only one who’s ever been able to find his way into my heart and he’s the only one I want there, despite how much I’ve tried to get rid of him. Everything that happens in my life always brings me back to him. When I go to Broken Hill lake, there are memories of him, when I went to the races, there were memories of him, hell, I can’t even walk outside my house onto the grass and not think of him. He’s everywhere and I’m starting to realize that maybe that’s how I want it to be.