“What?” I dropped my hand.
“It’s still this person lurking in the background of your life, ready to spring up at any time to get between us… For Christ’s sake, Will. We haven’t been home twenty-four hours and she’sshowing up at your door? Digging through your clothes?Sure, it’s not as bad as you lying to me, or me going to the hospital with alcohol poisoning, but the pattern hasn’t changed.” She folded her arms across her chest. “You’re just not ready to break away from other people’s expectations. Or set real boundaries.”
“That’s not true, Mau—” I began, but she put up her hand.
“Will, I don’t want to make it sound like I’m judging you. I’m just saying, I’ve finally reached a good place in my life where I’ve figured out who I am and what I want my future to look like. It took me a long time to let go of what I thought I wanted, of what I was doing for myself versus what other people expected.” She dropped her arms, and her voice grew soft. “It’s okay if you’re not there yet.”
I scrubbed a hand across my jaw, exhaling deeply. “I am there, Maureen.”
She shook her head. “No. I think it’s reasonable that when I’m interested in a guy, there is a zero percent chance his ex-girlfriend is going to be in his apartment—wearing his clothes—opening the door when I come over. I’m not afraid to admit that I want you, Will. You. And I get that everyone comes with baggage, but you need to deal with yours before you ask me to deal with it, too. You say that I’m important to you, that you want to be with me—”
“I do!”
“Really? Then how come you never told anyone about me?”
“That’s not fair, Maureen. I didn’t know the last week was going to happen. I didn’t know we’d have a chance to be together.”
“You didn’t fight for me five years ago.”
“And it’s the biggest regret of my life! But I couldn’t. My head was still so messed up.”
“I understand that. But what you don’t seem to realize is… You still can’t. It’s more important to you to avoid confronting your ex, or your parents for that matter, than it is to make sure I feel secure. It’s only been days since I’ve forgiven you. And that makes thisthingbetween us”—she moved her finger back and forth between our chests—“very fragile. But you don’t seem too concerned with protecting it.”
She looked at me, and I saw she believed it. That she wasn’t a priority in my life. I needed to make her understand I would burn it all down, everything I had, just to take this chance with her.
I stepped closer, and this time, she didn’t back away. “You’re wrong, Maureen. What you said about Rosalyn, about my parents, might have been true a few weeks ago, but it’s not true now. And I’m not going to let you push me away over a misunderstanding.”
“I’m not pushing you away. I’m just being hon—”
“You are. You’re pushing so hard it’s practically a bench press. I know you’re scared. You saw Rosalyn in my apartment, and it took you right back to that hotel lobby. And you’re trying to make it mean something it doesn’t.”
“I’m not.” Her voice sounded small. I prayed that meant she was considering my words.
Leaning closer, I snaked an arm around her waist. “I’m sorry seeing Rosalyn upset you. But you already knew it wasn’t whatit looked like. Your heart already knew. And I told her it could never happen again, that I wouldn’t be helping her with Wallingford and she couldn’t show up at my door anymore.” I reached up to run my fingers through her hair. “You’re my priority, Maureen. And I’m sorry I didn’t give you that five years ago. That I didn’t have it in me back then to tell everyone to fuck off so I could be with the most amazing girl I’d ever met. I’m sorry I’m half a decade late in putting you first, but that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
I moved my hand back down her neck and pressed in until our noses were just inches apart. “Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it. I’ll tell Rosalyn I’ll never see her again. I’ll call my parents right now and tell them about the concussion. Even if it sends them into a tailspin about mychoices, I’ll do it because I’m ready to do whatever it takes to be with you. You’re wrong that I’m not ready. I’m so ready to be with you. I want it more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”
She leaned against the arms I’d enveloped her with, pressing her palms to my chest. A slow gulp worked its way down her throat.
We stood surrounded by the heavy silence left in the wake of my words. A million different emotions seemed to invade her features at once, and I could only guess at the thoughts in her head.
I knew Maureen was scared. She had every right to be.
But eventually, the fear in her eyes changed to something else. Something hot and determined. Her posture eased. She slid her hands up over my shoulders and twined them behind my neck, placing a soft, exploratory kiss on my lips.
After a moment that lasted a decade, she whispered, “I believe you.”
I released a strangled breath. “Thank god.”
Her thumbs electrified the sensitive skin of my neck. She trailed her lips from my mouth to my jaw, making me shudder. “Will?”
“Mmm…?”
“Show me how much you want me.”
I froze briefly in her arms before tilting my head back to meet her eyes. “Now?”
“Now.”
