Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

She was snoring.

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Georgia. Her head was in the crook of my shoulder in a hospital bed, and her body was curled up in a ball beside me. And she was damn snoring.

I smiled. That might be my new favorite sound ever.

I looked around the dark room, confused. I didn’t remember how I got here, though somehow I did know where I was. Bits and pieces came back to me.

I remembered sitting on the bench, lacing up before the charity hockey game.

I remembered people talking to me while I slept. I could hear them, but they sounded very distant, like they were cutting through a thick wall of fog.

I remembered beeping. And someone washing my face. And being wheeled somewhere. And the nurses and Georgia laughing while they…did something. And the number ninety-six. What was ninety-six?

My throat was dry, and my neck hurt, but I didn’t want to move and wake Georgia. And I was so damn tired. So, so tired. I think I might’ve fallen back asleep for a little while, because when I woke up, Georgia wasn’t snoring anymore. She was staring up at me. Our eyes met, and hers grew wide.

She jolted upright. “Holy shit! Max?”

It was hard to talk because my throat was so dry. “You were snoring.”

“Are you joking? You’ve been in a coma for weeks and the first thing you say when you wake up is I was snoring?”

I smiled. “I think you left some drool, too.”

Georgia covered her mouth and started to cry. “Oh my God, Max. I thought I was going to lose you.”

“Shhh... Come here.”

“I think I should go get the nurse. Or the doctor. Or both.”

“In a minute. Just lie back down with me first.”

She kept shaking her head and crying. “You’re really awake. I can’t believe you’re awake. I’m afraid to lie down because what if I’m dreaming, and I go back to sleep and this isn’t real when I wake up?”

“Stop overanalyzing.”

“Are you in pain?”

“I feel like someone beat the crap out of me. But that’s not new.”

She snuggled back into the crook of my arm. “I’m so mad at you. You should’ve told me, Max.”

“I’m sorry. I was trying to do the right thing. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Oh, you will alright. For the next forty or fifty years.”

I smiled. “Your version of punishment is my version of heaven, sweetheart.”

“Do you know how long you were out?”

I shook my head but remembered those numbers again. “Was it ninety-six days?”

“Ninety-six? No. You were out for eighteen days. Why would you think ninety-six?”

I shrugged. “I remember hearing that number.”

Georgia’s brows drew together before recognition dawned on her face. “Ninety-six?” She pointed over to the window. “You must’ve heard us talking about those.”

I turned toward the window and squinted. The entire sill was jam-packed with action figures. “What are all those?”

“They’re all ninety-six original Star Wars action figures. The one in the front is the Yoda you gave me the night we met. But all the others your teammates and friends sent you. Some of your doctors brought them, too.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe you heard us talking about those, that you remember the conversation. What else do you remember?”

I told her the jumbled bits that had come back to me.

“Wow. That’s amazing. And I can’t believe you’re awake, Max. I would love nothing more than to lie down and snuggle with you, but I really think I should get the nurse to make sure you’re okay. And I need to call your mom. She’s been so worried. We all have.”

I nodded. “Okay, but come here first. Bring your face closer to me.”

Georgia leaned so we were nose to nose. My arms felt like they weighed three-hundred pounds, but I managed to lift one to her cheek. Her eyes glistened with happiness. “I love you, too, sweetheart.”

She clutched her chest. “You heard me tell you that?”

“Of course. That’s what kept me fighting.”

• • •

Eight days later, I finally left the hospital. It took another week to get my family to go back home. I felt bad that they’d all been away from their lives for a month, but I also couldn’t wait to be alone with Georgia.

My walking wasn’t so great yet. It was going to take me a long time to build up my strength, so I stayed on the couch while Georgia walked the last guest out. When she came back, the house was quiet. She walked over to me.

“You hear that?” I said.

Georgia looked around. “No, what?”

I yanked her arm. “The sound of you moaning.”

She giggled. “I don’t think I was moaning.”

“I guess it was just a premonition.” I fingered the button of her jeans. “Why do you have so many damn clothes on?”

“Umm... Maybe because your brother just walked out the door two seconds ago?”

I unbuttoned her pants. “I hope you locked the damn thing.”

“You’re not supposed to do anything strenuous for four to six weeks.”

“That’s four to six weeks post-surgery. It’s been more than thirty days. We’re in that window.”

Georgia bit her lip. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I won’t. You know why?”

“Why?”

“Because you’re going to do all the work. Ride me, sweetheart.”

I saw that familiar fire ignite in her eyes. “Okay, but you really need to let me do all the work. You can’t top from the bottom, Max.”

I made an innocent face and wrapped my hand around her throat like I knew she liked. “Who, me?”

We shed our clothes in a frenzy. Georgia first, and then she helped me undress. I could’ve managed myself, but I loved seeing her on her knees on the floor in front of me, yanking at my pants. Her fingernails scraped my thighs as she pulled off my boxers, and then she climbed on top and straddled me. I felt the wet heat of her pussy up against the bottom of my shaft.

“I want you,” I groaned. “I fucking need you.”

“I need you, too.”

Georgia put her hands on my shoulders and lifted to her knees. I reached between us, fisted my cock, and dragged the head across her wet opening. She smiled, leaning in to kiss me as she lowered herself. It took every shred of willpower I had not to buck my hips and take over. The urge to fuck her into oblivion had my arms shaking.

She noticed. “Are you okay?”

“Never better, sweetheart.”

She took a minute to steady herself and then began to rock back and forth, penetrating so damn deep. It felt like heaven and hell all rolled into one. This woman was the love of my life, and it was torture to hold back.

She arched her back, grabbing hold of my knees behind her, and gyrated her hips. When she moaned my name, I lost it. I fucking lost it. Screw taking it easy. If I was going to die, I wanted to die exactly as I was—with myself planted to the root inside the woman I planned to spend the rest of my life with. So I started thrusting, meeting her every rock with a roll and falling into the rhythm that was only ours.

“Max…” she yelled.

“Right there with you, baby.”

We chased the edge together. Nothing had ever felt so good. So right. So real. Georgia squeezed me harder, her fingers digging into my hair as she spoke my name over and over. Then her eyes rolled back in her head, and I watched the orgasm pull her under. When her body started to go slack, I thrust up one last time and let go.

After, we were both panting. It might’ve only lasted a couple of minutes, but it was the best damn orgasm of my life. Georgia slumped into my lap, and I stroked her hair.

“Are you okay? Any pain?” she whispered.

I kissed the top of her head. “I’m good. I promise.”

She sighed. “You know, I’m still mad at you.”

“If that’s how you show me mad, I’ll be sure to piss you off plenty.”

She slapped my shoulder. “You dumped me. And broke my heart.”

“I know. And I promise I’m going to spend every day making it up to you.”

My brother had told Georgia that right before everything happened, I’d made the decision to have surgery. But I realized she probably didn’t know how I’d come to that decision.

“Did Tate tell you about my trip down to Long Beach?”

She looked up with her little nose wrinkled. “Long Beach? No. But that’s where my boutique is.”

“I know. When I first got out here, I was really struggling. It didn’t feel like I’d made the right decision, but I couldn’t risk you getting hurt. So I started taking long drives to think and clear my head. One day I wound up in Long Beach. I took the dogs for a walk on the beach, stopped to get them some water, and I walked straight into your store.”

“Really?”

“Yep. So I went inside and looked around. The lady working there showed me the arrangements and mentioned that you had a database of suggested notes for cards. I remembered you’d said you used to suggest quotations for people who weren’t good with messages.”

“That’s right. I had a few F. Scott Fitzgerald books in my first store, and I’d tabbed them and annotated quotes I loved.”

I nodded. “I’d been driving all over, trying to figure out what to do. Turned out, the answer was in one of those quotes you picked out years ago.”

“It was?”

“Yep. It was always you.”

Her eyes watered as she smiled. “It was always you, too.”