I never want to be apart from her again.
Tired of waiting, she closes the small gap between us to steal the kiss I didn’t give her. I hum into it, cupping the back of her head as we kiss languidly. Victory tastes fucking sweet.
A commotion draws our attention to the front doors of the building. They fly open and two agents escort a furious Jacqueline Landry out in handcuffs. Maisy draws in a sharp breath as her mother’s icy gaze passes over us. It’s subtle, but Jacqueline stiffens. I almost wish she’d struggle and pitch a fit, but that’s not who that bitch is. She’ll save face until the end.
Dramatic fit or not, she knows we did this to her. It’s enough.
Reporters rush to flank the group surrounding Jacqueline on her walk of shame, shouting questions and asking for a statement from the company’s public face.
“What made you accept a deal like this?”
“Do you have anything to say about the raid on Nexus Lab? Were you aware the drugs your company produced were sold on the black market?”
“Is this related to your husband’s sudden resignation from his position as police chief?”
“No comment,” Jacqueline hisses.
I scoff and Maisy slides her arm around my waist. Was it worth it? That’s what I want to ask her, Richard Landry, and my parents. If any of them could go back, would they let greed rule them again?
Jacqueline glares at the DEA agent that opens the back door of one of their vehicles near the barricade we’re behind. It makes something old and decayed unlock in my chest as we watch her be folded into the back seat.
The Ridgeview, Colorado that anyone knew will never be the same after today. The secrets are spilled into the light.
Maisy turns to me. “I’ve seen enough. Have you?”
“Yeah.”
Tossing one last glance at the car Jacqueline was stuffed into, I turn my back on a dark chapter in my life feeling lighter, walking hand in hand with the girl I love.
A week later, I’m breathing in the midsummer mountain air under the late afternoon sun with Maisy and her friends. The grassy sloping clearing we’re lounging in is full of wildflowers and butterflies floating on the breeze. It’s just off the road, our cars and my motorcycle parked in a gravel ditch at the edge of the field. Devlin and Connor kick a soccer ball back and forth shirtless while Lucas cracks open a beer and offers the first cool sip to Gemma sprawled between his legs.
Thea is braiding Maisy’s hair in two french braids, Blair’s already done in some intricate looking crown made of shiny dark hair.
She’s been more herself this week, her smiles coming easier. I’ve been waiting for her to wake up from nightmares, but they don’t plague her the same way they claimed my mind for years. What happened didn’t break her.
The news has daily coverage on Jacqueline and the pharmaceutical company’s illicit drug ring scandal. Jacqueline is the public fall guy, but details about the investigation have also come out with information on the mayor’s involvement, and about my parents and their own sins that led to their fatal demise. It’s strange, after finding out everything I thought I knew about them was a lie, I don’t want to shy away from the whispers that continue when my name is mentioned.
It doesn’t matter. Maisy knows who I am. That’s all I need, a few good people who I consider my family to have my back.
Since the news broke, she’s been spending a lot of time with her brother. We leave town today for the road trip she’s dreamed of for half her life. She tells me Holden has plans to follow the girl he met at the local community college when she transfers for the fall semester to a different school. They’re both done with Ridgeview. The only good thing this town has is her friends. Without them, we’d never come back here again.
“I brought you something.” Maisy appears in front of me, shuffling on her knees in the grass. Her hair is braided, a wildflower tucked behind her ear.
I rake my teeth over my lip, grasping her hips. She holds up a daisy between us with thin purple petals, identical to the one I gave her when she was eight and the ones I picked for her to win her heart back. The corner of my mouth kicks up and I take the flower. She presses her lips to mine and I drag her into my lap, deepening our kiss.
Connor pauses his one-on-one soccer game with Devlin to howl like a coyote. Laughing, Maisy breaks away and tucks her face into my neck.
“The fuck is that supposed to mean?” I ask him.
He shoots me a mischievous grin. “Watch and learn, Foxy.”
“No,” I bark, nearly choking when Maisy’s tongue darts out against my throat. “Don’t pick that up from Colt.”
His smirk is unrepentant as he scoops his wife into his arms and plants a kiss on her lips while she giggles. Lucas does the wild howl this time with his hands cupped around his mouth.
“What the fuck,” I mutter. “Your friends are crazy.”
Devlin chuckles as he drops to the grass nearby with the soccer ball tucked beneath his elbow. Blair wraps her arms around his shoulders from behind and kisses his cheek.
“It’s the SLHS coyote call,” Devlin explains. “I don’t know how far back it goes, but when there’s PDA, the mascot is the calling card. A right of passage in a way.”
I shake my head. “This fucking town.”
“Tell me about it,” Blair says with an exasperated roll of her eyes. “High school here was weird as hell.”
“You love it,” Gemma says slyly, keeping her eyes closed and her face upturned to the sunshine while Lucas slips his hand beneath her shirt to caress her stomach.
“You learn to deal with it,” Thea offers after she extricates herself from Connor. Her cheeks are pink and there’s a brightness lighting her eyes up. “Who’s hungry?”
A round of agreements go around. Maisy and Thea hand out sandwiches from a huge picnic basket. Laughter echoes off the treetops as we eat and enjoy the summer day. Gemma breaks out a camera and captures it all.
When the sun begins to dip lower, Maisy nudges me. “We should hit the road soon. I want to watch the sunset before we get to our first Airbnb.”
The plan is to hop from rentals in the towns we pass through to camping in national parks as we meander our way to the west coast.
“Already?” Thea gives Maisy a sad smile. “I’m going to miss you.”
“I’m going to California, I’m not dying, babe, jesus.” Maisy wraps her in a bear hug until they tip over into the grass. The other two girls join the dog pile of affection. “I promise to keep up with the group chats. Instagram and text.”
“Chase your dreams hard,” Thea mumbles from somewhere in the mix of girls tangled together.
“You bet,” Maisy says. “There’s nothing holding me back from myself now.”
“You’re going to have the best damn time,” Gemma says.
“FaceTime us if you get service in the parks at night?” Blair asks, glancing from Maisy to Devlin. “I’d love to see what the stars look like out there.”
He gives her this private smile that puts color in her cheeks.
“All the things,” Maisy agrees, getting up and dusting off her cropped leggings.
My heart stutters at the sight of her, with grass sticking to her braids and one of my t-shirts knotted in the front so it shows off a strip of her taut stomach she’s stunning. And mine.
After another round of goodbyes, we walk hand in hand to the line of cars by the edge of the clearing. The couples trail behind us, each with their arms around their partners. Maisy waves back at her friends and I follow suit, lifting a hand.
Maisy meets my eye and hooks her fingers in the belt loops of my jeans, luring me close for a kiss. I give her what she wants.
As a group, her friends give us a loud coyote howl that devolves into laughter.
“Ready?” I ask.
The curve of her smile is full of excitement. “So ready.”
Framing her face between my hands, I kiss her again. “Good.”
We climb on the bike and a f
lutter moves through my chest. This is it. Her arms slip around me and she squeezes my waist, resting her chin on my shoulder.
“Take me on an adventure,” she whispers.
Grinning, I rev the rumbling engine and run my fingers over the braided leather bracelet carrying stones I gave her. She used to say the same exact thing when we played on our street as kids.
“Hold on tight, baby.”
Her arms tighten and I gun it, taking us onto the road that will cross over the Rockies. The sun shines down in golden rays.
As we cross over the mountain range, Maisy lets out an elated cheer at the top of her lungs.
This is everything I want—the open road, my wild daisy girl wrapped around me, and the wind kissing our cheeks.
Epilogue
MAISY
2 Months Later
Summer is drawing to a close, but when we reach the west coast it feels like it will never end, keeping us in a perpetual bubble of sunshine and golden warmth. The beach I picked out on the map is deserted. I relish the sound of waves crashing and the taste of salt air on my tongue. I’ve missed this.
As soon as we got here an hour ago I snapped a photo and sent it to Holden and my friends. A giddiness swept over me as soon as my toes touched the sand. Tears pricked my eye while I stood at the water’s edge brushing my fingers over the bracelet I made from Fox’s stones when we came here as kids.
My brother and I are closer than ever since this road trip started, despite both of us no longer living in the same town. We have to hold onto each other because I don’t think either of us will reach a place of trust with our parents again. Dad keeps trying to call, but I don’t want to talk to him. As far as I’m concerned, Mom can rot behind bars for leaving me at the mercy of the people who attacked me. It’s what they both deserve for all their misdeeds.
I have the love of those who actually care about me—my friends, my brother, my boyfriend. They’re all important to me. They’re more family than my parents have ever been.
Without them, I wouldn’t have followed my dream to finally leave town. Now here I am in California at last.
I filled up the first journal Thea gave me and picked up another on our way out here. It’s cathartic to reflect. I love pouring my thoughts into it, the good and bad, and documenting the memories we’re making.
After we walked up and down the beach looking for new rocks to add to our collection we started on this trip, I sit on the bike in front of Fox, facing him with my legs straddling his powerful thighs. His hands are inside the oversized sides of my loose tank top, thumbs teasing the curves of my tits. I slide my arms around his neck and bite my lip.
“It’s just us here. Like our own little world.”
A rumble sounds in his chest and one of his hands slips further into my shirt, tracing my spine down to my ass. He hauls me closer so I can feel the hard ridge of him against my core. My breath hitches and I rock against him.
“Do you feel free now, baby?” he murmurs against my parted lips.
The sinful rasp in his voice sends a bolt of heat right to my clit. With a soft moan, I nod. He kisses the corner of my mouth, grip flexing on my ass to grind against me.
Smirking, I peel off my top and let it flutter to the sand, feeling every ounce of freedom I’ve claimed. I no longer have to regulate myself or do anything I don’t want to do. There are no reputations to uphold or expectations to meet. I can live on the wind, with Fox at my side where I’m happiest.
He bends to place a kiss on my throat, then lower to my sternum, then captures one of my nipples in his mouth. Waves crash against the shore and a pelican swoops overhead. A carefree laugh escapes me. His lips move back up to brush over mine.
I lean back, but his hand comes up to grasp my throat, pulling me back in.
“Not done with you yet,” he whispers in a smoky, seductive tone before he kisses me again, deeper this time. “Never will be.”
“I’m all yours and you’re mine.”
He takes me apart with his hands and mouth until we have a new memory of California, the first of many where he makes me feel wild on a beach.
I’m happy, fulfilled by chasing whims and traveling. I’m beginning to discover the parts of myself that have lived deep inside for too long, neglected before now.
The freedom is addictive after I’ve gone so long without it, hoping and wishing for it. There’s a light in my heart every time the wind moves through my hair, with each choice I take for myself. What makes it sweeter is doing it all with the person who has my heart—him.
Epilogue
FOX
1 Year Later
Southern California suits us both in ways I never imagined. It’s like our hearts knew we needed this to be our home the minute we first stepped foot in the state all those years ago on a combined family vacation, then spent every minute since missing it until we made our way here at the end of our road trip last summer.
Maisy turned her longing for the Pacific ocean into a bracelet with the small stones I found for her to hold onto the memory, while I inked it into my skin and sought out solace in a foggy cove in Maine until I returned to her.
Kismet, as my girl would say. She’s got me believing in fate.
We did exactly what we dreamed up back in my converted warehouse in Ridgeview—she opened a yoga studio that opens right to the beach and I have a workshop-garage space where I spend my time making whatever my hands create on instinct. More often than not I think the shapes I twist out of the found materials remind me of Maisy, just like the piece we keep in the bedroom of our bungalow a few blocks from the coastline.
Wiping my greasy hands off on a rag, I step back from the classic ‘67 Camaro I’ve been tuning up for a customer while Maisy had her morning sessions at the studio. I want to finish up and beat her back to the house so I can get my surprise ready. My stomach dips at the thought of what I have planned and I toss the dirty rag onto the bench along the wall.
I wash up and close up the shop, strolling out into the alley that connects to the main strip of Venice Beach. As I walk the boulevard, I pull my hair into a small knot with one of the hair ties I stole from Maisy’s nightstand tray I hammered out of a piece of copper I found in an antique shop. It’s getting long, but Maisy likes it.
The walk back to our bungalow isn’t long. The porch is covered in plants, wind chimes, and a couple of stray cats we fed once that have stuck around. I bend to rub the tubby orange one’s clipped ear, smiling when he bumps his head against my knuckles.
“Big day today,” I tell him as I unlock the door.
A quick glance at the clock lets me know I have just enough time to shower before she heads home from her yoga studio. I race through it, skipping a shirt and heading into the front room in just a low-slung pair of jeans with rips in the knees. After ducking outside to pick one of the wild daisies from our garden, I lay it on the coffee table next to her stack of journals and slip the finishing touch onto the stem.
I searched high and low for a ring, then it hit me. I needed to make it. Maisy has never been a girl that cares about diamonds, more happy to make a bracelet or necklace out of stones she finds meaning in. Jewelry wasn’t something I’d tacked in my tinkering before, but Maisy is my muse and I’m damn proud of what I made.
The ring I crafted is her, me, us. Gold and silver metal twist together to shape it, twining around two stones, one her favorite crystal, amethyst, and the other a small piece of polished sea glass I picked up for her—both we found while walking on the beach. Around the stones I formed golden petals out of hammered metal.
Her muffled voice cooing to the porch cats has me sitting up straight on the couch. Despite the shower, my palms prickle with sweat. I rub them on my jeans and wait for her to come through the door.
“I’m home,” she calls.
“I’m right here.”
A warm smile turns on me and I swipe my tongue over my lower lip. I love this beautiful girl. Her light brown hair is up in a topknot and he
r loose workout crop top reveals her tan skin I’m itching to taste. I can never get enough.
Maisy drops her keys in a bowl I made and joins me on the couch with a content sigh. “How was your morning? Did you finish on the Camaro?”
“Just about.” My arm drapes over her shoulder. “Got something for you.”
“Yeah?”
I motion with a jerk of my chin to the table, where her daisy is waiting. She makes a happy noise and picks it up. Every day for the last year I’ve given her a flower I picked.
The ring slips off the stem and she catches it with quick reflexes before it drops to the floor.
“Hey, this is…” Maisy trails off as she gets a good look at the daisy-shaped ring in her palm.
Her gaze darts from the daisy, to the ring I made just for her, to me as I sink to the floor on one knee, pulling her down to sit on my thigh. Her arms automatically loop around my shoulders, absently tracing my tattoos. Those gorgeous hazel eyes widen.
“Oh.” It comes out on a surprised sigh.
My gaze bounces between hers. “I promised a long time ago that I’d marry you one day because you’re my daisy. What do you say?”
Maisy’s breath hitches and she digs her fingers into my muscles. Her mouth curves into a wide grin. “I say yes.”
A well of happiness overflows in my chest and I crush her to me, releasing a short laugh against her hair.
“You made this?” she asks when I lean back.
“Do you like it?”
“I love it.” Her gaze is warm and fond as she tilts the ring side to side to study the details I put into it. “I recognize the stones. It’s perfect.”
I swoop in to kiss her, closing my fingers over the ring. With my forehead resting against hers, we both watch as I guide the engagement ring onto her finger.
“You’re perfect, little daisy,” I murmur. “You make me happy.”
A soft, affectionate sound escapes her and I lift up, situating us back on the couch with her in my lap.
Savage Wilder: Dark New Adult High School Bully Romance (Sinners and Saints Book 4) Page 34