Incomplete

  His expression broke and he kissed me, one strong arm pulling me flush against his body. His hand was at my neck, tilting my head back to give him full access to my mouth. “Liar,” he murmured.

  My heart was hammering against my chest and I gave into him, linking my arms around his neck and squeezing my eyes shut against the tears breaking through my resolve. He kissed me hungrily, with a desperation I felt and matched straight down into my core. His strong arms pulled me even closer, and I melted, feeling like my flesh was going to fuse with his permanently.

  He lifted me off the ground, my legs around his hips, and started walking, stepping down off the entryway to the community center and around the side of the building. I was too hungry for him to notice where he was taking me or why. My back landed against brick and his hands moved up my thighs to cup my ass, fingers digging into the flesh. His tongue warred with mine, delving into my mouth. I felt a hand tug at the strap of my dress, and I moved my shoulder to help him, gasping when his lips left mine to cover my nipple.

  “I’m going to fuck you,” he grumbled, blue eyes hooded.

  “Here?” I asked, trying to catch my breath.

  A hand disappeared between us to undo his pants. Using his thumb, he pushed my panties to the side and nudged at my entrance.

  “Have you been with anyone else?” I’d been wet for him since the second he showed up at the center, in all of his well-dressed glory.

  He shook his head, kissing me lightly, “Have you?”

  I laughed, sounding a little maniacal. “No.”

  He shoved into me, hard, and I gasped, the brick scraping against my bare shoulder. I kept my legs hooked around his waist and he held me aloft with one arm, using the other to hold us up against the cool brick. He drove into me again and again, face against my neck, his breathing coming in short gasps. That delicious, familiar pressure built in my abdomen, causing my toes to curl and my head to fall back against the wall. I ran my fingers through his hair, clenching my teeth at the intense feeling crawling its way over my body inch by scrumptious inch.

  “Mmm,” I hummed. I was so close, so, so close. After six long months of pining for him through dreams and memories.

  He slowed then, bringing his face to mine, “Tell me you love me.”

  I tried to move my hips to get him to quicken the pace again, but he refused, his movements leaving me in agony.

  “You love me, and you forgive me,” he said. “And you’ll come back to New York with me.” Maverick’s mouth moved over mine and sweat appeared at the top of his forehead.

  “No,” I breathed, trying not to smile.

  I gasped when he shoved into me again, stars floating along the edges of my vision.

  “I forgive you,” I admitted weakly.

  His mouth moved to my neck, “And?” He drove into me again and I wanted to laugh at the feeling.

  “I never left New York.”

  He stilled completely, his eyes meeting mine, “You didn’t?”

  I shook my head and tried to wiggle against him.

  “I came to your apartment every week.” He said, blue eyes sad, “You were never there.”

  “I moved in with Janey.”

  His hand left the wall and hooked under my knee, deepening the angle we were at. It was punishing, remarkably, wonderfully, punishing. “You came every week?” I squeaked.

  Maverick nodded, his eyes never leaving mine as he started to move, flexing his hips to hit that spot in my cervix that craved it most. “You forgot something.”

  I grinned and let my eyes roll into the back of my head, biting into my bottom lip. “Please don’t stop.”

  “I want to hear you say it.”

  Placing my hands on either side of his face, I brought his lips to mine, “I love you, Maverick.”

  His expression was brilliant, and he kissed me furiously, bringing me straight to orgasm with just a few hard movements. I nearly screamed and his hand went to cover my mouth, chuckling into my neck.

  He came a few moments later while I was descending from the stars. Then he let me go, my trembling legs nearly giving out beneath me when my heels touched the soft grass. “So,” he said, straightening the strap of my dress, “You wanna go back in there? Maybe tell your mom you forgive her for inviting me?” He held out his hand to me and I took it, smiling.

  “How long have you two been talking?”

  He shrugged, “Six months, give or take.”

  I sighed, rolling my eyes. I shouldn’t be surprised.

  “You should know, she was on my side right from the beginning.”

  “She has severe retrograde amnesia. Of course she was on your side.”

  I stopped in the bathroom on the way back to the dance hall and when I emerged Maverick had a strange look on his face. His brows were furrowed, his lips pursed, eyes blazing.

  “What’s—.”

  I heard his voice before I could finish my question.

  Jack Hanson was in the dance hall, his arm around my mother, leading her in a waltz around the room.

  Chapter 49

  Maverick

  Celeste ran past me and through the entrance to the hall, her heels clacking with rage. “What the hell are you doing here?” She shouted at her father.

  Jack turned on his heel, just as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

  “Celeste?”

  She sprinted up to him and shoved against his chest, pushing him away from Maeve. He held his hands up and laughed, looking to Maeve like he couldn’t believe how ridiculous things had just become.

  Maeve touched Celeste on the shoulder, her voice gentle, “Honey, this is the man I was telling you about, Ryan.”

  Celeste whirled on Maeve, her mouth open, “Mom, his name isn’t Ryan. This is my dad.”

  I watched with equal parts horror and fascination as the truth washed over Maeve’s expression. She paled, her hand falling slowly down to her side, and she shook her head almost imperceptibly.

  “I was keeping her safe,” Jack said, his eyes never leaving Maeve’s.

  I could see it. I could see the love Jack had for his daughter’s real mother in the looks he was giving her. I’d never seen him look at anyone that way, not his daughter, not his wife, not even his dog.

  “Keeping her safe?” Celeste shouted, “Safe and hidden after you tried to murder her?”

  Jack brought his gaze to Celeste, his cold eyes shooting daggers.

  Celeste held her finger up to her dad, her eyes blazing with green fury, “You let her fall into the lake. I saw it. I saw it happen. You let her fall and then you watched as she struggled and sank.” She was shaking, her entire body trembling.

  What the fuck. I could only stare at Jack Hanson, standing in front of his daughter with hate on his face. “You’re remembering wrong,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “I’m not, I know I’m not.” Celeste’s voice was strong and certain, “You let her drown and then you put me in the car.”

  Jack turned away from her, sucking air in between his teeth. “I went back!” He shouted at her then. “I pulled her out, but you don’t remember that, do you? I went back and I called for a fucking ambulance.”

  Celeste shook her head, “I was there. We drove away after. And I screamed at you to go back but you wouldn’t.”

  “You left me there?” Maeve said then. And we all turned to stare at her. She was looking at Jack like she was seeing him for the first time, “You left me to die?”

  He stepped towards her, but she backed away, stumbling, “I came back, I pulled you out. I paid for your treatment. I’ve been visiting you for 16 years, Maeve. I…I love you.”

  Celeste scoffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “You don’t try to kill the people you love.”

  Jack ignored her, trying to get closer to Maeve. “I love you. I love you. I saved you.”

  She shook her head, backing up even further, “I can’t believe it. All this time it was you.”

  “He bribed you,
tried to murder you, and then tried to make up for it by locking you in an asylum,” Celeste said.

  He turned to Celeste then, hate written across his features and I moved quickly, stepping in front of her. He didn’t see me, glaring over my shoulder at his only daughter. “I should have paid for the abortion,” he spat.

  Maeve’s voice boomed from behind me. “Don’t you speak to her that way.”

  I startled, feeling just a little frightened. Celeste’s mom appeared at my side, her face red, hands clenched at her sides. Hands on my shoulders pulled me back a few steps, then moved down my arm to link with mine.

  Maeve was not a large person, but at that moment, she felt like a giant.

  “You have abused this girl from the second she was created and despite your misgivings as a father she turned into an incredible, resilient young woman.” Jack was stepping backwards, his eyes wide, “You,” she growled, her voice lowering, “You are selfish and mean, a liar and a thief. Celeste deserved better, I deserved better, your wife deserves better.”

  Jack looked four times smaller, despite his stature. I knew how it felt to be yelled at by the woman you loved, and I didn’t envy him in that moment. If he had a heart, it was being broken right then, in front of all of us and about thirty senior citizens, some of whom were probably very confused.

  “Get. Out.” Maeve said.

  Jack had the gall to try to apologize.

  “GET OUT!” Maeve screamed.

  The emotion left his face, his hands falling to his sides. And he left the room.

  Maeve took three giant steps over to Celeste and wrapped her up in her arms, freckled hand caressing her hair. “Don’t you listen to that asshole. You’re beautiful and brilliant and you mean absolutely everything to me.”

  Celeste held onto my hand, but I heard her sniff.

  “I may not remember it, but I don’t regret you, my love. I’m grateful for every minute we get to spend together.” Maeve had her eyes closed and she kissed Celeste on the forehead.

  Fuck. Now I was going to cry.

  Maeve grabbed me by the shirt and tugged me into her, her arm around my shoulders. “You’re all going to be alright.”

  After explaining to the hard of hearing patients at the community center, Celeste and I said goodbye to Maeve at the door to her car.

  “You should come and stay with me,” Celeste said to her, wrapped up in her mom’s arms.

  “I’ll be alright,” Maeve said. “I should have put it together, but I didn’t want to believe. I’m still a little shocked he doesn’t live in Colchester.” She gave me a smile and held Celeste back by her arms, “Well, if anything good came from this day, it’s that you two are together again, where you should be.” She frowned, “Even if I lost a boyfriend in the process.”

  I chuckled and Celeste smiled, “Consider it though, won’t you? We still have all that money, mom, we could get a place together.”

  “Oh,” she dismissed the idea, “If anything changes around here it’ll be because I go back to school. And you won’t be paying for it.”

  “It’s your money!”

  Maeve hushed her daughter, “It isn’t, doll, it’s yours. I don’t want to hear any more about it.”

  She held her thin hand out to me with a broad smile, “So you’ll be with us at Christmas this year, then? Last year was a doozy, I’ll tell you.”

  I smiled, “I wouldn’t miss it.”

  “Good, I’d like to meet your parents. Sooner rather than later. I want to know the kind of family Celeste will be marrying into.”

  “Mom,” Celeste scolded, covering her face with her hand.

  “Name the day, Ms. Bohanan,” I said, “Any day.”

  She put her hand on my cheek, then let it fall to her side, shooing us. “Alright, kids. Time for you to go. And me too. I think I’ll be drowning in a bottle of wine tonight. Better than a lake, I bet.”

  I laughed and Celeste groaned. We watched her drive away and I turned to Celeste. “So, you want to set the date?”

  “What date?”

  “The wedding. I was thinking Spring, but we could just hit up the courthouse today.”

  She rolled her eyes and started to walk away but I grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her body flush against mine. “I’m serious,” I murmured.

  Her mouth fell open, grassy green peering up at me. “Mav we haven’t even talked about everything—.”

  “Like what?”

  She pursed her lips together, “Like how you’ve been seeing my mom behind my back, all the secrets you kept from me—.”

  “You forgave me.”

  “It’s not that simple, you were fucking me, and I need time—.”

  “You can’t have it.”

  “What do you—.”

  “No more time, Ace. I’m done giving you time. You forgave me. You love me. You want to take me to a hotel and fuck me and eat chocolate syrup off of my god-like body. So that’s what we’re going to do. Then we can talk about the next step.”

  Celeste was laughing and I relished in that open mouthed grin. “Chocolate syrup?”

  “Yes.”

  She sighed, “Mav, I—.”

  I shook my head, “No. I’m incomplete without you and I refuse to live that way any longer.”

  “Will you stop interrupting me, please?” She asked, scolding.

  “Sorry.”

  Celeste pushed away from me and let out a breath, “I forgive you, I do. But it’s so much, Maverick. The history between us is so long and complicated. We were only together for a few months before we broke up. It’s just intense and we can’t seem to be anything other than intense.”

  I swallowed, clenching my jaw, “Are you saying you want to date other people?”

  Adjusting the strap on her purse, she looked down at the ground. I remained silent for as long as I could, counting the seconds that ticked by under the heat of the Connecticut summer sun. I took my jacket off and tossed it on the hood of a nearby red car, rolling my sleeves up my forearm and waiting for her answer.

  “No,” she finally admitted, and I relaxed.

  “Then what do you want?”

  Her body angled toward me, blonde head tilting to the side as she looked me up and down, “I don’t want any more secrets.”

  “Done.”

  “I don’t want you to lie to me anymore.”

  “Extra done.”

  “I don’t want you to stop going to Yale. Or to threaten to move in with me before you graduate.”

  I frowned, but conceded, “Alright.”

  She surveyed me, stepping closer, “I want regularly scheduled dates. Every Saturday night.”

  I scoffed, “Easy.”

  “I want summers at the house in the Hamptons.”

  I blinked, shifting on the car, “Really?”

  Her nod was quick, a smile playing across her lips. “I want Christmases with both of our families.”

  I shrugged, “Abel and Lucy would be thrilled.”

  Celeste was closer to me now, her thighs nearly brushing against my legs. I kept my arms across my chest. “I want to see the ring in your pocket.”

  My body went rigid, and I glanced down at my pants pocket. The unmistakable square bulge stood out in the stretched fabric. Her gaze glittered and I watched while her hand moved up my thigh to touch the box.

  “You really thought this surprise attack was going to go well?”

  I could hardly find an answer. “I’ve been taking it with me everywhere,” I said, reaching into my pocket to pull out the Tiffany blue box. The ribbon was bent, and the boxes edges were worn, but it was still intact, protecting the smaller velvet box inside. I held it up between my fingers, glancing at her expression.

  Her eyes were wide, cheeks pink, and she sank her teeth into her bottom lip.

  My pulse beat loud in my ears. Did she want me to ask her? In the parking lot of a community center, sitting on a stranger’s car?

  “This wasn’t how I was planning to ask you,” I
admitted nervously.

  “Then don’t. Ask me how you meant to ask me.”

  I took her hand in mine and tugged her forward. She touched my chest, smiling. “It’s a date.” Celeste leaned forward, kissing me gently. “I should update you on some things though,” I murmured.

  She fell away from me, frowning.

  “Mia’s in rehab.”

  Her mouth fell open in shock, “Oh, good for her.”

  “You were right, she was coked out. I’ve already gotten an apology letter from her.”

  “That’s good,” She looked away from me.

  “I got Eli’s parents work visas.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  She bit her lip, “He was released on bail. It’s why I moved in with Janey.”

  “I figured. It’s why I kept coming to visit you.”

  We were silent for a moment. Ramirez had skipped his trial and probably fled the country. I wasn’t worried about him coming back for Celeste. I’d be there if he tried, not that she needed me.

  “Brody’s in love with Janey.” I said.

  “Excuse me?”

  “And Logan and Ashley broke up.”

  She laughed, “Okay.”

  “I’m trying not to keep any secrets from you.”

  “Is there anything else?”

  I thought for a moment, “Would you like to know how many times I jerked off?”

  Her head fell back with a laugh, “No, thank you.”

  I touched her chin, bringing her face back to look at me, “I love you.”

  Celeste grinned and the world in all its chaos, took a break, “I love you too.”

  I let my fingers wrap around the heavy strands of her hair and pulled her lips to mine, closing my eyes and savoring this incredible moment. “Can we go to a hotel now?” I asked.

  “Sure, I’ll drive. You’re sitting on my car.”

  I hopped off, surprised, and grabbed my jacket, surveying the machine.

  Celeste winked at me as she walked around to the driver’s side, pulling a set of keys from her purse, and unlocking the doors. I stepped into the passenger seat and looked over at her.

  I’d fucking done it.

  I’d waited. I’d made everything right. It’d only taken three fucking years, but here we were, in front of the rest of our lives.