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Max moved up my body a few inches and brought my head around so he could kiss me.

“I like selfish Arne.” His dark eyes were full of love. “You always take care of everyone else. You deserve to have good things, too.”

“I have you, and if that isn’t the best thing then I don’t know what is,” I muttered, pursing my lips to get him to kiss me.

“Sweet Princess.” Soft lips pressed on my mouth, my nose, my eyelids. “I—”

A loud knock on the door made us both flinch.

Twenty-four

Max

“Fuck!” Arne angled for his phone on the nightstand. “My parents are here. Mum texted me an hour ago.

I pulled out and Arne scrambled out from under me, giggling like a schoolboy. He was about to get up but stopped. My sweetest princess cupped my cheeks and gave me a slow kiss that made me swoon so hard it was embarrassing.

“Come out if you want. I’m sure they would love to meet you as soon as possible.” Arne took his discarded shirt and cleaned himself haphazardly before pulling out a pair of boxers and some Pumas merch—shorts and one of the blue shirts with thefierce yellow wildcat on the chest. “See you in a few minutes, okay?”

I nodded.

Oh my God, what am I saying?

He dashed back across the room to bend over the bed and kiss me again.

“Come on, meet the in-laws.” With one last peck and a cheeky wink he left.

I lay there for long minutes, staring up at the ceiling and letting his words sink in.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

The happy Danish voices from outside the bedroom door made me get up.

I used the same shirt he had to wipe my dick clean and dropped it with the rest of our discarded clothes in a heap on the floor. Then I grabbed fresh clothes from my bag.

Giving myself a last once-over in the mirror on the wardrobe and trying in vain to fix my stubborn curls, I grimaced at myself.

What would his parents say when I came out of the bedroom looking like I had just rearranged their son’s guts?

Well, there is only one way to find out.

The voices stopped abruptly at the sound of the bedroom door opening, and I entered the living room with my heart hammering in my throat.

Damn it, I hated meeting strangers. But maybe it was a good thing that I had little time to get nervous.

“Hello,” I greeted them, fiddling with my hands.

Where are they supposed to go?

Arne’s mother had short blonde hair, and everything about her looked effortlessly elegant. His father wasn’t as tall as him but was equally broad. I knew he worked for the local rescue team that retrieved lost hikers. He, too, had dark hair and those blue eyes.

His mum got up when she saw me coming over, a wide smile on her kind face.

“Oh, you must be Max.” Taking my outstretched hand into both of hers, she squeezed it without sparing my feathers a glance.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs Bendixen.”

She gasped and gave me a stern look that reminded me of Arne. “Absolutely not. My name is Ida, and this is my husband, Aksel.” Ida gave my hand another squeeze. “We are so happy to meet you. Arne has told us so much about you.”