Page 121 of All the Forbidden Things

Hearing the tremble in my voice causes my throat to tighten around the ball of emotion wedged inside, and I fight to control the way my jaw wobbles. It doesn’t help when I have to watch Mel wipe tears from her cheeks.

“I love you, Mel, you and Cal. I love you both so much but, please, just give me a bit of time. We’ve got everything coming at us at once and no time to work out exactly what ourusis. It might be nothing, or it could be everything.”

“I just don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Listen, he and I don’t even know what we have yet, and the last thingwe, Max especially, needs to be dealing with right now is Cal’s reaction if you go out there and tell him about us. If you do that, then it’ll undoubtedly have implications for the band, that will cause interest from the press . . .” I pause, feeling more than a little defeated, let out a long sigh, and hold out both my arms before letting them fall to my side. “Then it’ll be out there, the public will crucify us, and all before we even have a chance to work out for ourselves what the fuck it is we’ve got going on.”

My mouth is so dry I don’t know how I’m managing to talk.

Mel stands, wraps me in her arms, and holds me. “I won’t lie. I’m so confused by how I feel about this, but for now, I’ll take a step back and give you time to try and figure things out. But if he hurts you, I swear to fucking god—”

“He won’t, he won’t.” I attempt to reassure both her and myself.

I feel sick to my stomach and like an ungrateful bitch with the way I’ve spoken to Mel and Kenzie today, but I’m hanging on by a thread and, in all honesty, can’t actually wait to get away from the circus my life has apparently become.

Max asks me to packtwo bags for Layla. One to send to his mum’s with her, and one for me to take to Jays. I need to go over to the house to collect everything. Not wanting to risk another confrontation with Whitney, it’s the last place I want to go. When I step out of my bedroom to ask someone to come with me, Mel tells me Max is already over there.

Knowing I’ll at least have Max there for back up if I need it, I pull my khaki green beanie down low on my head and head out of my front door.

The usual commotion starts at the gates the instant I step outside, but I stare down at the gravel and move quickly towards the back door.

Aaron has asked us to carry on around Deana and Whitney as if nothing has happened. Like we don’t suspect them of instigating this morning’s debacle by involving the police and social workers and by sharing the story to the press. The photo that was taken of me in the pub last night has been shared all over social media, but I’ve avoided looking at the comments of what people think of me. Daniel has text me numerous times with updates, but all I’ve managed to get out to him is a quick text letting him know I was okay and would call when I could.

I enter the house through the laundry door and head straight up the stairs to the nursery. The house is quiet, and I have no idea where Max is until my hand is grabbed and I’m pulled into his bedroom as I pass.

Max has the door closed, locked and my back pushed against it in seconds. His front presses against mine, our foreheads touching, as we both remain silent and spend a few seconds catching our breath.

“What the fuck—” I’m silenced when his mouth comes crashing down on mine. I twist my head from side to side in an attempt to escape. Not that I don’t want him to kiss me, I just don’t want the fugly sisters catching him do it.

“Are you mad?” I whisper shout when he finally pulls away.

“Just sex starved.”

“Pfft, hardly.”

“Love the beanie,” he says, giving it a tug over my ears and eyes.

“Thanks,” I tell him, pushing it back up so I can look at him. “I went for khaki hoping it’d make me invisible to the press.”

“It’ll take more than a beanie to make you invisible to the press or anyone else. You’re too fucking gorgeous not to be noticed.”

I smile. For the first time since this morning’s circus unfolded, I smile. All of me: my lips, my eyes, my heart and my insides. I smile because that’s what Max does, he makes me happy, and as long as I have him, I won’t let these fuckers get me down.

Soft lips brush across the skin under my ear, trailing a path to my jaw.

“I’ve not even had a chance to clean my teeth today. I came over here to grab some clean clothes and toiletries so I could come back to yours and shower, and then like a walking wet dream, you appeared in this sexy as fuck green beanie.”

“Khaki,” I correct him as he grinds against me. “And yuk, I wondered what that was.”

“Yeah, sorry about the morning breath, but whatever, the hat still looks good on you . . . so good, that I think you should seriously consider removing the rest of your clothes and just wear that while you ride my face.”

A shudder runs through me at the thought of riding anything of Max’s, especially his face, and some of the tension caused by the craptastic few days I’ve had since Whitney’s arrival eases.

“Ew, you just said you hadn’t cleaned your teeth, so there’s no way that mouth is going anywhere near me.”

“I’ll use your clit as a toothbrush, your pussy juice as mouthwash.”

He slides his hands under my arse cheeks and lifts me in the air while still grinding into me, hitting that sweet spot between my legs perfectly.