Page 80 of Next in Line
“What are you even doing here, Sam?” I ask, pulling my blazer tighter around myself. “You made it very clear yesterday that you were done with this charade.”
“I am.”
“Then why are you here?” I ask, my voice echoing down the alley as my emotions begin to bubble to the surface.
“I’m fucking here to save you from yourself apparently,” he snaps, his jaw jutting out angrily.
“Why would you think I need saving?”
“Because you’re in there acting like a completely different person, Maggie. You’re not being yourself. You’re being the version you think he wants, and it’s stupid. Don’t change for a guy. You’re not that girl.”
“Sam, how well do you even know me?” I ask. I don’t even know me anymore, so how the hell could he?
“I know you better than that dimwit in there, that’s for fucking sure!” he growls, his voice low.
“Whatever,” I snap, shaking my head in disbelief.
This seems to ignite something in Sam as he steps closer to me, his body vibrating with something intense. Something overwhelming and maybe even a little bit scary.
He crosses his arms over his chest. “You like Chardonnay, you hate beer, and you’re terrible at fishing jokes.”
“What are you doing?” I ask, but he doesn’t stop to answer.
“You get a sick thrill out of waking people up. I think you charmed Marv at the bait shop because you felt bad about his first impression of you. You are so stubborn that no matter how bad you are at something, you never give up. You get hot when you’re upset. You fucking hate the cold, but you actually do like ice fishing because a heater is involved, and I’m pretty sure you enjoy imagining a world of possibilities for the fish you catch and release.”
My breath is stuck in my chest, unable to be released because nothing could have prepared me for this onslaught of words.
Shaking his head, Sam leans toward me to add, “Fuck your ex. I know you. And in the short time I’ve known you, I have never, not once, not even for a fraction of a second thought you were basic. Crazy? Yes. Delusional? Absolutely. Idealistic to the point of believing in unattainable fairy tales? One hundred fucking percent. But you are so far from basic, Maggie. You’re like the great catch of the day that you know could never be topped even if you fished for the rest of your life.”
My eyes well with tears because he’s saying so much, yet somehow, he’s still not saying enough. “What are you getting at with all of this, Sam? What exactly are you trying to tell me?”
“I want you, Maggie,” he exclaims, the veins on his neck bulging as he steps right in front of me. “I want you…not as a fuck buddy and not as a secret friend who’s helping you with a problem. I want you…for everything.”
My icy fingers move up to cover my mouth. “But you don’t do relationships.”
“For you, I want to try,” he states simply, his eyes softening around the edges.
“So just like that, you’re ready now?” I ask, throwing my arms out wide. Because it seems too easy. If he was really ready, why didn’t he say so at Marv’s yesterday? Why did he let me walk out? “It has nothing to do with the fact that Sterling showed up and now you’re jealous?”
“Yes, I’m fucking jealous,” he growls, his jaw jutting out defiantly. “But it doesn’t make any of what I just said less true. I want you!”
“You’re going to break my heart,” I cry out of nowhere, my mind reeling with a deep, dark, terrifying fear. Losing Sam will be a hundred times worse than losing Sterling. “You’re going to break my heart worse than Sterling did.”
“Because you care more about me,” he retorts, stepping in so close to me, my back is pressed against the cold stone. “Admit it.”
I shake my head, crossing my arms over my chest as I look away from him. “You’re clueless about how to treat a woman. I mean, look at how you behaved Friday night.”
“You said I was acting like a boyfriend that night!”
“That was before you fucked me bareback in a bar bathroom,” I yell, my voice coming from the depths of my very soul. “What the hell was that all about?”
He flinches at my crass words and then grinds out through clenched teeth, “That was something only someone you completely trust would be allowed to do. And trust is at the core of relationships, isn’t it?” He takes a deep breath and stares right into my eyes. “Maggie, I trust you. You trust me. It may have taken me a minute to work out my feelings for you, but I’m here now.”
“Work out your feelings for me?” I huff and flick my hand to push my hair out of my face. “And what did you figure out?”
“I love you, Maggie,” he croaks, his eyes haunted with that admission.
I suck in a sharp breath, my eyes blurring because nothing could have prepared me for those words to come out of his mouth. “You love me?”
