I stopped walking and looked at him. “She isn’t ready. It’s how she deals. Let her deal with things the way she needs to. I won’t let anyone push her. Not even you,” I told him. Then I walked off toward the field and left him standing there.

It was almost midnight when Maggie slid her window open for me to come inside. I had practice until late then gone to the bluff and sat up there for a few hours. When Momma had called about me coming home to eat, I did. For her. Then my grandmother had asked me about college, and I had left without answering her. She hadn’t been there for us before, and she had no right to interfere with my life now.

I called Momma and told her to go to sleep. Told her I’d be home soon, that I was at Brady’s. That was the truth. I was at Brady’s. I just wasn’t here for Brady. I think she probably knew that, but she didn’t ask.

Maggie stood in the middle of her room in a pair of baggy sweatpants tied at the waist and a tank top. Her long hair was in a messy knot on top of her head, and she couldn’t have looked more beautiful. I’d missed her this afternoon. I always missed her when she wasn’t with me.

That scared me if I thought about it too much. I didn’t want to miss her like this. I could lose her.

No.

I wasn’t going to lose Maggie. I wouldn’t let that happen. I would make her want to stay with me. I’d be whatever she needed me to be.

“Hey,” she said softly.

I grinned. “Hey.”

Closing the distance between us, I reached for her and held her close to me. “Missed you,” I whispered before pressing a kiss to her lips. She had great lips.

She laughed against my kiss. I loved that sound. She didn’t laugh often. But when she did, it was like magic. “What’s so funny?” I asked, unable to keep the incredibly pleased smile from hearing her laughter off my face.

“You just saw me a few hours ago,” she said.

I shook my head. “No, I saw you nine hours ago. That is not a few. It’s a fucking long time.”

Maggie pressed her lips together, and her eyes danced with laughter. She wasn’t wearing any makeup. Her face was washed clean. I loved that she had known I was coming over and didn’t fix up. She was just her, and she was comfortable being just her.

“You really should be sleeping. You have the game tomorrow night,” she said as she placed a hand on my chest.

“I am gonna sleep. Here with you. I’ll set my alarm to get up at five, and I’ll go home. But tonight I want to hold you.”

Her eyes sparked with pleasure. That made me think about things. Things I shouldn’t be thinking about. Not in her house. Not where Boone was so close to us.

I glanced over at her bed and could see she had already been in it tonight. I hadn’t texted her I was coming over until about an hour ago. I wondered if she’d been asleep then. Seeing her covers messy and knowing I was going to have her cuddled up against me all night made everything that felt hollow fade away. Maggie made me feel like a caveman. I liked having her with me.

Maggie slipped her hand into mine, and I had that familiar feeling of peace that had gotten me through this last month. Four weeks. Tomorrow it would have been exactly one month since I kissed her at the field party. She’d come into my life when I thought I was going to lose myself. When I wasn’t sure I had the strength to make it. And she’d shown me I could. She had reminded me that I wasn’t the only person on earth to lose a parent.

Maggie pulled the covers back on my side then crawled over to her side to straighten her sheets. Seeing her like this, being here with her like this, made me want things. Things that should be for me and me only. For example, I never wanted another guy to see her dressed like that on this bed. Just me. I didn’t want her to ever slip her hand in another guy’s hand. Ever. Just mine.

“You have to get in in order to go to sleep,” Maggie whispered, a playful smile on her lips.

She had become my lifeline. I wanted to be hers. I wanted her to feel this way about me, too.

I climbed into the bed and lay on my back with one arm behind my head and the other one held out for Maggie, inviting her to come lay her head on my chest. She didn’t need instruction. She knew exactly what I wanted. When her head was right where I liked it, I slipped my hands into her silky hair and untied her bun. She didn’t protest.

We lay there quietly for a few minutes while I played with her hair and stared at the ceiling fan. My head was a mix of emotions. She’d entered my life when I’d needed her most. I’d never expected this. Or her. But now that I had her, I wasn’t sure how I’d made it this long without her.

My Girl

CHAPTER 37

MAGGIE

When Aunt Coralee knocked on my bedroom door to wake me, I had a brief moment of panic until I saw West wasn’t in my bed anymore. I guess I hadn’t woken up when he’d left.

There was a note on the pillow where he had slept. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and then opened the folded paper.

GOOD MORNING, BEAUTIFUL. YOU WERE SLEEPING SO PEACEFULLY WHEN I LEFT. I DIDN’T WANT TO WAKE YOU. BUT TODAY I’D LIKE TO BE THE ONE TO TAKE YOU TO SCHOOL. I’LL BE BY AT SEVEN THIRTY. IF BRADY GIVES YOU A HARD TIME-, CALL ME AND HAND THE PHONE TO HIM.

He wanted me to ride with him to school. I glanced up at the mirror across from my bed and saw the smile on my face. It was a real smile, one filled with excitement and hope. For a long time that smile had been a stranger to me. Now I was happy.

Standing up, I walked over to the mirror, then reached out and touched the girl there. She was older than the one I once knew. Her eyes held more strength and maturity. But she was happy. That was familiar.

“You’d like him, Mom,” I whispered. “He’s wonderful.”

She would have wanted me to tell her everything about him. She’d squeal with me when I told her about our first kiss. She would listen to me talk about him and not get bored. She hadn’t just been my mother; she’d been my best friend. Knowing that West would make her happy for me made me feel even more complete. The emptiness that had become part of me wasn’t so empty anymore. West was filling it.

Aunt Coralee’s voice calling that breakfast was ready reminded me that I had to hurry. I wanted to let her know I was riding with West today. It was his game day, and I wanted to surprise him with my school spirit too.

I just needed to get Brady to lend me a jersey.

Fifteen minutes later I was dressed and headed to the kitchen. I had texted Brady asking him if I could borrow a jersey. He’d agreed and said he’d bring it to the kitchen for me. I also had a note in my hand that wasn’t asking, more like telling, Aunt Coralee that I was riding with West today.

When I got there, Brady was already at the table eating a plate full of eggs and bacon. He was wearing the blue jersey that he would wear tonight. There was another blue one folded up on the table that had his same number but looked like it had been worn more.

“Here you go. You can take my jersey from last year,” he said, a grin tugging on the corners of his lips.

Did he think it was silly for me to wear it? Was this something I shouldn’t do yet?

“Good morning, Maggie. I have your plate on the warmer. Let me get it.” Aunt Coralee paused and looked at the white tank top I was wearing and frowned. “Um, I don’t think you can wear that to school.”

“Oh, she’s not. She’s wearing my old jersey today,” he replied.

Aunt Coralee’s eyes lit up, and she smiled. “Well, that is so sweet! Isn’t it, Brady?”

Brady continued to look like he was going to burst into laughter at any minute.

“Sure is,” he managed to say before eating another forkful of eggs.

I decided to ignore him and went to slip the jersey on before handing my note to Aunt Coralee. She read it then smiled softly. “Sure, sweetie. That’s fine. I expected this.” Relieved, I took my plate of food from her hands and moved to the table.

“What did you expect?” Brady asked.

“That she’d start riding with West to school soon.” Brady smirked again. “So, she’s riding with West today?” I nodded as Aunt Coralee said, “Yes.”

Brady was being weird, so I decided to ignore him. I was excited about riding with West. I was excited about his seeing me in a jersey. I was also excited about just seeing him.

He gave me a reason to love life again. I’d not really lived in two years, and I finally realized now I had missed so much. Not speaking had protected me in many ways, but it had also isolated me. From everyone.

When Aunt Coralee walked upstairs, Brady looked over at me. “What I warned you about with West is still something you need to remember. But I admit he is different with you. I’ve never seen him treat anyone the way he treats you. So maybe this is more to him than other relationships have been. I’m just afraid you could be a crutch to get him through dealing with his dad’s death. When someone else he wants comes along, he might take her. You’d be forgotten,” he said, then he stood up. “Guard your heart. He won’t mean to hurt you. But in the end he might.”

A sharp knock interrupted Brady. He glanced at the door as I stood up. I knew it was West. I grabbed my plate and took it to the sink before hurrying to the door.