Avenge Read Free Page A

I
stated.
    He pulled me off the arm of the couch
and onto his lap. I snuggled into his chest as he wrapped his free
arm around me. I sighed contentedly, happy to be close to him. Ever
since he revealed that we were each half of the original soul, it
was hard to keep us away from each other. We were rarely apart;
neither of us concentrating well at whatever we were doing because
we were too busy wondering about each other.
    “ Do you remember the first
few weeks we dated?” Max whispered in my ear.
    I sank down on the couch, resting my
head in his lap while he stroked my hair. “Ugh! It was torture. We
could only see each other a few hours a day and kept sneaking
kisses between training sessions.” I smiled remembering our
“honeymoon stage,” as Cassie called it.
    “ It was never enough.” Max
leaned down to brush his lips softly against mine. “I can never get
enough of you.”
    My lips tingled where he touched and I
fought the urge to pull him down closer to me. “You were my rock.
You kept me grounded and centered when everything else was spinning
out of control. I don’t know if I would have made it through that
first month without you.”
    Max sensed that I might cry, so he
changed the subject to happier thoughts. “How many pillows do you
think Adam and James threw at us every time we started making
out?”
    I threw my head back, laughing at the
memory. “Oh, I don’t know. A hundred? At least they weren’t as
annoyed as Elizabeth. She was so sick of us. I think she vomited a
little in her mouth every time she saw us together.” I lifted my
head and cupped my hand to his ear, whispering, “I secretly enjoyed
watching her squirm for once!”
    “ I can’t say I didn’t enjoy
it a little too,” he chuckled, then paused as if remembering
something else. “Do you remember the black eye I got after I ran
into the end of the bleachers because I was too busy staring at
you?”
    “ Yes, it matched my bruises
from tripping over the painted lines on the basketball court and
running into trees while jogging because I was lost in thoughts of
you. We were quite the ditzy duo for a while there. Thank goodness
Cassie intervened and offered to switch apartments so we could have
more time together. Not that she wasn’t getting something out of it
too, of course.”
    For weeks I physically ached to touch
him again, or simply be near him. At first, I thought it was young
love stuff. But it only got stronger each day, causing me to think
I was being one of those needy, clingy girls I always hated in high
school. He eventually told me that during those few weeks when we
didn’t see each other before Jessica died, he had severe headaches
every day and twice almost abandoned everything to come back to see
me.
    We came up with the theory that
because we were each half of a whole, we were stronger united. And,
consequently, weaker divided. It made the most sense. And both of
us were happy to use it as a valid excuse to move in together. It’s
hard to imagine that someone could be thankful that a drunk driver
rammed her car, killing them in the process. But I was. Max was my
world, my light, my everything. He filled my heart until I was sure
it would burst from within. When we were together, my world was
complete. My soul was his, and his was mine.
    “ So what exactly happened
tonight? How did I end up in bed passed out for six hours?” I
mentally replayed last night as guilt washed over me for missing a
meeting (even if it was going to be long and boring). That wasn’t
professional of me.
    “ I told you that you needed
more rest. We came back with your latte, and you were fast asleep
on the couch. I was going to let you sleep for a half hour or so,
but when you started snoring and drooling on the leather, I knew
you were done for the day and I needed to get you back to
bed.”
    Heat rushed to my face and I knew I
must be several deep shades of red. “Oh, that is so embarrassing.
Tell me no one else saw.”
    “ Um,