Chapter 64 Emotional intimacy
Max's POV:
Yes, I was fully clothed in front of her. Still, I felt completely naked.
More vulnerable than I'd ever been in my entire life.
I'd had plenty of women see me without clothes... that was easy, physical, and uncomplicated.
But this? Stripping away all of my carefully constructed masks... revealing the parts of myself I'd buried so deep I sometimes forgot they existed?!
This was a different kind of exposure entirely.
And it terrified me!
Veronica moved closer, leaning down until her head rested against my shoulder.
I let my arm come around her, pulling her in, and suddenly my senses were engulfed by her sweet jasmine scent.
It was intoxicating, but not in the wild, reckless way I was used to. She felt softer against me... warmer, like coming home.
"That is just so sad, you know," she said quietly, her breath warm against my neck. "That you're giving up your full potential for the sake of not being a competitive threat to your brother."
I chuckled down at her.
She didn't get it. Not fully. Not yet.
"What is even 'full potential,' Veronica? Building capital like my baby brother? Is that what you're talking about?" I shifted slightly so I could look down at her. "Trust me... that is just bondage. I'm only choosing my happiness, and this is it for me. Helping people who actually need it. Living on my own terms without someone constantly measuring my worth by how much money I make or how many companies I build."
She was quiet for a moment, processing. I could almost hear the gears turning in her head, could see her trying to reconcile the Max she thought she knew with the Max I'd just shown her.
"Happiness over achievement," she murmured. "That's... actually kind of radical."
"Only to people who've been brainwashed into thinking they're the same thing," I said.
That night, we slept next to each other on the bed.
Side by side, we slept.
She rested her head on my chest, and I could feel her blinking against my shirt, her eyelashes brushing the fabric with each slow flutter.
I was fully dressed—jeans, T-shirt, even my socks still on... just embracing her. Holding her like she was something precious that might break if I gripped it too tight.
This was really a score for me.
Except it didn't feel like scoring. It felt like something else entirely.
I'd never done this before. I'd never just slept with a girl without it leading somewhere. Without hands wandering and clothes coming off and the kind of physical release that required a shower afterward.
Every other time I'd shared a bed with someone, it had been about the rush, the high, the temporary escape from thinking too much.
But this?
This was just... being. Existing in the same space. We were breathing in sync. I was feeling her warmth seep into my chest, her weight grounding me in a way I didn't know I needed.
What the hell was happening to me?
It had to be the side effects of stripping myself bare... not physically, but emotionally...
I felt like a baby now... that just wanted to be held and rocked. So pathetic of me... my bad boy image was in danger... I can't lose it!
"You're not wrong, Max," she whispered against my neck, and I felt the vibration of her words more than heard them.
"You were right that day... we can't get our fathers' love by impressing them with success. I completely agree with you giving it all up."
I chuckled softly, my hand running through her hair without conscious thought. Her strands were like silk between my fingers, and I found myself memorizing the texture, the way they caught on my calluses.
"At least now you get it," I said.
Her breathing was starting to slow as she fell asleep on my chest.
I should have felt restless—I usually did when I stayed in one place too long, when things got too quiet and my thoughts had room to roam.
But instead, I felt... peaceful.
Settled.
Like maybe, just maybe, I didn't need to keep running from everything. Like maybe there was something worth staying still for.
I didn't know when I'd fall asleep. One moment I was listening to Veronica's breathing, feeling the rise and fall of her chest against mine, and the next I was drifting into darkness with her name on my lips and her jasmine scent filling my lungs.
The next morning, I woke up to the light that came through the thin motel curtains and Veronica's weight still pressed against me.
She hadn't moved all night. Neither had I.
We'd stayed exactly as we'd fallen asleep—her head on my chest, my arm around her shoulders, our legs tangled together in a way that should have been uncomfortable but somehow wasn't.
And it was the warmest I'd ever felt.
Better than any sex I'd ever had. Better than any party high or adrenaline rush with my fellow rich buddies...
Maybe this is what they call emotional intimacy?!
This simple, quiet version of intimacy of waking up next to someone who'd seen the worst parts of me and hadn't run away.
I lay there for a while, not wanting to move, not wanting to break whatever spell had settled over us in the night.
I could feel Veronica's heartbeat against my ribs, steady and strong... could count each breath she took, matching my own to hers without thinking about it.
My fingers traced lazy patterns on her shoulder, and I found myself studying her face in the morning light.
The way her eyelashes cast shadows on her cheeks. The slight part of her lips as she breathed.
She was beautiful. I'd known that from the moment I saw her...
I so wanted her all for myself... I really didn't want this to be a trial date...
However, this was what she was willing to give me, and I was willing to take anything she offered me.
Because I know that I can never feel this safe with anyone else than her!