Young Adult author Aiko Bradley wants some worldly experience and who better to teach her than the worldliest of men-Maximilian Croft?
From his daredevil stunts to his decadent affairs, Max is everything a perfect heartbreaker should be-one that Aik...
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The second time I woke up to the sight of Max sleeping next to me, I started to wonder if I'd taken over someone's life without knowing it.
This wasn't a reality I'd ever imagined for myself.
After never finding any real interest in dating a guy in the last few years and eventually getting used to leading a solitary life content with just my made-up worlds and people, I didn't think I would find myself in bed with a man.
Definitely not one as complicated as he's beautiful.
His cheeks were a little sun-burned, his bedraggled hair a touch lighter, his stubble thicker and darker around his sharply defined jaw.
He filled most of the bed with this large frame sprawled all across it, curved just enough on the side so I had some space to curl up against him.
An early evening breeze drifted into the cabin, rippling the curtains and stirring me gently to the vivid glow of the blazing sun making its way down the horizon.
"I'm going to go watch the sunset," I whispered to Max, nudging him on the shoulder lightly and dropping a kiss on his cheek.
I slipped out of the daybed and rifled through the pile of clothes on the floor until I found the shirt he'd worn before we changed into our suits. It swallowed me up a bit but it covered all the important parts. Besides, didn't every heroine wear this in every book after sex? Let life imitate art.
Venturing all the way down to the shore barefoot, I stood right where the waves washed up, my toes digging into warm wet sand.
Sunsets in California had always taken my breath away.
The soft gradients of purple, orange and magenta across feathery skies swept over the endless ocean with near seamless unity one could almost never tell where the line between heaven and earth was to be found.
My heart squeezed with an almost giddy high because life should never be without moments like this—unfiltered beauty, unmarketed joy and uncomplicated freedom.
"The only thing more beautiful than a breathtaking view is someone who basks in it," Max said as he quietly came up behind me, his arms slipping around my waist. I leaned back against him and felt his bare chest. It seemed all he had on was his board shorts.
He pressed a kiss on the top of my head, drawing me in just a little bit closer to him, and I slid my own arms over his.
"I don't know how you ever leave this house," I said with a soft sigh. "Here, the real world feels like it's a million miles away."
I heard him smirk. "Sometimes, we need to work on the real world so it can hopefully feel like this one day."
Slowly, I turned within his arms and rose to my toes, my arms slipping around his neck, my nose brushing his chin. "I want to thank you again for sharing all of this with me today. I've never had a day like this in my life. I'll always remember it."
