"Max?" Nina prompted again.

He grimaced in distress. "Oh, fuck."

Nina propped herself up to look him in the eye with an intent and curious expression, but she didn't say anything else.

"It came out on accident," Max mumbled lamely. "I didn't mean to make things awkward after we just, you know..."

The corner of her mouth tilted up. "What? After you just rocked my world with some mind-blowing sex?"

Her teasing relaxed Max a little. He chuckled clumsily. "I... rocked your world?"

She smiled. "Yeah, you did."

Max scooted closer to Nina and pressed his forehead to hers. Grinning back, he murmured, "So... you liked it? Does that mean you'll let me rock your world again?"

Nina blushed. "Definitely. You big loser."

Feeling like the happiest guy in the world, Max wrapped his arms around Nina and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry if what I said caught you off guard, but, damn, mami, you make me so fucking happy..."

With her back to his chest, Nina's soft curves melded into his hard lines until there the space between them became nonexistent.

"Don't worry about it, Max," Nina said wryly, "I know people sometimes say stuff like that in the, ah, heat of the moment. We don't have to talk about the L-word right now. But..."

"But?"

Nina rolled over to face Max. In a more hesitant voice, she stammered, "I do think that, maybe, we need to talk about... us."

Max blinked a few times at Nina's expectant gaze and gulped. "Oh, yeah?"

Nina explained, "I mean, you already know that I like you. And I assume you like me, too—"

Max interjected quickly, "Oh, I like you a lot, Nina! I've liked you for a long time, actually!"

She laughed softly. "Good to know, Max. Good to know. Anyway, now that we have officially seen each other naked, I don't think I can tell people that we're 'just friends' anymore."

Max set his jaw and grasped her hip possessively. "We're definitely not friends anymore, Nina."

"What are we, then? You tell me."

Normally, this sort of open-ended conversation would serve as Max's cue to make his exit. After dating Lexi and Everly—if those epic fails could even be considered relationships—he had grown very wary about labels and commitments.

Yet, the idea of making Nina his girlfriend filled Max with a sense of longing and peace that he had never felt before with any other girl. His heart began to pound with excitement.

At that moment, Max realized exactly what he wanted from Nina: He wanted everything.

Well, maybe not everything right this moment, but, down the line, he could see himself dating her, proposing to her, marrying her, and making her his baby mama for the rest of their lives—if she would let him.

Nina was it for him. She was the one.

Max could only hope that she wanted the same things from him as well.

His Adam's apple bobbed. Suddenly, Max was worried that he might scare Nina away with the intensity of his emotions. He tried to test the waters first. "I know what I want from you, Nina. What do you want from me?"

Nina pulled a face. "Uh-uh! Nice try, loser. I asked first, so you answer first!"

Damn, she was going to make him show his hand.

Max swallowed again. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so nervous in the presence of a female. Something about this very moment felt paramount to him, though. If everything went according to plan, then this would be the beginning of a brand-new chapter for them, and, hopefully, it would lead to a long, lasting story that would never end...

Max took in an anxious breath, let it out slowly, shakily, before summoning up all his courage to pour out his entire fucking heart to Nina.

Bravely, he confessed, "There's no question in my mind. I want you to be my girlfriend, Nina. If you let me be your man, then I promise that I'll always be honest with you. I want you to feel like you can be yourself around me, too, because I've never felt more at ease than when I'm with you. You bring out the best in me, and I want to do the same for you because you're the most fucking amazing woman I've ever known. I can't promise that I'm going to be the perfect boyfriend—God knows I can be a complete dumbass, at times—but I'll never stop trying to make you happy, to listen to you, to be there for you..."

To love you.

But he left that last part unsaid. Max decided to save it for another day.

Nina's honey-brown eyes grew misty with emotion. She smiled her wobbly smile. "Oh my, God, Max. What the fuck."

His eyes widened.

He made her cry?

Shit, shit shit!

Max panicked. "Oh, fuck. Please don't cry, Nina. Was that too much? We can take it slow. I didn't mean to scare you. I can take it all back—"

"Don't you dare take anything back, Maxwell Byron Weiser!"

Nina sniffled through happy tears. She sighed sheepishly. "I'm not crying because I'm sad, you dumbass. I'm crying because I'm so fucking happy. I had no idea that you could be so... romantic."

"Really?"

"Really. I would love nothing more than to be your girlfriend, Max."

"Well, shit."

Dazedly, Max grinned wide and gathered Nina close as he proceeded to rain ecstatic kisses all over her face, neck, and chest.

"I can't believe this is actually happening right now. It feels like a fucking dream."

Nina smiled blissfully and melted deeper into his arms.

"A fucking dream come true," she echoed in agreement.

His gaze flicked down to her naked breasts and rosy nipples. They looked plump and ripe for the picking. He glanced back to Nina's face and shot her a knowing, lopsided grin.

"Now that we got all of our shit squared away—why don't you call me 'daddy' again so I can show you just how much you're going to enjoy being my girlfriend?"

Nina's eyes widened for a second as her skin flushed with heat. She giggled and pulled Max's face down to hers until their noses kissed.

In part-sultry but mostly silly tones, she taunted, "Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy!"

Max laughed. "You think that you're funny or something, you brat?"

Nina cooed mischievously, "If you think that I'm being a brat, then you should do something about it. Daddy."

So, he did.

Max used one hand to pin both of Nina's wrists above her head. He kissed her fully on the mouth to shut her up. After some more shuffling around, Max nudged himself between Nina's thighs and fucked her sweetly, gently—then, harder, harder, and harder—until the both of them saw stars.

One more round later, they collapsed happily in each other's arms and drifted off to sleep.