Page 54 of I’d Be Honored

“Not really. I try when I can, but work keeps me in the city more than I’d like.”

“Well, I’m glad we came now,” Maddie offered, thankful that her sunglasses shielded the emotion in her eyes.

Hayley’s face brightened. “I know how much you love the beaches in LA.”

“Can we go down?” Maddie asked, nodding toward the waves on the shoreline.

Hayley laughed. “Let’s get changed first.” Her eyes flashed with mischief. “Unless you wanted to go skinny dipping.”

Maddie considered it for a second. “Maybe not in broad daylight.”

Bikinis on, they walked out onto the beach, their bare feet digging into the hot sand.

“I’ll race you!” Maddie laughed as she took off running straight into the ocean.

The cool water wrapped around her legs, sending a refreshing jolt through her that finally gave her a break from the humidity. That pleasant shock was nothing, though, compared to the lightning bolt that tore through Maddie’s core when Hayley curled her arms around her midsection from behind.

The waves stilled around them, and they swayed with the light current, their bodies locked together. Neither of them let go, and the minutes stretched into something both timeless and entirely too brief.

Eventually, they walked back up the beach to where they had dropped a bag in the sand, and Hayley pulled out a large towel. She unfurled it and beckoned for Maddie to join her.

Maddie settled between Hayley’s legs and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before leaning back against her chest, feeling Hayley’s arms immediately loop around her. In that quiet pocket of the afternoon, alone with Hayley at the edge of the earth, Maddie felt safer and more at home than she had ever known to be possible.

They stayed entwined as the sky shifted to a soft pink, then deepened to rich yellows and oranges, until all light finally disappeared below the horizon. Maddie would have happily stayed there forever. The whole day had felt like a dream, one she never wanted to wake up from.

Hayley stood, tugging Maddie’s hand.

Maddie reluctantly followed her, and they rinsed the remnants of the salt water from their skin in the outdoor shower before they headed inside.

Maddie watched Hayley move throughout the kitchen with an ease that looked almost graceful. “I didn’t know you could cook.”

“You learn fast when you become the woman of the house. After my mom was gone…” Hayley’s voice trailed off. “If I didn’t cook, we would have been ordering takeout for every meal. I wanted to make sure the three of us stayed healthy.”

“What was she like?” Maddie wanted to understand the woman who had shaped Hayley into who she was.

Hayley slipped an oven mitt on and pulled out two baking sheets.

“She was smart, beautiful, nurturing. Everything a mom should be, you know? She had this way of getting my brother and me to talk about everything, whether we wanted to or not.” Hayley smiled. “That’s probably why she was so good at her job—she was a psychotherapist. But you did not want to mess with her when it came to her kids. You should have heard her screaming at the officials during my track meets.” She let out a faint laugh, though it quickly faded. “Mom was my best friend.”

Maddie’s expression warmed. “She sounds like an amazing woman.”

Laying out the silverware while Hayley plated their dinner, Maddie felt honored to be trusted with these pieces of Hayley’s past.

“What are your parents like?” Hayley asked, setting a dish in front of Maddie before sitting down beside her.

Maddie took a bite of the salmon, and her eyes widened. “This is incredible. Is that… honey?”

Hayley gave her a playful wink. She had paired the fish with sides of creamed spinach and cubed potatoes.

“My parents,” Maddie started between bites, “were made for each other. They fell in love as kids in high school and haven’t parted since. It’s just the three of us, so we’ve always been really close.” Maddie paused, her fork midair. “They’re the reason I refuse to settle. I want what they have.”

Hayley locked eyes with her, and Maddie wished she could read the thoughts behind that steady gaze. She wondered if she was the only one feeling the quiet, magnetic pull between them that seemed to grow stronger with each passing day.

After dinner, they worked as one to clear the plates and tidy up the kitchen. As Maddie reached to put the final clean dish back into the cabinet, Hayley walked toward her with a slow, deliberate confidence.

Maddie froze as Hayley’s attention slid to her lips. For a moment, she thought Hayley might finally kiss her for the first time. The air between them felt charged with possibility.

Hayley leaned in, her mouth so close to Maddie’s ear that she could feel the tickle of her breath as she spoke. “Hot tub?” she asked in a low, sultry murmur as she trailed her fingers down Maddie’s exposed back.