Page 103 of I Stop Somewhere Waiting For You

“Not possible.”

I stare at him, my face feigning a serious expression. “I squeeze the toothpaste from the middle of the tube.”

“Like a fucking serial killer. I remember.” He smiles, his top teeth sinking into the cushion of his bottom lip.

“Pretty sure I still talk in my sleep.” I shrug.

“Oh, you definitely do, but it’s cute as shit.”

“Hmmm…” I eye him up and down, as though contemplating my next response. “I leave half drank water bottles all over the apartment.”

“I’ll never die of dehydration then, will I?” His brow arches, not missing a beat as he pins me with a playful stare.

A wide smile slips across my face. “What am I gonna do with you?”

“I could think of at least…” his eyes glance up to the left, his face dramatically feigning a look of intense thought, “…four things you could do with me right now. Although, given my arm’s not a hundred percent at the moment, one of them might require us to flip positions.” He moves in closer, his hands roaming my body as I swat at him.

My gaze drops down to the bandage on his right arm, my demeanor growing somewhat solemn. “Does it hurt?”

“No, baby.” He glances at it briefly before shaking his head. “Don’t worry. I’m good.”

“Mav, you got shot.” I roll my eyes at his indifference toward the situation. “Don’t tell me not to worry.”

“Baby, I got stabbed in the leg last month,” he deadpans. “All things considered; this one was a cake walk.”

“WHAT?!” I exclaim, my eyes wide with shock. I hop down from the counter, my fingers pulling at the belt of Mav’s jeans before ripping open the button and working them down his legs. Dropping to my knees, I locate the fresh scar on the front of his left thigh.

“That’s all I had to do to get you on your knees? Mention some battle scars? Noted for next time.” He smirks as I look up at him, shooting him a warning glare.

“Maverick, what the fuck happened?” My fingers lightly graze over the angry marking that now mars his skin.

He lets out a slow exhale, knowing I’m not going to like his answer. Finally, he responds. “Yuri. I told you. He was not thrilled at the possibility of Nicky and I aligning against him. Your brother was actually with me when this happened. He’s rocking a similar one on his right thigh.”

“I am really starting to dislike this motherfucker,” I seethe. Pressing a featherlight kiss to Mav’s leg, I rise, allowing him to pull his pants back up.

“Yeah, I’m not a fan either.” Mav scoffs. “Guy fucking sucks.”

“I don’t get it.” I lean back against the counter, my arms coming to cross over my chest. “How are you wrapped up with him when my brother’s the one aligned with the Russians?”

Mav brings his hand up to caress my cheek, exhaling a low sigh. “That’s a longer, more complicated story. One that may be easier to explain once Finn and T are here. When are my dipshit brothers showing up?”

I look to the clock, noticing it’s a little after two. “Okay, so when I said early dinner? I meant more like late lunch.”

He snorts. “They’re in the parking garage aren’t they?”

“Yeah,” I laugh. “I told ‘em to wait. I actually told them to just come up, but they refused to until I ran it by you. I’m sorry, are you mad?”

“No.” The word slips out as he stares at me, the corner of his mouth curling up, his eyes baring a look of genuine happiness. “I love everything about this. Us. I’m just taking it all in.”

***

The four of us sit at the dining room table laughing hysterically, and for the last few hours it’s as though the shit we’re waist deep in doesn’t exist. Mav seems completely at ease as I sit perched on his lap, leaning back into him as I sip my wine. We ordered in from this little Italian spot he and I used to be obsessed with, and it’s safe to say the boys have eaten their weight in pasta and chicken parm.

Don’t get me wrong, we covered the impending doom topics first. I’m officially up to speed on the situation with Yuri, Mav’s alliance with Enzo, and the specifics of his money laundering operation in which Yuri thinks he’s got Mav by the balls, but Enzo’s actually pulling the strings.

We covered what life’s been like for the boys at the Cathedral living with Amber these last four years. Mav conveyed several heartfelt apologies for subjecting them to her before Finn launched into an elaborate description of the immense joy it brought him to torch her shit. Not gonna lie, felt kinda good to hear how much they hate her. Maybe that makes me shitty, but fuck it, I’ve earned the right to be a little petty.

We told them about the baby. That was hard, but I wanted Mav to be able to talk to his boys about stuff when it’s weighing heavy on him. Finn was up out of his seat before we could even finish the story, pulling me into his embrace. I broke a little bit at that point, sharing with him how thankful I was for how much he checked on me in the beginning. How even though he wasn’t aware of the truth, just knowing he cared really helped pull me through. That had Mav out of his seat, ripping Finn from my arms into his, which then had T digging into the liquor cabinet.

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