Page 32 of I Stop Somewhere Waiting For You

We stand there for a moment, the three of us frozen in silence staring at one another. Finally, Daphne kicks the door shut before reaching back and flipping the lock. She eyes Mav up and down, taking in his bare chest with his jeans hanging low on his hips.

Her gaze swivels to me. “You were right. Fucking hotter.”

Our bodies start to vibrate with intermittent chuckles before morphing into a steady fit of hysterics. Maverick just stands there, eyes pinging between us, confused as shit.

“What up, Bishop.” Daphne smirks as she approaches. “I’m Daph. And we may as well get acquainted because this—” she gestures between her and I “—is a package deal.”

He arches a brow before turning his attention to me.

I snort. “Don’t get too excited, Mav. She doesn’t mean like that.”

And then Maverick does something I previously didn’t think possible. He scrubs a hand over his face and lets out a genuine, deep-hearted laugh.

CHAPTER 17

JONSIE

Daphne and I change into comfy clothes and sit on the roof of the back corner of my house, accessible through my parents’ bedroom. The party’s still underway, but it’s hitting that time where more people are going than coming.

Mav snuck out a little while ago, leaving Daph and me to debrief. There’s a chill in the air tonight, especially up here, and I shudder slightly as I pull one of Nicky’s oversized hoodies tighter around me.

Daphne’s quiet, and while she was totally chill with catching me post-fuck with public enemy number one, I can only imagine how hurt she is that I kept it from her. I inhale deep, gearing up for a pretty heavy discussion. “I can explain—”

“I fucked Nicky,” Daphne cuts me off.

All the air expels from my lungs. My jaw goes slack, eyes wide, as I turn to stare at her. Her gaze remains focused on the darkened tree line in the distance.

“I figure while we’re spilling secrets…” She shrugs.

“When?” I blink several times as I sit legitimately stunned.

She lets out a long breath, her shoulders sagging slightly in the process. “The night of the bonfire.”

My head shakes at her revelation, not to refute her claim, but rather an attempt to process what she’s telling me. “Nicky was in the city that night, though.”

“He came back early.” She pulls her legs up into her chest, wrapping her arms around her knees. “After you guys dropped me off, he showed up a couple hours later flipping out about the whole situation with Trent.”

“Nicky?” I repeat in disbelief, quietly pinching myself to ensure this isn’t a dream. “Nicky was flipping out about you and Trent?”

She nods. I stare a moment longer, my brain racing a million miles a minute as I replay every interaction I’ve witnessed between the two of them these past few weeks. Things I never paid much mind to suddenly take on a more relevant meaning.

Daphne’s always been a flirt, and she’s always had the hots for Nicky, but he’s always looked at her like a little sister… until maybe he didn’t. I think back to the day I bumped into Mav in Queen City. At the house, the way Nicky teetered on the edge of restraint as she playfully taunted him. The way JP literally carried her to the car when she let Trent touch her. Nicky’s orders was what he said as he dragged her kicking and screaming. Tonight, with how his gaze kept wandering to her before crawling up the length of her body.

I think back to the club, the night I met Mav. Nicky had two girls sitting next to him on the couch, but he didn’t touch anyone that night. Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen a girl on Nicky in weeks, if not longer.

“Was it just the one time?”

She slowly shakes her head as she casts her eyes down. “No. It happened again a few days later. Same drill. Showed up to my house in the middle of the night. Gone before the sun was up. Told me your parents were coming home that morning and he wanted to be there to see them, but let’s be real, Nicky’s not a ‘spend the night’ kind of guy.”

I remember that day. It was the first time Mav had snuck into my room. My mind floats back to Nicky stumbling into the kitchen that morning, my mother asking him if he had gotten in late. His face when he realized Trent was the one who had given JP issues over Daphne.

Pulling myself from my thoughts, I notice Daphne has finally turned to face me. Her eyes well with fresh tears as she fights to keep them at bay.

“Hey,” I hush, pulling her into me and rocking us back and forth. “It’s okay, Daph. You guys just need to sit down and talk, that’s all.”

“You’re not mad?” She pulls back to look at me, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

“Why would I be mad?” My face twists in confusion.

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