Page 4 of Amaze

It took everything in me not to jump all over Amaze’s sexy ass every single time I was in the same room. He’d been trying to be low-key about coming to Anthony’s games and spending time with him. He had been treating me like a leper and not comingwithin a thousand feet of me. It didn’t matter that we were never close to each other. A magnetic field tugged at me every time I was in his presence.

He didn’t speak to me or even look my way when he came around. I knew that he was fighting a similar battle to the one I faced on a daily basis. The man I loved had been murdered in a cold-blooded manner years ago. The night we got married, someone shot him and blew up our house.

I’d spent years coming to terms with the fact that Amaze was gone. Then one day, he was back like he’d never left. I’d built my life around the concept that I had to do whatever was necessary to protect my son and myself from my daddy’s wrath, when all the time, he was very well aware of where we were and had been orchestrating my life from afar.

After vowing to give me space to heal, Amaze promised to remain present in our son’s life. Anthony had been so excited that his dad had come to every single game. I found it difficult to be there and not want to go to Maze, so I skipped a few of them myself, just for my own sanity. It was hard to see him knowing that we were forcing ourselves to be apart. Well, he was doing most of the forcing. I needed him like air. Us being apart was not my doing.

The final game of the season fell the night before his birthday. They won the game, and I was so excited for Anthony. I looked around just in time to see Maze’s head disappear out of the door. With a soft smile, I ran onto the court with the rest of the crowd. I hugged my baby and let him know that I had a surprise for him for his birthday.

I planned to take him to his dad’s house and ask him to teach our son to drive. We had been avoiding each other long enough. I felt ready to pursue a future with him.I didn’t give a damn about healing if I couldn’t do it with Amaze by my side. Once we made it outside, a loud whistle caused us both to look around.Icouldn’t fight back my smile as I spotted Maze’s sexy, chocolate ass sitting on his bike with his long dreads draped over both shoulders.

“Mom, I just want to say I find it gross that you have a crush on my dad,” Anthony teased.

“Boy, shut up!” I shook my head as I followed him over to Maze.

“Happy Birthday, son!” Maze announced, climbing off the bike and pointing to it.

“Uh uh, wait a minute. My son is not getting on that thing!”

“Mom!” Anthony protested.

“I was way younger than him when I learned to ride, Wes. How old were you when Zach put you on a bike?”

“He’s different. He wasn’t raised in the life,” I objected.

“I’m going to teach him, baby. Don’t worry. Now that my brother finally stepped up to help me run the shop, I have a little extra time on my hands. You know I won’t let anything happen to him,” Maze said, pressing a kiss to the side of my head. “Until we start the lessons try this on for size,” he suggested as he walked over and sat on the hood of a black car.

Anthony’s eyes ballooned, and my mouth fell open.

“Dad, you got me a car?” my baby asked.

“You said you wanted to learn how to drive. I’m not letting you wreck my shit, and I guarantee your mom is scared to give you lessons. If I’m going to teach you how to drive, you have to learn in your own damn car.”

“Thanks, Dad!” Ant shouted, rushing Maze and throwing his arms around him.

“I told you. I got your back forever, OK,” Maze reminded him, mussing his hair before kissing the top of his head. “Hop in. We’ll start our lessons tonight. For your sixteenth birthday, the bike is yours.”

Anthony didn’t waste any time jumping in the car as Maze stood and ambled over to me.

“I hope you’re almost ready for me because I’ve spent enough nights sleeping without my wife. I’m ready for you both to come home.”

“Ready when you are.” I shrugged.

After dropping a chaste kiss on my lips, he grinned. “I hope you mean that because I’m not coming up off you this time.”

It only took three shots of scotch and an entire book to get me to fall asleep. I had been working my way through Mel Dau’s catalog to keep myself occupied. So far, I was nine books in and debating about grabbing another as I woke up at exactly four thirty in the morning. That seemed to be my routine now on my kid-free weekends.

Anthony had been loving his time with his dad, but I couldn’t pretend that I didn’t feel left out. My nerves had been on high alert since Maze had declared that he was ready for me to come home. What did that even mean? Was he ready for us to live together again? Lord knows I missed having him close.

It sucked having to send Ant with him on the weekends knowing that I wanted to be with them but understanding the reasoning. I had accepted the fact that my husband was alive. Now what?

For the first time ever, my son had spent his birthday without me. I fully expected him to call me to pick him up like he used to do when he was nine. Instead, he sent me a picture of him and Maze atTopGolf.They were practically identical.

It warmed my heart to see my guys out spending time without me. I was jealous, but I’d gotten fourteen consecutivebirthdays with my son. The least I could do was allow Amaze one.

To my surprise, my phone rang. I frowned, and I rolled over and picked it up from the empty side of my bed. When I saw that Amaze was calling, I quickly swiped the screen to answer the phone.

“Hey, what’s wrong, Amaze? Is Anthony alright?” I asked in a panic.

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