Page 48 of Fumbled Beginning

Maverick turned to his wife. “Can you cut me some slack and give me a minute to adjust here?”

JP leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “I know this is a surprise, but we wouldn’t be here right now if I didn’t care about her. I’ve had feelings for Rylee for a while now, but I never acted on them out of respect for our friendship. The last thing I want is for things to be awkward between us. I know this is a lot to take in, and if you need time to adjust, I understand. But I wanted you to find out from me, not anyone else.”

“I always suspected that you liked her. You weren’t exactly subtle when she was around.”

“Really?” JP sipped his drink and rested his hand on my chair. “I’m surprised you never called me out.”

“It wasn’t just you.” Maverick scratched the back of his neck. “You both would look at each other a certain way, but neither of you said anything, so I brushed it off.”

JP smirked while giving me the side-eye. “I always knew you had a thing for me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yet it only took you eight years to ask me out.”

His fingers toyed with the ends of my hair. “I was waiting for the right time to make my move.”

“The continents of Pangea moved faster than you did,” I teased.

Kinley folded her hands under her chin, beaming at us like a proud parent. “This makes me so happy.”

“I’m not opposed to this,” my brother said. “As long as you treat her differently than all the other women you’ve…” he paused, searching for the right words, “been with over the years.”

“Trust me, Rylee is different. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Good.” My brother studied us closely. “I know you’re both adults and you can’t control how you feel, and I also know you wouldn’t be here if things weren’t serious.”

“Whoa.” I put my hands up. “Back the bus up. We are not even close to serious.”

Maverick whipped his head to JP. “Excuse me?”

“What she’s trying to say is that things are new and the reason why we are here is that I didn’t want this weighing me down. I didn’t want to feel like we were sneaking around behind your back. I respect our friendship too much.”

I’ve never seen JP so out of sorts before, and it made me want to reach over and give him a big old hug.

“I appreciate that.” Maverick stopped and let out a huge sigh. “But please don’t take this the wrong way.” He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. The tension in the room kicked up around ten degrees. “You have a reputation and as Rylee’s brother that has me concerned.”

“Oh, my God. You did not just say that,” I said, coming to JP’s defense.

Kinley’s eyes were bouncing back and forth between the three of us. She rested her hand over my brother’s. “I think what my husband is trying to say is, despite your reputation as being a ladies’ man”—she fired my brother with a look—“he’s giving you the benefit of the doubt. He knows what happens between you two is none of his business and it’s for both of you to figure out. Isn’t that right, dear?”

God, I wanted to reach across the kitchen and kiss my best friend. If anyone could knock sense into my brother’s big fat head and put him in his place, it was Kinley.

“Come on,” Maverick whined. “Don’t make me out to be the bad guy here.”

Kinley sipped her wine and fully turned to face my brother. “You’re not a bad guy, but you need to show her the same courtesy she showed us.”

Maverick shoved a hand through his hair. “JP, you’ve been my friend for years. I know you would never do anything to intentionally hurt Rylee, but you need to understand something, I might not insert myself in your relationship, but when you fuck up and things go south, there might be no going back for us.”

A muscle in JP’s jaw ticked. “Thanks for the vote of confidence,friend.Can I ask why you’re so sure I’m going to fuck up?”

Maverick took a long pull from his beer. “We’re men; it’s what we’re famous for.”

They shared a laugh, but I didn’t.

“Mav, I’m not going to sit here and listen to this, and might I remind you that you went and got my friend pregnant and didn’t even know who the hell she was at the time? So, you’re in no place to be judging anyone.”

He blanched. “Was that necessary?”

“Yes, it was necessary. JP has been torn up and worried about your reaction. I don’t think you understand how much having your approval would mean to him. And you don’t need to worry about me. I’m no wallflower. I can take care of myself just fine.”

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