Page 34 of Falling Stars

In my passenger seat,Mav’s quiet. He’s staring out the window.

It’s odd to spend so much time with him—seeing him before work, talking to him before I go to bed, watching him with my son.

He’s gotten up several times to help me with Leo in the middle of the night, which I wasn’t prepared for. I’m so used to doing everything on my own that having someone help me makes me feel unexpectedly vulnerable.

Sleeping on the couch and waking up to see his sexy smile every morning reminds me so much of the friendship we had in high school—before everything went sideways. It’s bittersweet.

And as much as I hoped to remain detached, hanging out with Maverick has dredged up old feelings.

I fiddle with the radio. “There’s supposed to be a meteor shower next month.” He glances at me. “I realize they’re not real shooting stars, but I pretend they are. I like to make a wish every time I see one.”

His lips tug up. “I remember.”

I don’t know why I brought that up. I’m glad it’s dark so he can’t see the way my face heats. The last time we stared up atmeteors was the night I tried to kiss him and made a royal ass out of myself. “I know those wishes don’t really come true. It’s just fun.”

“It’s okay to make a wish on a falling star.” He looks down at his lap, then turns away. “I hope every one of your wishes comes true.”

None of them come true, but that sounds pathetic, so I keep those words to myself. “Vera can watch Leo until nine tonight. So we don’t have to rush.” When he doesn’t say anything, I glance at him. “Are you ever going to tell me why you’re avoiding your brothers?”

At first, he doesn’t respond. Then he scrubs his face with his palm. “I just need to be alone for a while so I can hear myself think. I love my brothers—you know I do—but they have opinions about everything. I have some pretty big decisions to make, and I need to figure out how I feel about things first.”

I don’t ask him what those big decisions are. I want to respect his privacy. If he wants to tell me, he will. But jeez, I’m tempted to ask. “Are Leo and I ruining your fantasies of quiet nights to yourself?”

He chuckles. “Not at all. I love having you around.”

Part of me wants to float away with happiness, but the rest of me knows he’s simply saying I’m a good friend. “Well, kick us out if we get too loud. Beau’s camper doesn’t sound so bad.” Mav makes a growly sound that makes me do a double-take. “What was that?”

“Nothing. Just… nothing.”

When we pull up to my house, a desolate feeling settles in my chest, which is the reason I’ve been putting this off as long as possible. “I can’t believe we lost this house.”

“For some reason, I thought your mom owned it.”

“My parents did, but after the divorce, they had to sell. Mymom agreed because that was the only way my father could give her any child support. But that dried up pretty quickly.”

“Do you ever talk to him?”

“Nope. He treated my mom like crap. I can’t forgive him for that.” I take a deep breath. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

After I grab my duffle bag full of giant trash bags, I lock up and come around my car. I catch the grimace on Maverick’s face as he tries to slide out of his seat. “Here. Take my hand.” I hold it out to him.

He stares at it, then glances at me. “For a woman who hates accepting help, you’ve always been quick to offer it.”

“What can I say? I’m a riddle wrapped in an enigma.”

Chuckling, he places his rough palm in mine. “Just hang on in case I try to faceplant.”

My brow furrows. “Does that happen often? The faceplanting?”

“Not yet. I’m just not a hundred percent.”

“Yet. It’ll happen.”

At home, he only seems to struggle when he first wakes up, but otherwise, he seems okay. Then again, it’s not like he’s running a gauntlet in the condo.

When he’s finally upright, I realize there’s no way he should be helping me move anything right now. “Mav, this is a bad idea. You should be at home, icing things. Your neck or shoulder, whatever hurts.”

“It all fucking hurts sometimes, so if we wait for me to heal, we’ll be here a while.”

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