Page 72 of Pit Stop

Maverick says nothing, but Nox pipes up. “It’s a place to go and meet omegas who want to fuck. Mav used to go there all the time.”

My eyebrows rise as does my jealousy. I don’t like the idea of Maverick with anyone else. But this will be my reality once the bond is broken. He’ll move on. So will I.

It is what it is.

“He doesn’t go there now, obviously,” Nox backpedals. “He’s getting enough at home.”

Maverick shoves Nox, who stumbles backward with a laugh.

“We’ll meet at the Q at four. We’ll make it to The Den in time for dinner.”

Maverick doesn’t say anything, so I reply, “Okay. Yep. See you soon!”

Nox winks at me and then strides off, leaving Maverick and me to watch him go.

“So, The Den, huh?” I ask as I shut the door, and Maverick stares down at me.

“It was before you.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“We don’t have to go.”

“I want to. I’m so curious about this place.”

And I am. I want to know where Maverick hung out when he wasn’t with Forest at my dad’s place. I want to know what he was like before me, before us.

Forest is on his motorcycle in the Q parking lot, waiting for the rest of the pack to arrive, when he sees Maverick and me pull up. He’s scowling as we approach, but his face softens slightly when he sees Maverick lean down and gently brush somethingoff my cheek. Dirt or a bug or something, but still. It’s sweet, and Forest sees it. He may not like any of this, but he can’t deny that Maverick is taking care of me.

It could be so much worse.

“I think it’s really fucking weird that my brother is going to The Den.”

“He wants to see it,” Maverick replies.

“You really want your mate going there?” Forest asks. He’s wearing frayed jeans and a leather jacket, looking kind of like a stereotypical dick, if I’m honest. But then again, he’s been a pain in the ass about this whole mate thing, so right now I’m more annoyed with him than anything.

“How about I make my own decisions?” I snap back, and Maverick bites back a laugh.

“He’s safe with me.”

My brother rolls his eyes but lets it go.

And honestly, with the way everyone is acting, now I really want to see this place. I want to know what’s so scary and forbidden about it, and why I’ve never heard about it before. I’d have thought Delphine would have at least blabbed about it, but she’s never said a word.

A moment later, Nox rolls up with several other men on bikes and whistles loudly.

“You ready?” he throws his head back and howls, and everyone responds by hopping on their bikes and revving their engines. It’s loud and obnoxious, but as soon as I’m behind Maverick and we’re speeding down the road, all I can think of is him.

It’s amazing, the wind hitting my face, the scent of Maverick swirling around me.

I just inhale him, thinking back to when I first met him, how he came to the house with Forest, looking so damn hot. Not thathe really looked my way. I was young and scraggly. And to top it off, I was shy, my head in a book more often than not.

But he did smile at me once and offer me one of the treats he picked up from the corner store—a bag of sour candy.

It made my juvenile heart flutter and my chest squeeze. I didn’t know what that meant until much later.

Looking back, I had an unrequited crush on him, one I knew he’d never return. And yet still, I watched him all the time, memorized his movements, and as I became a teenager, I’d dream about his lips moving across mine.

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