Page 36 of Never Always
“Have I got a story for you.”
She stifles a giggle. “I think I know what you’re going to say.”
“Did you help him?” I say, lifting one brow, but keeping the smirk. “Maeve.”
She shakes her head. “No, but I also didn’t stop him. Was it hilarious? The death of an asshole. I couldn’t stop laughing when he told me.”
“It was hilarious, I admit. That poor clown.”
Maeve had no idea that Rexy had him wear clown makeup, and that made her bust into another fit of laughter. She seems to be delighted in his jokes and I think how wonderfully matched they are. It also makes me wonder why she refuses to move in with him. “You love him a lot, don’t you?”
She sips her water. “A scary amount.” Her pretty gaze meets mine. “It’s hard, you know? Trying to figure out how much to put in to someone who is gone so much. It’s not that I question his love for me, I question how long I’ll be able to deal with not having him around to love.”
A predicament I never considered. “You have your own career and life and stuff, though.”
Her smile is sad. “Think about what you feel for Grange right now and multiply it by a couple of years. I keep my distance to protect us both. What if he knew how much I loved him and wanted him to be around? He loves me so much he might leave a career that’s been his heartbeat for a decade plus. That’s not mine to take. We’re at an impasse.”
“He knows you feel this way?”
She nods. “Being a military spouse isn’t for the faint of heart. I stay at his house four nights a week when he’s home, but I keep my place and options, too.” It sounds like she’s toeing the line of selfish, which I can’t blame her for, and giving in to what Rexy wants, which I also can’t blame her for.
“I don’t envy your decisions. Will Rexy be a SEAL forever? Like is that what he always wants to do?” I don’t need to ask Corrick I know he is a lifer.
As she looks at the menu, I see the sadness. “Maybe. Let’s talk about you and Grange. Tell me everything. Well, not everything, but the man is smitten. You better keep him.”
I swallow hard. “I’m not even sure you can keep a man like Grange, Maeve. Don’t get me wrong, I want to keep him, but he has secrets. It remains to be seen if they are the felon kind of secrets.” The waitress appears to take our order and then scoots off back to the kitchen.
Maeve reaches across the table and grabs my hands. “He is a good man. When Sierra came out swinging with the cheating scandal, I have to tell you, it was hard to believe back then. Thank God the truth finally came out. I hate that everyone thinks the worst of Grange. He won’t correct them either. After Rexy told him about what Ariel told you, he didn’t want to mete out retribution, Tennyson. That is so unlike him. I even made a joke.” Her gaze dances across my face. “He said he couldn’t risk it. Because he didn’t want to lose you.”
My heart skips a beat. Then another. “Really? Not because he didn’t want any more community service?” It’s a joke, to cover the fact I’m turning beet red with embarrassment. Our food arrives, and our waters are refilled as the pause in our conversation lulls. On a whim, I order a mimosa. Seems a fitting occasion to drink, plus I walked here.
“I mean it,” Maeve says. “You couldn’t have arrived at a more perfect time.”
“I appreciate you saying so. It’s so brand new I don’t want to curse it, you know?” I switch the topic to Maeve’s job and ask how the patient is doing that she mentioned before. It’s a blessed break in thinking about my emotions. About the overpowering man who is suffocating every fiber of my being. Even now, as I down the mimosa the waitress brought me and order another one, I’m daydreaming about the way his soap smells mixed with sweat.
I swallow hard. Composure, damn it. Composure. “What about you and work? Anything new?”
Perfect. “I’m going to Australia with my team,” I exclaim. “There is a grand opening of an Aquatic Lab modeled off ours here and they’ve invited us to attend. They want me to speak on my latest research theories relating to water and climate change. It’s… so surprising.”
Maeve narrows her eyes. “Why is it surprising? You’re talented, Tennyson. Intelligent… probably the most intelligent person I’ve ever met. You deserve any and all things related to your profession... and life in general.” Her gaze strays, and then she meets my eyes. “After we first met, I searched you online and your papers came up. All of your published works in the field of microbiology. I confess I didn’t understand some of it because it was over my head, but you are amazing. They repost your findings on all of the major news outlets around the world. I recognized some of them!”
My next mimosa arrives and I drink it just as quick as the first, trying to kill the uncomfortable feeling blooming in my chest.
Pride and humble aren’t things that go together well and I struggle to deal with the consequences when they arrive together at the same time. “Well, it’s the product of only focusing on one thing for my entire life. Thank you, though. For saying that. I do appreciate it.”
My cheeks are red, now from the alcohol buzz. Maeve looks surprised when I order a third and watches curiously as I down it. “Big plans today?” she asks, raising both brows.
I blow out a large breath and clap my hands once. “Trying to get out of my own head.”
She giggles. “Well, I’m not sure how long that will work because he’s going to want in to something.”
I follow her gaze as Rexy and Grange walk through the door, breaching my brunch date with my friend. The annoyance doesn’t last long though. As I let my gaze travel the length of Grange’s body, still clad in workout gear, I lose my breath completely.
His face is devoid of all emotion as he stares at me. I think of him like a camera that refuses to capture a smile. The dark side of an alleyway that never sees light. A heart wild, untamed and passionate. For all the women who would hope to change him and soften the edges, I know that I just want to love him as he came to me.
I raise my new glass of bubbly toward him, an unsteady, drunken gesture. “Cheers,” I say.
Grange tilts his head the side, and warily approaches, a smirk so cavalier and sarcastic I want to lick it straight off his face.
