Page 35 of Maverick
“I thought I could figure it out myself,” he muttered, this time vaguely in Reese’s direction.
I’d take it.
“There’s nothing wrong with needing help, Mav.”
“Says the one who grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth.”
“Maverick!” I scolded. I’d be the first to admit that Reese deserved some of the shit that got tossed his way. He was small, but feisty, and easily got under people’s skin. Knowing the background he came from, it was easy to see how he grew up to be that way, but I didn’t know what had gotten into Maverick. In the grand schemeof things, I didn’t know the man very well at all, but he’d been so quiet and soft spoken… An outburst like that didn’t make much sense for him. Hurt flashed across Reese’s eyes then—a sort of childlike vulnerability that I’d never seen from him before.
“It’s just…” Maverick groaned. “You’ve always breezed through everything you’ve done. It all comes soeasy,and I never understood it. I’ve worked my ass off my entire life and I’m still not good enough.”
Those words felt like a stab to the chest, but I swallowed my emotions and stayed quiet. These two were finally talking to each other, and I couldn’t interrupt them.
“I couldn’t cook until last year.” Maverick’s brow furrowed and though he didn’t say a word, he finally looked at Reese. “We had a personal chef when I was growing up, but I promise it’s not the luxury it sounds like. I never got a say in what I ate—my parents decided for me. I never had to do more than operate a microwave. Imagine what happened when I moved out and I couldn’t even turn on the stove.”
“Really?”
“I know itlookslike things come easy for me, Mav, but that couldn’t be the furthest thing from the truth. Money can’t buy everything. I’m sorry that I ever made you feel like you weren’t good enough. The truth is,Iwas never good enough foryou. You were light years ahead of me emotionally, and I made you suffer for that. I’m sorry.”
Maverick focused on a drop of condensation on the outside of his water bottle, fixating as it danced down the plastic and dissolved into the napkin beneath it. “I… I guess I could use some extra drill practice.”
“Much better,” I praised. “Now, how do you two want to move forward?”
“With training?” Maverick asked, hope lacing his voice. All it took from me was a crooked brow, and he blushed and looked down at his feet. “I… don’t know.”
My heart thundered in my chest as I built myself up to ask my next question. I had to be prepared that the answer wouldn’t be what I wanted and judging by the look on Reese’s face, he felt the same way.
“Sweetheart, look at me.” Maverick peered up at me through dark lashes. “Do youwantto make a decision?”
“No.” His answer was instant, and Reese and I let out identical sighs of relief. “But that doesn’t mean I expect the two of you to be something just because I don’t want to choose.”
“Reese?” He jolted, having had all of his attention focused on Maverick. Blue eyes snapped to me, and he swallowed hard. “Is that something you want?”
Maverick flinched as Reese’s hand found his knee and squeezed. “I’d be willing to try.” Then he stiffened. “Wait—does he know about…”
“He does,” I responded, getting them both blushing. Maverick grinned but slid a little closer to Reese. “Do you think you two can try again?”
“I’d like to,” Reese admitted. “I know I fucked up and that I have a lot of making up to do, but I’d like to try.”
“Maverick?”
He gazed between the two of us, almost like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You would really be okay with this? Both of you? Sharing me?”
“Of course,” we answered in unison.
“Sweetheart, when I first told you that we didn’t have to be exclusive, what did I say was the most important part?”
“That I told you about it.”
Close enough. “As long as we keep open communication, then there’s no way all three of us couldn’t be happy together.”
Maverick cut in before I could continue speaking. “I know I said I didn’t want to make a decision between the two of you, but I wantusto be exclusive… Is that okay to ask?”
“I’m perfectly happy with that,” I said at the same time Reese excitedly blurted, “Absolutely.”
“But if we’re going to make this work, you two need to get along on the field. Which means Reese, you need to learn when to walk away.”
“I’d say so,” Maverick muttered.
