Page 26 of Wild Side
“Babe,” Maverick calls out, and I flick my eyes up to meet his. He is watching me, his expression seemingly one of concern. I don’t know what he wants to hear from me, or what he’s waiting for me to say.
“You’ll be here as long as you need to be, and no food has ever been wasted at the clubhouse. Also, it’s my money, and I don’t give a fuck if you wad it up and throw it in the trash. Buy whatever the fuck you want.”
I open my mouth to protest when I hear someone call out his name. His head swings around, and I watch as an absolutely stunning woman with long dark hair walks toward us. She’s got a toddler sitting in the cart, and I hear Mavrick groan under his breath before he turns completely around to face her.
She moves toward him and wraps her arms around him in a small hug. Instantly, I want to scratch her eyes out, which is a really stupid reaction considering I don’t know him, I don’t know her, I don’t know anyone.
“What are you doing in a grocery store?” she asks as she takes a step backward, but I don’t miss the way her gaze slides over to me.
“Shopping,” Maverick deadpans.
She hums without breaking eye contact with me, then tilts her head to the side. Maverick shifts from one foot to the other, then lets out a heavy sigh, almost as if it pains him to have to introduce me to this woman.
“Dakota, this is Zadie.”
Dakota’s lips curve up into a big smile, and she shoves her hand toward me. Lifting my own, I curl my fingers around hers, and we shake once.
“Dakota is my president’s old lady and wife,” Maverick says.
Oh.Shit.
“Hey,” she says, though I can tell she’s confused.
“Hey,” I offer.
This feels awkward, like, beyond awkward. I open my mouth to say something else, though I’m not sure what I could actually say to make this less… weird. I’m not sure why, but I feel like I want to crawl into a hole right about now and vanish. I want to disappear.
“We’re heading down to the clubhouse. We got church. You wanna come down and keep Zadie company, you’re more than welcome.”
If I could actually crawl into a hole, I might do that right about now. That is, if I could. Unfortunately, I can’t, so I stand beside Maverick and wish he would shut up. He’s putting this poor woman on the spot.
“I’m going to get this stuff put away, and then we’ll come down there,” she says, her gaze flicking to meet mine again. “And I’ll bring Posey, too.”
Dakota waves, then she pushes her cart, and down an aisle she goes. Slowly, I turn toward Maverick, tipping my head back so I can look up into his eyes. He shifts his chin downward, and his lips curve up into a grin.
“You’ll want to be part of her posse. You need to get to know her.”
He touches his lips to mine, takes the cart from my hand, and then wheels it away. I watch him for a moment in a stupor. I want to be part of her posse? As if I’m going to be staying here. As if I’m going to become an old lady or something.
“What on actual earth?” I whisper to myself, but nobody responds to my question, so I unstick my feet from the floor and follow him, my feet moving double time to catch up so we can finish shopping.
Maverick buys too much, almost as if he’s stocking a full kitchen. I’m able to take a few things out of the cart before he notices and then fills it up twice as much. By the time we leave the grocery store, I’m in another stupor, because he paid a six-hundred-dollar grocery bill.
Never in my adult life have I spent that much on food.
Never have I had that much to spend on food.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ZADIE
I busy myselfin the kitchen for as long as I can. Maverick has left to go to church, something that I may not know much about, but I know enough about it that, without a doubt, I am not welcome to join. So I stay as far away from the bar, from the men and the women, as possible and make myself useful in the kitchen putting groceries away.
That is, until I hear a woman’s throat clear.
I’m not sure who to expect as I slowly turn around, but when I see them standing in front of me, I’m taken aback.
Beautiful doesn’t describe these women. It’s Dakota from earlier, but with another woman standing beside her who is absolutely stunning. They’re both smiling at me, and I can’t help but wonder what they’re going to say…
