Page 9 of Wild Side
There it is. That is the truth, at least most of it. I have no doubt that there is more to whatever story she has in her head about why she wants to go with me. She probably wants to teach Brake some kind of lesson.
She tends to do that.
I don’t know why she thinks he’s going to settle down with her. He obviously doesn’t want to change their relationship, but maybe she’s like me and hoping for something magical to happen.
The truth of the matter is that I don’t want her to go with me. I love Sable, but she makes things difficult. If she doesn’t think I’m doing something the way she would do it, she won’t stop until I do whatever it is just the way she would.
Then she tries to convince me that it was the right thing to do. Even if it wasn’t. Even if it wasn’t what I wanted. And since I am already going to be in a stressful situation, I’m thinking I don’t need her to add to it.
“Why do you still play around with him?” I ask.
Sable shrugs a shoulder. “I love him.”
“Then, when I’m figuring my shit out, instead of running, why don’t you figure yours out with him?” I ask.
She narrows her eyes at me, then shakes her head once. Thankfully, she doesn’t push coming with me, and she also doesn’t say anything else. Instead, she just lifts her hand and motions for me to get in the car. I do, glad that she’s dropped the conversation.
We ride to the airport in silence, and when she stops at the unloading area, she turns to me. Her eyes find mine, and she gives me a sad smile.
“You’re right,” she exhales. “What Brake and I have is shaky and sad. I need to figure it out and end it. I’m wasting my time.”
She is wasting her time, but I don’t tell her that. Instead, I reach across the console and wrap my fingers around her wrists, holding on to her. My eyes don’t look away from her, my focus on her own as I dip my chin in a single nod.
“You deserve someone who can see all of your beauty, inside and out.”
She arches a brow, and her lips twitch into a smirk. “I don’t know about all of that. I’m a whole bitch, and you know it,” she says with a giggle.
I mean, it’s not a lie. She is a whole bitch, but she’s also one of the kindest people I know. She deserves to be loved by someone who wants to love her in the dark and in the daylight. Brake doesn’t do that.
“Call me. I’ll have my phone.”
“Update me,” she says.
“You, too.”
She shrugs a shoulder, but I know she won’t tell me the details. She never does. Sable wants to be seen as the wild and fun girl surrounded by happiness and freedom. If she has feelings or any kind of self-doubt, it takes that facade away.
I let her have that, mainly because I see past it. She doesn’t want to admit that she is scared, that she’s worried, that she’s in love with this man who possibly doesn’t give a shit about her outside of how he feels when she makes him come.
“Thank you, Sable. I love you,” I say, but before she can respond to me, I slip out of the car, then take my bag out of the back of her open trunk.
When I step onto the sidewalk, I give her a small wave. She does the same, giving me a smile and a wave, then pulls away from the curb. Turning toward the airport doors, I inhale a deep breath and move through the doors as they open.
I can’t believe I’m doing this. Alone. I’m walking into this airport and am going to get on a plane headed for Greensboro, where I’ll rent a car and take the one-hour drive into Thunder Rock. I don’t know where I’ll stay, what I’ll do, but I’m going to figure it out.
I don’t have any other choice.
Like he said, I ruined my life, and now I need to take charge and put the pieces back together or create a whole new puzzle of my own. Either way. I’m taking the first step, which is to tell Maverick that I’m pregnant with his baby, then go from there.
One step at a time.
One moment at a time.
One breath at a time.
MAVERICK
Climbing onto the back of my bike, I start the engine and look behind me. Goose is standing against the wall, his eyes focused on me. He doesn’t understand anything I’m going through, andexplaining it to him would be fruitless. Just like if the roles were reversed, I would probably feel the same way.
