I wouldn’t have missed the sex-like noises he made once he tore into his seafood for the world. The way he licked the butter off of his lips and fingers had me squirming in my chair. The sexy smirk that Maverick wore on his face told me he knew why I was squirming and it had nothing to do with the deliciousness of the food.Did this place do carryout? How well would my blackened sea bass, seasoned rice, and roasted asparagus taste after being reheated a few hours later?
Conversation turned to me, and like Maverick, I spent a great time talking about my career. I was extremely proud of the work that I did, and maybe it wasn’t that different from what Maverick did. He worked to rehabilitate houses and I worked to rehabilitate people. I thought about how happy Maverick felt when he could step back from a job well done and see how the older homes shined. With people, I often saw a spark of life and happiness return to their eyes. I got to see glimpses of their old personalities shine through as they dealt with the trauma that caused them to lose those parts of themselves.
My thoughts turned to Jack Murphy and how hard he worked to get his life back. He was one of my toughest cases and someone I felt was very close to the edge of giving up. Jack had a grandfather who refused to give up on him and had practically dragged him to my office. Jack was the one who put in the work though. Big Jack might have dragged that horse to water, but in the end it was Jack who took the drink.
Jack’s turnaround was slow, but he got there. He faced down his nightmares and demons from war, admitted to himself and others that he was gay, and met the man he was meant to love. I had recently attended Jack and Liam’s intimate wedding in front of their family and friends. I had to confess to feeling a tad bit envious during their beautiful ceremony that those two had found each other and had such a bright future together. I had the career that I dreamed of, but I was nowhere near my relationship goals. Or was I? Looking at Maverick sitting across from me, it was pretty damn hard to be upset that I hadn’t fallen in love, gotten married, and had children already.
“What are you thinking about so seriously over there?” Maverick asked me.
Of course, I couldn’t discuss Jack with him, so instead I said, “I’m just thinking about the similarities of our two careers. On the outside they appear completely different, but when your break it down to our intentions they’re really not that different. We both rehabilitate,” I added when it didn’t look like he was making the connection.
“I don’t think your career can be stripped down to such basic terms. I think it’s amazing what you do.” His praise made my heart swell.
“That’s not the reaction I usually get,” I told him. “People worry that I’m analyzing and judging every word that comes out of their mouth.”
“Do you?” I sensed my answer was important to him. He wanted to know if he could really trust me not to push for him to talk about things he didn’t want to discuss.
“Nah,” I said with a shrug. “I have a high monthly rent and overhead so I can’t be handing out therapy for free.” Maverick just blinked at me until I burst out laughing. “Bad joke, I guess.” I leaned forward and reached for his hand again. “The truth is that I had to find a method to shut my brain down or I’d be working nonstop. I wouldn’t have any time for me to decompress and have a sense of normalcy. It took me awhile, but I finally got to the point where I could just listen.” He looked mollified. “Then there are the ones with a weird gleam in their eyes when they ask if I’ve ever interviewed a serial killer.”
“Shut up!” Maverick stated before he leaned forward and with a lowered voice asked, “Have you?” I laughed at the mixture of horror and fascination I saw in his eyes.
“No. Learning about them was part of the curriculum, but I had a hard enough time reading about the things they did, so I couldn’t imagine sitting across from one of them and looking them in the eye. But, people are fascinated by them – even ones who could personally never hurt a fly.”
“That would creep me the fuck out,” Maverick agreed. “In all seriousness, people in your profession might get a lot of grief, but what you do is important.”
“Thank you, Mav. That means a lot to me.” The server brought the check to the table and we reached for it at the same time. “Let me treat you, Mav. Please.”
“No way, Noah. I invited you on a date and I’m paying.” He looked at my annoyed face and smiled. “You can buy me an ice cream sundae at the Big Dipper.”
“Oh man, Mav. I can’t believe I’ve been in town for almost a week and haven’t hit that place up.” I looked at our empty plates. “You want to go there tonight?”
“We can take a romantic stroll down the beach, burn off some food, and share a sundae.” He winked at me playfully. “You do like romantic dinners followed by walks on the beach, don’t you?”
“I’ve never had one before so I can’t say for sure,” I replied.
“Me either, but it sounds nice.” Was it wrong that I was glad to be another first for Maverick just as he was for me?
Once the bill was paid, we headed down the beach toward the Big Dipper. The ice cream parlor had been in business for fifty years or longer and served the best ice cream I’d ever had. They kept their homemade recipes locked down tighter than the gold supposedly hidden at Fort Knox.
“What do you do for fun?” Maverick’s question was innocent enough, but my answer would be anything but innocuous.
“I masturbate.” Maverick nearly tripped over his own feet as we made our way down the beach. “I’ve gotten really good at it these past few years. I wouldn’t call myself ambidextrous or anything, but I can use my left hand to give my right hand a break. I was thinking about entering some type of tournament or maybe set up a webcam and website to make some extra money.”
Maverick was silent for several beats of my speeding heart, but then he finally chuckled. “I can’t see that it would be hard for you to find some companionship.” Was that what he did on his weekends to Charlotte? Maybe he got off on anonymous sex, but it had never been something that interested me.
“Yeah, probably not, but it’s not my thing.” I left it at that. “What about you? I know you work on classic cars in your free time. What else?”
He hesitated for a few minutes. I expected a glib answer like the one I gave, but instead he said, “I paint.”
“Wow, you do? I’d love to see your work sometime.” I remembered that Maverick loved to sketch when we were kids. He was really good at it so I had no doubts his paintings were also good.
“I don’t show my work to anyone. I do it more for stress relief than anything.”
“You won’t even show me?” The pout he heard in my voice made him smile.
“Maybe someday.” I liked that he thought we both had a someday. He was right. The end of my short trip didn’t have to be the end of us.
“Okay.” I didn’t push, because it wasn’t what he needed. Acceptance and patience was what he needed from me.
