“Hey, Miss Maverick. Are you busy?”
Something about the way he called me Miss made my pulse race. Every time he said it, a wide grin split my face.
“No, just relaxing on the couch, watching a movie. How was your day?”
Spencer was on the other end of the couch and popped his head up when I lowered the volume on the television. Sometimes it seemed like he was more interested in the stuff on TV than I was. He was my first dog, so it was weird to see how he sometimes acted like a human.
“It was pretty good. I actually scored some tickets to a concert, and I was wondering if you would like to go with me.”
I was glad that he was on the other end of the phone and not in front of me, because I would have hated for him to see the panicked look on my face, or the way I rubbed the soft skin on my forearm.
“Are you there?”
I cleared my throat to get the lump out of it. “I’m sorry. Yes, I’m still here. You said a concert? Uh . . .”
“Is something wrong with a concert?”
“No. It’s fine.”
I didn’t want to tell him no, but going to a concert made me nervous.
One time, I went out with a guy who knew I didn’t do well in crowds but still chose to blindside me by taking me to an overly crowded bar. When I said something about it, he basically brushed me off and told me to get over it. He ended up having the time of his life, while I had a panic attack and left. Needless to say, we didn’t talk again after that. Onyx wasn’t him, though, and my intuition told me I would be okay with Onyx.
“You don’t sound too sure.” He lowly chuckled.
“I’m sure. Yes, I’d love to go.”
We stayed on the phone a few minutes longer while he gave me the information for the concert, then he had to tend to his daughter.
I would overcome my fears and enjoy myself with Onyx. At least I hoped so.
When Turquoise’sgrandmother reneged on getting her for the weekend, I was pissed. I had a whole date planned for Maverick and me, but I couldn’t go. That wasn’t the first time, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. Sometimes I felt like she didn’t want my baby around. She didn’t treat her badly, but she didn’t spend time with her as much as she could have. At times, I felt like she blamed Turquoise for Bria not being here, but that wasn’t something to put on a baby. It wasn’t Turquoise’s fault we’d lost Bria. Not having Bria around was hard for me, too. I went from being in love and awaiting our baby to becoming a single father in a matter of hours. It was scary, but I did what I had to do for my baby.
A coworker had two concert tickets that he got for himself and his wife, but they couldn’t go, so I took them off his hands. I paid him a little more than what he paid for the tickets without him asking, but it was worth it to me. My father and stepmom were around, so they were able to keep Turquoise for me. She loved going to their house anyway.
After I dropped her off, I went to pick Maverick up, then we headed to the concert.
The lineup for the evening was multiple R&B singers, so the venue was packed.
As I sang along with the person on stage, I noticed Maverick looking uncomfortable. Her eyes bounced around the arena as she hugged her body. I slid up behind her and put an arm around her neck, and the other on her hip.
“Are you okay? You look a little uncomfortable.” I pressed my lips to her ear.
She leaned her head back against my chest and looked up at me. “It’s a little overwhelming in here.”
“Do you want to leave?”
She shook her head. “No. I’ll be okay.”
Her hair was bone straight for the night, so I nestled her under my arm and massaged her scalp. For a moment, she closed her eyes. I felt her body relax against me the more my fingers ran through her hair.
I tilted her head toward me, then kissed her lips. “You will always be safe with me, Maverick. I want you to remember that, okay?”
The music faded into the background as I stared down at her. I was curious as to what made her so uncomfortable, but I didn’t ask her. I didn’t want to make her feel any worse than she did. I did the only thing I knew how to, and that was to tell her and show her that she could feel comfortable around me, no matter where we were.
I gripped the front of her neck and brought her lips to mine. I didn’t give a fuck about the people standing next to us or behind us. The only thing I wanted to do was taste her sweet ass lips. They tasted like cherries from the lip gloss she wore.
My dick pressed against her back, so I had to break the kiss. We hadn’t crossed that line yet, but I was ready to whenever she was.
