“Yesterday, while you were at work, I went to the cemetery to visit Bria.”
Maverick’s eyes softened when she looked up. She reached across the table and grabbed my hand. “Aww, how did that go? Are you okay?” She squeezed my hand, then rubbed the inside of my palm.
I loved and appreciated that it didn’t seem to bother her. Even though Bria was gone and would never come back, some women would be upset by me going to visit her. I never experienced it because I hadn’t taken anyone seriously, but I’d seen it happen before.
“Yes, I’m okay. I told her about you.” I smiled. “I feel like she would have liked you, but if she were here, I may not have gotten to know and love you the way I do.”
“From the way you talk about her, I’m sure she was someone special.” She smiled, and my heart warmed.
I never wanted to sugarcoat things with Maverick, because that wasn’t the type of guy I was. Also, I’d seen people’s relationships fail because one person tried to spare the feelings of the other. Granted, I wasn’t deliberately trying to hurt anyone’s feelings; I just wanted to always be honest.
“She was, and you are too. I feel better now that I got a chance to talk to her. In the beginning, whenever I was evenslightly interested in another woman, it made me feel like I did something wrong. I believe that is another reason why I didn’t try to have another relationship with anyone. Deep down, I knew that wasn’t the case, and Bria would want me to be happy. When I met you, though, nothing else mattered. I’m very happy with you, Miss Maverick.”
She blushed every time I added miss to the front of her name.
“I’m glad you got to talk to her, and I’m glad you made space in your heart for me because I’m happy with you and the little lady.”
I leaned over the table to kiss her.
“Are you ready to walk around a little more?” I asked after I threw out our trash.
“Yeah, I think so.”
I helped her up from the seat and grabbed our bags with my free hand. We did more window shopping than anything, so we only had three bags, and they were fairly small.
“Oh my God! A fire!” A woman screamed a few feet ahead of us.
My first thought was to run and help, but I knew I couldn’t leave Maverick alone, especially because a crowd had begun to form.
I looked back and forth between Maverick and the area where the fire had begun to spread.
Maverick let go of my hand and reached for the bags. “Go.” Her voice shook a little and made me not want to leave her.
“I can’t leave you alone,” I told her.
“Yes, you can. I’ll be fine.” She cupped the side of my face and looked into my eyes. I could see the slight fear in her eyes.
My eyes searched her face for something, I didn’t know what, but something that would keep me by her side.
“Go,” she said again, pushing me in the process.
I quickly kissed her cheek, then ran to help.
Since it was a public place, I was sure the fire department wouldn’t take too long, but there was no way I could stand around and not try to help. I knew that if there was a medical emergency, Maverick would have been there helping. We both took our oaths seriously.
The fire wasn’t as bad as it could have been, because the store owner had a fire extinguisher. I did help control the crowd that formed. Some people stood too close and potentially could have gotten injured.
When the fire department came, I ran back to where I had left Maverick.
She moved a little further away from the crowd, but I was still able to spot her. Her eyes darted around until they landed on me. I could see the nervousness on her face.
She met me halfway and threw herself in my arms.
I placed my hands on the sides of her face. “I’m so proud of you, baby.” I kissed her lips. “I know that might have been scary for you, but you are so brave.” I kissed her again. “I didn’t want to leave you,” I told her.
“I know, but I also know you had to. I told you I would be okay.” Her eyes were wet with unshed tears.
“You will always be my top priority, though. You know that, right?”
