JP and Pierce go completely silent, and even Coach Mike pauses mid-scribble.
Maggie blinks, stiffening. “This is your job,Maverick. You don’t get to decide when you care about optics. Sponsors want perfection, and if you want to keep every dollar you’ve got rolling in?—”
“Fuck the sponsors!” I cut her off,voice booming. My pulse is a roar in my ears. “I don’t play for them. I don’t run until I puke for some commercial deal. I play football because it’s the only thing I’ve got left that makes sense. And I’ll be damned if you keep trying to turn me into something I’m not.”
She stares at me, mouth tight, color rising in her cheeks. “You’re out of line.”
“No, Maggie, you are.” I jab a finger at her, sweat still dripping down my temple. “I’m done smiling on cue, I’m done pretending I have my shit together, because no one has their shit together. Nobody is fucking perfect! And if the world doesn’t like it? They can go fuck themselves.”
The silence after is suffocating.
JP lets out a low whistle, muttering under his breath, “Holy shit.”
Pierce shakes his head, wide-eyed.
Coach Mike clears his throat, shuffling his clipboard. “Alright, break it up. Hayes, hit the showers. Everyone else, out.”
Maggie looks like she’s swallowed glass. She hisses, low enough that only I can hear, “You’re going to regret this.”
I meet her stare dead on, jaw tight. “No, what I regret is fucking hiring you and letting you make me think I had to be something I’m not.”
amelia
. . .
I’m running away from him, like a stupid bitch. Well, Amelia, why don’t you put your big girl panties on and communicate with him?
No, I can’t do that because I’m too stubborn and prideful to believe he’ll be like every other man and hurt me.
Shaking off those thoughts, I stare down at the emerald ring on my finger. Sunlight streams in from the kitchen window, hitting it just right and scattering green light across the wooden countertop. “I just... I keep waiting for him to fuck up. To turn into Jax. Like there’s some countdown until he becomes this... this monster who tears me down until I’m nothing.” My voice cracks before I can stop it. “I don’t know if I’m being smart or if I’m just broken.”
Catalina sets the spoon aside and crosses to me, her hands warm on my shoulders.
“I hate to break it to you, bitch,” she says with a soft but confident smile, “the only bad thing about Maverick is his attention span. But other than that? He’s got a heart of gold, and he loves hard.”
Her hands pause for a moment before she moves back to the pitcher, pouring the tea into a tall glass, with ice clinking against the sides.
“They all lost their mom at a really important stage in their lives,” she says, stirring once more. “And they all coped differently. Maverick… he copes with humor. But lately, since you’ve been here, since you’ve been together, I’ve seen him in a different light. He’s more at ease.”
She slides the glass toward me, the condensation damp against my fingers.
“Amelia, you’ve saved him in a way he’ll never admit loud. That man loves you loudly. Don’t be afraid of it.”
I swirl the tea, watching the ice drift in slow circles. Her words settle somewhere deep, but my chest still feels too tight, my breath catching on all the memories I can’t shake.
“I’ve been through this before,” I whisper, my throat sore. “I believed once. I trusted once. And it destroyed me. Maverick—he’s… he’s too good. I don’t trust it. I don’t trust myself.”
Catalina doesn’t flinch as she leans back against the counter with her arms crossed, watching me with that intense gaze of hers. “You’re not broken. You’re traumatized. There’s a difference.”
Her words hit me like a gut punch.
I grip the glass tighter, blinking through the burn behind my eyes.
“Look at him,” she presses. “Really look. Maverick is not Jax. Jax took and took until there was nothing left of you. Maverick? He’d bleed himself dry to make sure you never felt empty again. You don’t punish a man like that for the sins of the last asshole who didn’t know how to love you.”
A tear slips free before I can stop it.
“Learn to let him love you,” she says softly. “Yes, we’reall human and make mistakes, but I promise you, Maverick will dedicate his life to making you happy. He’s an idiot sometimes, sure—but he’s your idiot. Don’t run from that.”
