I scoot a little closer, not touching her, but near enough that she knows I’m still here. “You don’t have to be good at it. You just have to let it be real.”
That earns me a quiet laugh, sharp and bitter.
“Real?” she echoes, eyes fixed on the floor. “Have you ever been so real with someone that they took it and burned you with it?”
Something in my chest cracks open.
She’s still turned away, voice quiet like she’s keeping a secret she doesn’t want to share. And I know—deep in my gut—that if I push her, she’ll shut down completely. But I can’t just leave her in that silence.
She looks at me then, her green eyes rimmed with the faintest shimmer of tears she refuses to let fall.
I don’t push. I don’t pry. I just hold her gaze, steady and calm.
“I’m not like other women you’ve been with, Maverick.”
I smile a little. “Trust me, I know.”
“I’m a mess,” she adds.
“Twins, so am I.”
She swallows hard, shaking her head like she’s trying to clear the emotion away. “I didn’t mean for this kiss to go this far.”
My throat tightens. “I didn’t mean to fall for you either, but here we are.”
Her eyes widen slightly, but before she can say anything, she’s already walling up again and shoving those feelings back into the vault, locking it with seven deadbolts and a steel door.
“I should get some sleep,” she says abruptly, standing and brushing nonexistent dust from her legs.
I stay seated, jaw clenched, as I watch her retreat, not from me, but from herself.
“I’ll leave the light on,” I say quietly.
She pauses, her back still to me. “Thanks.”
She disappears upstairs, the soft thud of the door closing behind her.
I sit there, with my heart in my hands, wondering how long I’m going to be in love with a woman who won’t let herself love anybody back.
amelia/maverick
. . .
Maverick kissed me a week ago, since he wanted to “practice”, and my brain hasn’t shut up since. The image of his mouth on mine, the press of his chest, the sound he made when he positioned me onto his lap... it repeats in a relentless loop, like muscle memory carved into my skin.
God, I’m pathetic. One kiss and I’m already halfway gone. Men like him ruin women like me—make you feel chosen, then walk away when the shine fades. I should’ve learned my lesson the first time.
My phone buzzes on the small table near the workstation.
Catalina
I can’t believe you’re married to Maverick, and you didn’t fucking tell me.
Layla
YOU’RE WHAT?
Amelia
