I press my face into his meaty shoulder. “Exactly.”
26
MAVERICK
KnowingBoone feels as lost as I do… it helps. The hurt and anger disappear like smoke the second I put my arms around him.
“I believe you,” I say, tightening my grip on him. “Shit got messy, but I know you’re telling the truth. You weren’t using me to get to Hop. We both pursued those interactions. And today was just…really fucking bad timing.”
He sniffs. “Theworst.”
Poor Booney.
“Yeah, but you gave something back to my uncle that he thought he’d lost forever.”
That seems to make Boone cry harder. “Hop said the same thing,” he whispers through tears.
“Did he tell you about the statute he made?”
Statue.
Sniff. “Yeah. And today Hopper started sculptingme. Like, he balled up some newspaper and slapped some clay on top of that, and then, like, there was my face.” He looks at me, wonder in his red-rimmed eyes. “He’s so fucking talented.”
“It’s really something to watch him work.” I smile as a sweet memory floats by. “You do understand he’s going to spend thenext six months fiddling with your facial hair and the shape of your teeth.”
“He was working on that commissioned piece today and spent most of the morning on a single nostril.”
We laugh together, and the sound loosens something in my chest.
A conversation—a reckoning—with my family is way overdue, but none of that is on Boone. He got caught up in this too.
And he did say he thinks I’m amazing.
We both take a deep breath and settle against one another. Boone lifts his chin, hope so fierce in his eyes that I can’t help myself.
He has always been mine.
I kiss him. And then I kiss him again because he makes me think that loving him is possible. And again because we’re surrounded by the night, and by the sounds of water splashing down around us, and by the beautiful pieces Hopper created with his own hands.
I wonder if Boone knows that he’s Hopper’s masterpiece.
“Stay with me tonight,” Boone whispers the next time we come up for air. “I need to hold you and make sure you understand how much you mean to me.”
His words leave me breathless and reassured. Special. I nod, needing it as much as he does. Still, there’s a truth I can’t ignore.
“Something wrong?” he asks, pointing to my expression.
“Not wrong, but you should know I want to spend time with you and… I’m avoiding my family.”
“Fair enough,” he says, gently tugging on one of my coils.
We hold hands and walk to Anders’ car. Boone opens the door for me and closes it after I get in.
“Check out the glove compartment,” he says, looking hot as he slides into the driver’s seat.
I open it and let out a happy sound. My phone and wallet, thank God.
“You didn’t wanna drive my car?” I ask, grinning as I slide on my bracelet.
