I swallow, my heart aching.“She’s happy.”
He looks at Ivy, his jaw tight.“I should’ve been here for all of it.”
Pain lances through me.“I was scared, Mav.I didn’t trust you to stay.”
His hand curls into a fist on his knee, then slowly loosens.“I get it.It doesn’t make it hurt less.But I get it.”
Silence falls between us, heavy but not hostile.
Ivy shifts, murmuring in her sleep.Maverick reaches out without thinking, brushing a curl from her cheek.His hand trembles, but he doesn’t pull back or try to hide his reaction from me.
And I feel flayed open by that single gesture.Because for the first time since the day I found out I was pregnant, I let myself believe it might be possible.That he can stay.That Ivy can have him.That maybe ...I can too.
The sun dips low as we pack up and carry Ivy to the car.Maverick insists on strapping her in, his big tattooed hands fumbling with the buckles until he gets it right.He kisses her forehead, so soft I almost miss it, then steps back.
“She’s incredible,” he whispers.
“She is,” I agree.
Our eyes meet over her sleeping form, something raw passing between us.
“I’ll walk back.I need to clear my head.”He clears his throat, stepping back.“But I’ll see you soon?”
It’s not a question, not really.“Yes,” I say, my voice trembling.“Soon.”
And as I drive away, I glance in the mirror and watch him stand in the fading light.For the first time, he doesn’t look like the storm I ran from.He looks like the anchor I’ve been too afraid to need.
Chapter Seventeen
Getting Better Every Day
Maverick
Three days.
That’s how long it has been since the park.Since Ivy laughed like sunlight spilling through clouds.Since Zora let me sit beside her, shoulder to shoulder, without flinching.Three days, and I’ve spent every damn one of them trying to prove I’m not going anywhere.
