“There are some things,” I began slowly, trying to remember everything I’d practiced.I’d practiced a lot. I didn’t want to miss something or screw this up. “I haven’t dated much, and the two people I did date, it wasn’t for long. They weren’t…”
I faltered, trying to make sure I got the words right. Maverick reached across the table, his hand finding mine. His thumb brushed over my knuckles reassuringly.
“You practiced this, didn’t you?” he asked a little too knowingly, and I nodded. “Just talk to me, princess. You don’t need to worry about anything.”
“I do, though,” I said. “It’s not just me anymore, Maverick. It’s just Aria and me. We’re a package deal. If you date me, you gether too. And that means making sure she’s taken care of, loved, and respected. I don’t want my daughter to ever question if she’s important to me or to any person I bring into her life.”
“That’s not a bad thing, Harley.”
“No, it’s not, but my daughter doesn’t know I date. She never met the two guys I dated. She’s preoccupied with the occasionalI want a mommymentality. She doesn’t know that a new mommy is never in the cards for her. And I’ve never trusted anyone enough to bring them into her life,” I told him. “Because she gets attached, and I don’t want her to get her heart broken. Whoever I bring into her life, I want to make sure that they’re there for good—that they’re going to be there for her. And I’ve never felt that potential with anyone else, but I think if we’re honest with each other, we would’ve done the forever and a day thing.”
The slow smile on his face made me falter.Damn it. That probably sounded like something I didn’t mean to.
“I’m not proposing,” I told him quickly.
“I know,” Maverick replied. “But this isn’t the big scary speech you think it is.”
“Okay, well, it’s not meant to be scary,” I said. “But she knows you, and she likes you, and you’re good with her.”
“And I like her. She’s a good kid.”
“She’s a great kid. And if we’re going to do this thing together, that means you’re going to be a big part of her life.”
“I know.”
“No, I don’t think you do.” I shook my head. “You have your house, and we have ours. That house is her life. And we have our schedule—it’s simple, but she relies on it. There’s no on-a-whim decision to do things these days. I have a nanny, and I need childcare to go out. It’s not easy anymore. It’s complicated. My life is complicated—it’s good, but it’s complicated. And I don’t want you to go into this thinking it’ll be easy because we’re both in better places and to be disappointed by it. By me. By—”
“Harley,” Maverick interrupted, his tone serious, “I’m all in.”
“You’re all in?”
“I’m all in,” he repeated. “A house is just a house. I can live anywhere. If and when we make it to the point of moving in together, we’ll figure out how I fit in your home. It’ll be messy and chaotic for a while, but it’ll be okay. We’ll figure it out. You have your schedule, and I have mine. I get it. But you know what? A good calendar will make that easy to navigate. So what if we have to plan date night? I don’t care. I can’t promise I won’t suggest the random date or outing, but I’ll also never say no if you bring Aria along. Your daughter is an important part of this, too, Harley. I won’t pretend that she doesn’t exist. I will admit that we might want to consider getting really damn good insurance on her and Duke before we put them in the same room. I feel like there won’t be enough padding in the world to protect them from their own chaos.”
I laughed—genuinely laughed.I could only imagine the amount of trouble she’d get into with a dog that matched her chaotic energy.It’d be good for her though.
“And when we’re figuring everything out, we’ll have to figure out where Carson and Roxy fit into everything,” he continued. “I know I’m just the really fun uncle, but Carson has a room in my house. He sleeps over once a week, and I help Roxy with a lot of the day in and day out. I have no intention of giving that up.”
“I wouldn’t want you to. They’re your family. They’re important to you, which makes them important to me,” I told him, making sure he knew feeling wasn’t just one way. “And to be honest, I don’t thing Aria would ever argue about spending more time with Carson.”
“See?” he said with a grin. “Whatever happens, we’ve got this.”
“I have a crazy ex. She calls about once a year, usually because she wants to bring Aria to some stupid social event and show her off.”
“I have a crazy brother that I have a restraining order against.”
“I’m in therapy.”
“You’re not going to scare me away, Harley.” Maverick chuckled. “I told you that I was all in, and I meant it. I just need to know that you’re all in too, and that you’ll have patience with me as we figure all of these things out. I’m not asking to be your number one. Aria always gets that spot. But I’d like to be number two.”
“I can give you one-point-one,” I countered. “It’s the tiniest step below number one.”
“That’s a damn good spot to be in,” he said with a smile. “I’ll never hold it against you that you put your daughter first. At the end of the day, I just want to be considered. I just want to be as much a part of it all as I can.”
“I’m all in, Maverick,” I promise. “But I do need to talk to Aria first. I want her to hear it from me, not anyone else. So I’m all in, but I need to talk to her about this.”
“This is the most adult conversation we’ve ever had,” Maverick teased. “I didn’t think we had it in us.”
“It took us eighteen years to have this one.”
