I stared at him as I tried to figure out if he was serious, and those tired eyes stared back at me from behind his glasses as he nodded.
“Aria said we need to make space for Duke here, and I agree with her. I have no idea where to put a dog, and he’ll end up in her bed if we don’t have a solid plan.”
“He might end up in her bed anyway.” I chuckled. He absolutely adored her. He’d tried to leave my office with her and spent the day grumpy afterward. Millie was about to have some competition for his affection.
“Either way, maybe you should start bringing him over with you. We’ll have to do it eventually, right?”
I kissed him once. Twice. Three times. A smile overtook my lips as the understanding took over that he was beginning to figure out solid plans for our future, despite how scary change was. That much meant the world.
“Yeah, we do,” I agreed. I brushed my fingers through the hair at his temples. His eyes slid shut, his head tilting slightly into my hand. “Go to bed, princess.”
“Okay.” He sighed. “But you better text me when you get home, handsome, even if I’m asleep.”
“Deal.” I gently turned him around to face the stairs. “Up you go. I’ll lock up on my way out.”
He trudged up the stairs, dragging his feet in his tired state. I stayed where I was until he disappeared and waited until I heard his bedroom door click shut. The silence of the house pressed in around me, soft and comforting. It made grabbing my things achore. I double-checked the locks and made sure they were both secure as I wasted time, struggling to get out of there.
Leaving felt… off. Not wrong. Not awful. It just wasn’t what I wanted.
More than anything, I wanted to go back inside and crawl into bed next to him. I wanted to wake up to his pretty face and her endless chatter.
CHAPTER 111
harley
The warm fall air rolled in through the open windows. It curled through the cab of Maverick’s truck, tugging lightly at my hair and softening the hum of music playing quietly through the speakers. Maverick drove with one hand on the wheel while the other was tangled comfortably with mine. In the backseat, Aria chatted away to Duke like he was hanging onto her every word. His head rested in her lap while his tail thumped lazily against the seat. Every now and then, Maverick’s smile widenedwhen his gaze flicked up to the rearview mirror to check on them.
It was perfectly simple—just driving in the car together. I was happy.
“All right, run this past me one more time,” I said as I shifted in my seat to look at Maverick.
“I’ve got you, baby,” he replied. I smiled at thebabycomment, knowing full well that he was trying to find an alternative forprincesswhen people were around. “Waylon is the oldest. He’s married to Kinsley. They have two children—”
“Beau and Judd,” I interjected.
“Correct. They’re eleven and nine. Ezra is next. He’s engaged to Georgia, and Daisy—she’s nine—is his step-daughter. There’s Byron. He’s married to Callie. They have two daughters, Mara and Lana, who are two and four,” Maverick explained. I mentally catalogued everything he said. “And then there’s Asher, who is a pain in everyone’s ass, but he’s fun. I like the guy. Obviously, you know Millie and James. You’ll also get to meet Bobby, my sponsor, most likely. He’s become friends with James, and he gets an invite to pretty much everything.
“James also has two sisters, Camille and Abigail. Abigail also has two daughters, Rose and Thea. They don’t always show up, so you don’t have to worry about them as much.”
“That’s a lot of people,” I commented.
“If it helps, the kids all answer tohey, you.”
“It does.”I’d still work my ass off to try to remember all their names.And I’d feel bad every time I screwed it up. They were his family—his brothers and sisters, his nieces and nephews—which meant it was important to get this right.
I wasn’t the social butterfly that Maverick and Aria were. Aria lit up in a room full of kids and immediately gravitated to Carson’s side. Even Carson seemed to come out of his shell with her around, like she was his emotional support friend.Honestly, it was adorable.
And Maverick… well, Maverick was in his element. I watched him move through the chaos—shoulders loose, big smile, slipping from one conversation to the next without missing a beat. His nieces and nephews adored him, and his newfound brothers gave him shit. It was loud and fun and chaotic, but Maverick fit. He was right there in the middle of it all and completely at home in a way I’d never seen before. This was the kind of family he deserved. He was wanted and loved in a way that his own family could never.
It made my chest tight with overwhelming emotions as I watched from a spot alone on the other end of the living room. Arms crossed, I leaned against a wall and kept an eye on both of them. My gaze stayed glued on Aria whenever Maverick disappeared, but my gaze flicked right back to him when he returned.
“There you are,” Millie said as she came to stand next to me. She wiped her hands on her apron. I could feel the weight of her stare and shifted uncomfortably as I waited for her to say something. She was the only person in the house who hadn’t said anything to me, which was only a step above the response from everyone else. I hadn’t earned a place here—not yet.
And I understood that. I did. This was his family now. There was no doubt that they knew at least some of the things I’d put him through.Considering their reaction to me, they probably knew more.
“I know you hate me,” I began quietly when the silence became too much to bear, “and you have every reason to hate me. I know that. I’m not an idiot. I know what I did, and I know how I hurthim. I wasn’t in a good place, and that’s not an excuse for me doing what I did to him. But I’m trying. I know I bring more baggage to this relationship than he does. I know that I have a kid and a whole life built around her. I know that means he has to concede to more things than I do… his house, his workshop… all of it. I know that. I do.
“And I know he’s in a better place than I am. I know he’s healed and worked through all of his shit. I know all of that.” The words fell out of me a little faster with every sentence as the feelings inside me bubbled over. “But I’m trying. I’m trying real damn hard. I’m communicating, I’m in therapy, I’m trying to be as accommodating as I can. I’m learning everything I can about him and his life, and I’m trying to make sure he knows that he’s wanted and loved by me. It’s not easy, and I’m not pretending it’s easy, but I’m doing whatever I can to be better for him. To be the best person I can be for him. That’s all I can do.
