“We were just talking about you,” Tori said. “And what it would take to get you to come out on the road with us.” She raised a glass to her lips, taking a sip, before she said, “Ty is hitting the road in the fall and I’ll be going out next spring. What do you think, Mav? You in?”
“I, uh…” He glanced at me and I gave him an encouraging smile to let him know I thought he’d be crazy to turn down the opportunity to tour with these two. “Yeah, I’d love to. I appreciate you guys thinking of me.”
“That’s so awesome,” Tori said, glancing at our joined hands. “I hope you don’t mind sharing your boyfriend with the rest of the world. After this tour he’s going to be in high demand.”
“Oh, we’re not—”
“Sorry, this is Codie,” Mav said to Tori and Ty before I could explain the nature of our relationship. “She came from Nashville with a friend to catch a couple of shows this weekend.” He glanced at the door. “Um, I just saw my brother walk in. I need to have a word with him. Can I catch up with y’all later?”
“Sure,” Ty said. “We’ll talk to Luc about those tour dates. Let him know you’re on board. Okay?”
“Yeah, sounds good. Thanks again.”
Mav crossed the large room quickly, dragging me along with him.
He grabbed Noah’s arm. “Dude, I need to get out of here. Can you make sure Amanda gets back to the hotel… or whatever?”
“Yeah, sure.” Noah frowned, his gaze bouncing between me and his brother. “Everything okay?”
“I just can’t do this tonight,” he whispered. “Being around all this booze… it’s too much. I’ll call or text Trey later to apologize for cutting out early.”
Noah gripped his shoulder. “Mav, it’s okay. Don’t worry about anything. Just get the hell out of here, if that’s what you need to do.”
“Thanks.”
Noah grabbed my wrist before I could pass him. “Stay with him? Make sure he gets through the night?”
I knew I couldn’t babysit Mav every night, but I remembered how many times friends or family stayed up with me all night to make sure I didn’t take a drink. “I will.”
He kissed my forehead. “Thanks, Codie. I owe you for this.”
“No thanks necessary.” I knew Mav would do the same for me. And I’d learned in recovery to pay it forward when I could.
“You don’t have to stay with me,” he said, pushing the heavy glass door open. “I’ll be fine.” Instead of walking down the sidewalk, ordering an Uber or flagging a cab, he stood against the building, breathing deeply with his eyes closed.
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t have to. I knew exactly what he was doing. Trying to talk himself off the ledge. I’d done it myself hundreds of times before.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I hate that you have to see me like this, Codie. I don’t want to put you through this. It’s not fair after—”
I touched my fingertip against his lip. “What’s not fair is someone having to go through this alone, so I’m glad I could be here for you tonight. Believe me, I get it, Mav. I’ve been where you are. I got through it and you will too.”
His eyes met mine before he said, “Yeah, I will. You think we can go back to your hotel for a bit? It’s only a ten-minute walk and I could use the fresh air to clear my head.”
“Of course.”
I was sure Amanda would want to make the most of her time with Noah, so I wasn’t expecting her to come back to the room tonight. But Mav and I had a long night ahead of us as he tried to resist the temptation to drink… and I tried to resist the urge to sleep with him again.
ChapterTwelve
Maverick
We were sitting on Codie’s bed, watching some romcom on TV, while I fought both of my addictions: alcohol and her. Codie represented the kind of high alcohol could never have given me. When she touched me, I felt it soul-deep, like her hands were healing some invisible scars no one could see, but she could. When she kissed me, she spoke to me in a language all our own, reminding me all over again why she was my soul mate.
She side-eyed me before reaching into the bag of chips we’d picked up from the store in the hotel lobby. “You hate this, don’t you?”
I frowned before I realized she was talking about the movie. “It’s okay, I guess. I don’t watch much TV.”
“Really?” She nudged my shoulder with hers. “What do you do for fun then?”
