“And I wouldn’t want to. Like I said, I love that he’s made it. I’m proud of him and I know he’s proud of me.”
“You can’t exactly keep your relationship under wraps now that the video of him dedicating that song to you has gone viral.”
“Tell me about it.” I was already sick of fielding questions about my relationship with him.
“I guess I have a lot of thinking to do, don’t I?”
“Yeah, you do.” She cupped my knee. “I don’t envy you, hon. But I know you’ll make the right decision. You always do. And if you ever need to talk, you know I’m always here for you.”
I sat up to give her a hug. “Thanks, Little.” I brushed her curtain bangs out of her eyes. “What would I do without you?”
“Face it, you’d be a hot mess.”
We shared a smile before I pulled her into a hug. My sister had become the strong woman she was because I was one of the people who’d shown her what that looked like. And I couldn’t risk losing that… not even for Mav.
* * *
Maverick
I was a mess wondering what was going on inside Codie’s head. It had been three days since I’d walked out of her hotel room and we hadn’t spoken once. We’d texted a few times, but I’d always initiated it.
I was trying to let her set the pace in our relationship, but I couldn’t do it at the expense of my sanity. Or sobriety. The urge to drink, to ease my stress, had been almost overpowering, in spite of the daily meetings, and I knew I had to find out where things stood with Codie, even if my worst fears were realized and she wanted nothing more to do with me.
“Hey,” she said, answering my call after the second ring.
“Sorry, I didn’t wake you, did I?” It was only eleven o’clock, but she probably had an early morning. “I should have texted first to make sure you were awake.”
“No, it’s fine. I just fell asleep watching Netflix, but I was going to call you tonight anyhow.”
My stomach lurched, as fear gripped me. God, I couldn’t lose this girl. “You were?”
“Yeah, I figured we should talk.”
I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose, as I leaned back on the bed. “Listen to me, Codie. I’m not going to let you give up on us. I know you’re scared. I am too. But running away from our feelings for each other isn’t going to work.”
“I agree.” She sighed. “I’ve been thinking about nothing but this for the past few days and it’s making me crazy.”
“Me too.” I hated that I was putting her through this, but loved that I wasn’t going through it alone. She obviously cared as much as I did, or she wouldn’t be preoccupied thinking about us.
“Honestly, I’ve still got some issues, Mav. I didn’t realize it until you came back into my life. I thought I dealt with all of my baggage, between the years of meetings and therapy, but apparently, I didn’t.”
“Okay.” I was almost afraid to ask what her issues were. What if she considered them insurmountable? Or a convenient excuse for cutting me loose? “Fill me in.”
“You know the way my mama is.”
“Uh, yeah.” She was tough as nails, and she’d never liked me. Not that I could blame her. If I’d been a parent, I wouldn’t want my teenage daughter to date the kid I’d been in high school either.
“She’s always drilled it into our heads that women need to stand on their own two feet. Never depend on a man to take care of them. Never lose their identity because of a man or a relationship.”
“Codie, what the hell are you saying? I’m proud of you and your success. I think what you’ve accomplished is amazing—”
“This isn’t about you. It’s about me.”
I barely resisted the urge to growl in frustration. “Do you know how much I hate hearing that? You make it sound like there’s nothing I can do, and I can’t accept that.” Letting her go without a fight, now that I was finally becoming the man she deserved, didn’t feel like an option.
“You’re…you.” She sighed. “I know this may sound crazy. Most women would trade a limb to datetheMav Stone.”
“Cut the bullshit, Codie,” I snapped, nearing the end of my tether. “This is just you and me. I don’t care about awards or titles or money in the bank and you know it.”
