I hope the talk we have goes the way I want it to go.
We all need to have a good, long conversation.
Chapter Eighteen
Maverick “Viking”
Two weeks later…
We are all finally home from the hospital. I made sure Ana and Ice were comfortable in bed while I cook them something to eat.
We had been living off of take-out for too many weeks, and I’m getting sick of it.
I’m not the best cook but am going to try my best to make them a good homecooked meal.
I turn on some music as I start cooking some pasta for them.
Pasta should be easy enough not to screw up.
I get so lost in the music and start dancing, shaking my ass while I cook, that I don’t hear them come in.
I jump with a scream when I see them both standing in the doorway grinning at me.
“Babe, I never knew you could move your hips like that,” Ice says with a laugh.
“You guys are supposed to be upstairs,” I say with a groan of embarrassment.
“Whatever you were making smelled good, so we had to check it out,” Ana says with a smile.
“It’s almost done,” I tell them.
“Don’t stop on our account. Keep dancing,” Ice says as he and Ana both sit down at the island chairs.
I shake my head and finish up cooking.
I set the table and get everyone drinks before we all move to sit at the kitchen table.
The dinner is filled with small talk, but I have a feeling we are going to have that conversation as soon as it’s over.
Once we are all done eating, we move to the living room where no one speaks for a long time.
“I think we need to talk. It’s clear we all have something to say,” I tell them.
“I’ll go first,” Ice says.
We both don’t say anything while he figures out what he’s trying to say.
“I was letting my insecurities get the best of me and letting them ruin what I think could be amazing. Before I passed out, I was regretting not telling you guys how I felt. I don’t want to hold it all in anymore,” Ice states. He blows out a big breath before he continues.
“I felt an instant connection to you guys, but I stayed away, only wanting to be friends because you guys were married. I didn’t want to get in the middle of you two and ruin your marriage. Every day, it was harder and harder to stay away. When I became your friend, it was to have a piece of you guys, even if that was all I would ever get. As much as I wanted it, I was still worried I was going to get tossed aside once the excitement of us died out. Being tossed aside by you guys was my biggest concern, and that’s what made me keep you guys out. I thought I could save myself the hurt.”
“Every relationship comes with a risk. You are trusting that person or people not to break your heart. Being vulnerable with them and giving them yourself. I took that risk when I wanted to try a relationship with you and Maverick. I wasn’t sure Maverick had changed, and I wasn’t sure you weren’t here for him only. We all have our insecurities. By all of us not communicating them, it had caused a wedge in between all of us,” Ana tells us.
I hear everything they are saying.
“I want this with you two. I know I have been an asshole and screwed up in the past, but I will do everything I can not to make those mistakes again. I found what I had been looking for in the two of you. I can’t remember any time I have been happier than when I’m with the two of you. We will have bad days and arguments but, at the end of the day, I want it to be you two. Through everything in life, I want you two by my side,” I tell them.
“I have wanted to call you Maverick for a long time, but I was avoiding saying it to keep from getting hurt. It felt more real when I thought of your name coming out. I almost said it so many times, but I kept stopping myself,” Ice says.
