Page 42 of The Maverick’s Legacy

He stilled before saying quietly, “Maybe you will.”

She looked up at him and saw that he was staring at her mouth. Carly cleared her throat, wanting—needing—to get any impending heavy conversation over with. She cracked open the can of hard seltzer and took a swig before she said, “What did you want to talk about?”

She held her breath waiting for him to say that despite the looks he was giving her tonight, he wanted to end things. That she’d stuck her nose into his business one too many times. He was done with her. The story of her life.

Jesse grabbed a beer and twisted the cap off, taking his own drink before answering. “I wanted to say you were right.”

Her forehead scrunched. “What?”

“You were right. About Oscar. I worry about him. All the time. I’m doing everything that I can to help him succeed, but I know I’m holding on too tight sometimes. I can’t seem to stop worrying though.”

“About what?” Carly asked, her tone gentle.

“That something will happen that he won’t bounce back from. The idea of anything happening to him makes me crazy.”

Carly fiddled with the tab on her can. “You can’t keep him in a bubble forever.”

“I know. You helped me realize that.” Jesse took another swallow of his beer. “That’s why I said he could go to the game.”

Carly’s eyes shot to his. “You did?”

“I did. He’s currently at a hotel with his team as we speak.”

“What’d he say when you said yes? How’d he react?”

The side of Jesse’s mouth tilted up. “I haven’t seen him that happy in I don’t know how long. It was the right call to make. And I wanted to make sure you knew that I’m aware I was wrong. And that I appreciate what you said.”

Carly took a couple of breaths in and out before she buried her face in her hands.

Jesse jumped up from where he was sitting opposite her and hurried around the table. “What is it?”

She shook her head, unable to speak.

“Baby, tell me what’s wrong.”

Her pulse sped up at the endearment.

“I thought you were going to break up with me,” she muttered, her voice muffled against her hands.

“What? I can’t—” He pulled her hands away, eyeing her in concern. “I can’t understand what you’re saying when your mouth is covered.”

She didn’t look at him. Instead she stared at his shoulder. “I thought you were coming over to break up with me.”

“I don’t want to break up.” He kneeled on the floor next to her. “Why on earth would you think that?”

She finally met his eyes. “You said we needed to talk.”

A line formed between Jesse’s eyebrows. “No… I said I wanted to talk to you. When people say, ‘We need to talk,’ that usually suggests a relationship is over, which is not what I said. Why do you think I’m always on the verge of ending things with you?”

“Stifling abandonment issues?” she grumbled under her breath. “I don’t know. Forget I said anything.”

Jesse sat back on his heels. “I don’t want you to keep thinking I’m going to break up with you. I’m the one out of my league here, not you.”

He said it lightly, and she snorted in response despite the heavy conversation.

He reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair that had slipped from her ponytail. “You… My life has gotten so much better since you entered it. You call me out on my crap, and you make me laugh. You’ve helped me reach my son when I didn’t think I could anymore. I love texting with you—even though I’m the first to admit that I’m crap at it. But you have no idea how much I look forward to starting my day just because I know there’s a morning text from you. And I feel like the luckiest person in the world when I get a message from you wishing me a good night. You’ve filled an emptiness in my soul that I never thought I’d be able to fill again, so please stop thinking I’m going to break up with you.”

Carly sniffled. “I feel the same way about you,” she whispered.