Page 102

My mind somewhere else.

Thinking about wedding pictures. Thinking about settings, lighting, lenses, and all that fun stuff.

Making a mental checklist a mile long.

All I wanted to do was call Zoe and Eva to tell them the huge news.

Without thinking, I ended up calling Maverick instead.

When I heardMaverick’s voice, I almost threw my phone to the floor.

I was expecting to hear Zoe’s voice.

And then for a split second I thought Maverick was with Zoe.

That he was over her apartment and answering her phone.

Which was just complete insanity.

“Madison?” Maverick’s voice asked. “Are you there, sweetie?”

I froze in place as I looked around the cafe I sat in.

As though everyone stared at me and knew who I was, knew who Maverick was and knew who my father was—how risky this all was.

“Maverick,” I whispered.

“Yeah? Are you there?”

“Um, yeah. I’m here. What’s up?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “You tell me. You called me.”

“Oh, yeah, right. I did call you. Just now.”

“Are you drunk, sweetie?” Maverick asked. “Not that I’m judging. Nothing wrong with a little day drinking in life.”

“I’m not drunk,” I said. “I’m having coffee in a cafe right now. I’m looking at my laptop.”

“Are you looking at dirty pictures?”

“What?”

“Or videos? Are you risky like that, sweetie?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“You’ve never gone to a café, sat there and looked at porn before?”

“Eww, no,” I said. “Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you miss me. Maybe you need some more adventure in life.”

“Can I tell you why I called you?”

“I’d love to hear why you called me,” Maverick said. “I’m not used to this.”

“Well maybe I didn’t mean to call you.”