by Laura Pavlov
—So much drama tonight. Hope your evening went smoother than mine. Dani is three sheets to the wind, so I need to bring her home with me. Sorry to change the plans last minute. Can you and Daisy head over to my place instead? Love you—
She ushered Dani through the empty lobby and almost made it out the door without being stopped.
“Can my driver give you a ride home?” Edward said, standing closer than she’d like.
“No, I’m calling an Uber,” she said in a huff, pulling up the app on her phone. She didn’t even want to start with him. He’d lied about so many things tonight, and she didn’t have the energy nor care to even resolve it.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I know you’re mad. I promise you it’s not as twisted as you think. But now is not the time to discuss it. I have to stay here and finish. Let Raul run you home. Dani doesn’t look well. The last thing you need is her vomiting in an Uber. He can come back and get me. Seriously, it’s the least I can do.” Edward kept his distance and appeared genuine.
“Speak for yourself Count Know-it-all,” Dani said with slurred words, pointing her finger at him with anger.
“This just keeps getting better. Thank you for the offer of the car. I’ll actually take you up on it.” She pushed against Dani who leaned against her like a dead weight.
Edward was on his phone within seconds. “Bring the car around. Take Ms. Fiore wherever she wants to go.”
He pushed the door open as his car pulled up in front of the building.
“Thank you, Edward. Take care.” She walked past him and helped Dani into the car before climbing in behind her.
Sinking back against the black leather seats, she relaxed for the first time all night.
“Are we going to your house, Ms. Fiore?”
“Yes, Raul. Thank you for the ride. I appreciate it.”
“I promise not to puke in your fancy car—because I’m no fool, Rauuuul,” Dani said accentuating the rhyme before bursting into a fit of laughter, slipping off the seat and landing on her ass.
“Sweet Lord, you are on one tonight.” Elle pulled her back onto the seat.
They arrived at her place and thankfully Dani was exhausted, and Elle got her to bed in the guest room. She left a bottle of Tylenol and a glass of water on the bedside table. She was disappointed Maverick and Daisy weren’t there and she retrieved her phone.
—Not going to make it over. Let’s talk tomorrow—
This wasn’t the norm for Maverick. They’d never spent one night apart when he wasn’t traveling for a game. She dialed his number and after a few rings, it went to voicemail. She tried to calm the panic emanating through her like a freight train at full speed.
“Um, I hope everything’s okay. I’m sorry I couldn’t come back to your place, but Dani is really drunk, and I didn’t want her to go home alone. I hate not being with you. I love you,” she said to his voicemail before hanging up.
A sick feeling settled in her gut. Something was off, and she hated being the last to know.
****
Maverick never returned her call but finally sent a text the next morning.
—I have a meeting with Coach to go over game tapes this afternoon. I’ll be over at 5—
Her stomach churned and anxiety built. He’d never been so short, nor had he ever ended without saying I love you. She pushed it away when the guest bedroom door flew open.
“Did someone beat me with a sledgehammer last night?” Dani stumbled from the guest room. Her long, wavy hair looked like she’d just escaped a windstorm and last night’s makeup was still in place but smeared a bit.
“You must have one mean hangover. I’ve never seen you drink so much,” Elle said, sipping her coffee and pushing her laptop aside.
“I know. I was upset about Cam. I think we’re going to break up.” Dani took the seat across from her and pulled her feet up on the chair, wrapping her arms around her knees.
“Really? What was the fight about?”
“He gave me an ultimatum. He wants to move in together, get engaged, the whole shebang. I can’t even be mad because it’s the natural thing to do at this point. We’ve been together three years. Of course, he wants to move forward,” Dani said, her gaze wet with emotion.
“You don’t want to move forward with him?”
“I don’t want the same things he wants. I’m not ready for marriage or kids, and I don’t know if I ever will be. When he talks about it, I completely panic. I don’t want a roommate, hell, I barely like when he spends two nights at my place a week. I see how you are with Maverick, and what we have is so different. I don’t miss him when I’m not with him.”
Dani’s shoulders slumped, and she buried her face in her hands.
“Listen, not all relationships are the same. Trust me, I’ve never had what I have with Maverick with anyone else. But maybe Cam isn’t the guy for you. It doesn’t mean you don’t love him. You just don’t want the same things,” Elle said, scooting her chair beside Dani’s and resting an arm on her back.
“I really do love him. But he feels more like a friend than a lover. Ugh. This makes no sense. He’s perfect for me. Everything I want. He’s not pretentious, for starters—he’s a really good, down-to-earth, guy. But the thought of moving in together or marriage makes me want to vomit. I don’t know what to do.”
Elle tried to contain her desire to chuckle. Dani rarely exhibited this much emotion. She was what you’d call even-steven. There weren’t a lot of highs and lows.
“I think you have your answer, sweetie. I know it’s hard, but if moving in and talking about marriage makes you want to vomit after three years of dating, well, it’s a big red flag.” Elle laughed a little, earning a small smile from her friend. “You don’t want to settle, and he deserves to be with someone who feels the same way he does.”
“I know. I keep trying to convince myself we’re just in a rut. I love Cam so much. I don’t want to lose him. What if he doesn’t forgive me for not wanting the same things? He’s wasted all these years with me,” she said, sniffing and standing to get a tissue to wipe her nose.
“It will probably take him time to get over the initial blow, but eventually he will. You haven’t lied to him. You’ve always been honest.”
“Oh my God. We’re supposed to go to his mom’s for Thanksgiving in two weeks. We already bought the tickets,” Dani said, swiping at the tears streaming down her cheeks.
“You really are out of it lately. Thanksgiving is this week. You can cancel the tickets. He’s the one giving the ultimatums. You were happy going along the way things were.”
Dani’s face paled. “What did you say? Thanksgiving is this week? Are you sure?”
“You know me and my internal calendar. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You have a lot on your mind.”
“No, no, no. This isn’t happening,” Dani said, and then pushed to her feet. She hurried toward the front door and grabbed her purse.
“What’s wrong? You can cancel a flight up to the day of departure. Relax. This is the least of your worries.”
Dani pulled out her phone and studied it like it held the answer to all of life’s problems. “Holy shit.”
Elle moved beside her friend. “What’s going on?”
“I’m late,” she said, before dropping to the floor in a heap of hysteria.
“How late?” she crouched down beside Dani, rubbing her back and pushing her hair away from her face.
“Two weeks. I’m never late. What am I going to do? I don’t want to move in with Cam. We’re definitely not ready for a child.” She leaned her back against the wall and pulled her knees up to her chest, in a little cocoon.
“You’ve been under a ton of stress, so you might have thrown off your cycle. Don’t panic yet. You stay here and I’ll go grab a pregnancy test, okay?”
“Thank you. Okay, I’ll stay here.” She broke on a sob.
Elle grabbed her keys and hurried to the drugstore on the corner, buying a pregnancy test and two pints of Ben
and Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream. Dani was in the exact same position when she returned home.
“Come on. No sense avoiding it. Let’s do this.” Elle pulled Dani to her feet and led her to the bathroom.
Three minutes felt more like three hours as they waited. They sat on the bathroom floor, hand in hand. “It’s going to be fine either way. You’re not alone. You’ve got Peyt and me, and we’ll be there for you.”
Dani didn’t speak, just squeezed her hand harder. Elle’s phone alarm went off and she moved to her feet.
“I can’t look. Just tell me.” Dani dabbed her nose with a tissue while she remained on the floor.
She moved to the counter. This little stick held Dani’s future.
One pink line.
She bent down to face her friend. “Hells bells. It’s negative. You’re not preggers.”
She hugged Dani while she sobbed for a good five minutes, the two of them huddled on the bathroom floor. When Peyton arrived, they spent the rest of the afternoon talking.
“I’m going to talk to Cam tonight. I think it’s time for both of us to move forward,” Dani said, picking at her salad.
“Listen, you’re doing the right thing. He needs to go out there and find someone who wants what he wants. And it’s time for you to do the same,” Peyton said.
“And if this baby thing wasn’t a wake-up call, I don’t know what is. I’m definitely not ready for any of it right now.”
Dani said she’d speak to Cam immediately. She would do the right thing. Elle glanced at her phone to see three texts from Edward, of all people, asking if they could meet. Not happening. She didn’t respond. There was nothing more to say. No texts or calls from Maverick, which surprised her. They usually texted and talked throughout the day. Maybe she was reading into it. A dull ache settled in her chest. He’d be here in a little bit. She wanted to get to the bottom of whatever was going on soon. Her house phone rang, which usually meant the front desk was calling.
“Hello.”
“Miss Fiore, we have Count Edward Efant here at the front desk, and I noticed you had him removed from your permanent list, so I didn’t want to send him up without speaking to you,” Bernie said, keeping his voice low, obviously trying to avoid Edward hearing. She couldn’t believe he’d come to her house. He was proving relentless. She promised Maverick she’d stay away from him, so she wasn’t about to invite him up. Both of her friends shared a puzzled look and Peyton mouthed, “What does he want?”
Elle shrugged. “I’ll come down, Bernie. Thank you for calling.”
“I can’t believe he came here. The guy is an entitled jackass,” Dani hissed.
“I have no idea what he wants. But I’m not about to invite him up after Maverick specifically asked me to stay away from him. We have nothing to discuss. He lied to his parents about our relationship, changed the date of the event, and used me as the reason. He’s showed me who he is one too many times,” Elle said.
“Well, we’re coming with you. Give us a signal if we should stick around in the lobby,” Peyton said.
“I will. Let’s go.”
Elle led them to where Edward sat on the white couch in the grand lobby of her building. Irritation grew with each step. He was pushing her limits.
“Edward, what are you doing here?” Elle crossed her arms. Dani and Peyton stood a step behind her in solidarity.
“You left me no choice. This is urgent. I know you and your mother aren’t speaking right now, but I thought you should know what’s going on,” he said, his gaze met hers, and she saw genuine concern there.
“Did something happen?”
“It’s Winston. He had a massive stroke, and he’s in the hospital. They don’t know if he’ll make it through the next couple of days. It’s quite serious.”
Her legs wobbled, and she placed a hand on her churning stomach. Dani grabbed her hand, and Peyton fired off questions, “How did you find out? Which hospital?”
“Caroline let me know. I figured you would want to go home straight away,” Edward said.
“Yeah, of course. I need to talk to Maverick. He won’t be able to go with me with his game schedule these next few weeks.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” Dani asked, and Peyton offered to pack up little Jojo and go as well.
“No, I’m fine, thank you. You guys don’t need to stick around. You’ve got a sick baby at home, and you need to go have a very important talk with Cam. Maverick will be here in a few minutes. I’m fine. I just want to get all the information, and then I’ll book my flight.” Elle hugged them both and insisted they head home.
She sat next to Edward and had him retell her the details of the stroke. At least what he remembered. Winston was taken by ambulance, and said they called it an ischemic stroke, and he wasn’t able to speak at the moment. Her hands trembled as she wrote down the info in her phone. She wanted Maverick to get here now. She needed him.
“Edward, I really appreciate you coming here to tell me. I need to go book my flight.”
He leaned over and hugged her. “I know how important he is to you. Keep me in the loop, and if you need me, I’ll make myself available.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll be fine. I’ll let you know how he’s doing when I get there.”
“Safe travels, darling,” he said, and she turned on her heels and hurried to the elevator.
She booked a ticket for first thing in the morning and sent her mother a text letting her know she was coming home. She didn’t want to pick a fight with her mama over not having the decency to let her know what happened to Winston. Now wasn’t the time.
She paced her living room. She knew she’d lose it the minute Maverick walked through the door. She texted him.
—I really need to talk to you. Please get here as soon as you can—
Somehow, he’d become her rock. He knew how to settle her. Calm her. Put things in perspective. And right now—she needed Maverick Wallace something awful.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Maverick’s Playbook
Watch your blind spot!
“Later, Mav. See you tomorrow,” Brent said, walking out to their cars after meeting with coach.
“Yeah, get some rest. Big game coming up.”
His phone vibrated, and he read the text from Gigi. She and her roommate, Mandy, were staying at his house tonight because their condo was being fumigated tomorrow morning. She’d mentioned it last week, but he’d forgotten. Hell, he had a shit ton on his mind and wasn’t in the mood for thirty questions about the logistics. He sent her a quick response letting her know it was fine, he’d stay at Elle’s. Gigi had a key and could let herself in.
The next text was from Elle, asking him to get there soon because she needed to talk to him. After the fucked-up way things went down last night, he’d expected it. He hadn’t gone to her place last night because he didn’t want to hash it out when he was pissed. His event went off without a hitch, until Ben, one of his teammates, sent him a screenshot of a photo of Elle with Count Asshat. Ben’s girlfriend, Mia, worked in marketing for a local newspaper. She saw the photo on a table of lead stories to possibly run. Mia encouraged her editor to kill the story. The asshole’s arms were wrapped around Peaches’ shoulders. She didn’t look comfortable in the picture, and she wasn’t smiling, but he had his hands on her again. He’d asked her to stay the fuck away from the guy. It was a simple goddamn request.
Maverick saw red. And from there, the rest of the night went to shit. He called her to see what the fuck was going on, and the douchebag actually answered her phone. Her fucking phone. He offered no explanation as to why he had it. His exact words, “You’ll have to ask her yourself.” Maverick wanted to drive over there and rip his fucking head off, but he had a speech to give. He put on a fake ass smile and took the stage.
When the event ended, there was a text from Elle asking him to come to her place because Dani was drunk. He didn’t respond because he didn’t trust what he’d say. He’d nev
er been pissed at her. Not like this. He cooled down a little before driving over to her place with his goddamn goldendoodle sprawled across the passenger seat fighting to climb on his lap. When he pulled in front of her building, Edward Efant’s goddamn car pulled out of her fucking building. He’d seen the ridiculous limo a few times, and there was no question whose car it was because the arrogant prick had his last name splattered across his license plate. Maverick turned his ass around and drove home. He’d been jerked around enough for one night. He couldn’t think of a rational explanation for any of it.
Was the asshole in her condo? No fucking way. She’d asked Maverick to come over. But Edward had obviously taken her home. She clearly ignored his request. He’d been tolerant of Edward’s bullshit and was at a breaking point. Was more going on than he knew? He’d walked in on the guy grabbing her arm, and yeah, she’d pushed him off, but how many times had it happened when he wasn’t there? Was she being fucking honest with him?
He let out a breath and made his way into her building. He came to a halt, trying hard to rein his anger in.
“Mr. Wallace, are you ready for Monday’s game?” Bernie, the doorman asked. The dude had to be pushing seventy-five, but he never missed a beat.
“Yeah, we’re ready to get after it,” he said to the older gentlemen, but his gaze never left the asshole talking on his phone in the corner of the lobby.
Edward fucking Efant.
“Good luck, we’re all rooting for you.”
Maverick patted Bernie on the shoulder before making a beeline across the lobby. “Is it possible for you to find your own fucking woman?” he growled.
The cocky bastard dropped his phone in his coat pocket and smiled. “Well, technically, she was mine before she was yours.”
He wanted to crush his smug face. His slicked back hair and navy suit with a floral pocket square pissed him off even more. Douchebag.
“She was never yours, and she sure as shit ain’t yours now. I’m going to tell you one more time, and I’ll say it nice and slow. You need to hear me because this is the last fucking time I’m going to say it. Stay. The. Fuck. Away. From. Her.”
