Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 142866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
“Your mom is pretty fantastic. Your aunt Geneva, too.”
“I wish you could have met my father, and I wish I could have met your mom.”
“I’ve been thinking about that all day, actually.” He balances the pie pan on our knees more securely and links our hands between us. “I also wish I didn’t have to leave tomorrow.”
“It’s only Japan.” I bump his shoulder and smile. “Hop, skip, jump.”
He cups my face and lowers my head to his shoulder, kissing my hair.
“I’ll miss you, Hen.”
His words water my dry places.
“I’ll miss you, too.” I turn my head to catch and hold his gaze. “I talked to Zere today.”
He stiffens, but then relaxes against me, pulling our linked hands up to his lips. “What’d she say?”
“She doesn’t want to work with me.”
A muscle flexes along the line of his jaw and he draws a sharp breath. “I was really hoping she wouldn’t say that.”
“Yeah, so was I, but I think I’m okay with it.”
He studies my face closely. “You are? You resenting me or regretting doing this? Us?”
“If I said yes, would you let me go?”
A smile brackets lines in his lean cheeks. “Hell, no.”
I lean forward to kiss him, hoping the depth, the hunger of it tells him all the things I’m not ready to say. That I’d choose him again and again. That I feel safer with him than any man I’ve ever been with. That when I’m in his arms, even though it’s soon and fast, choosing him feels like choosing me because sometimes I’m not sure where he ends and I begin. I never knew I could be completely my own person and completely someone else’s, but that’s the beautiful dichotomy of being with Maverick.
Are these the things other women thought before they gave too much away? Before they sidelined their ambitions and dreams for a skipped heartbeat? I’ve always guarded against this level of vulnerability, but Maverick makes me want to give him so much because it’s clear how much he wants to give to me. There is a reciprocity to us that’s been missing before.
Maybe when this man says let’s be good to each other, he really means it.
CHAPTER 44
HENDRIX
Let’s hear it for the girls!” Soledad sings in the tune of the classic Deniece Williams hit, brandishing her fist-mic in Mama’s driveway.
From the front porch, watching Soledad, Lupe, Yasmen, and Deja unload Yasmen’s SUV, I could cry. I’m so glad they’re here, even if it’s only for a few hours. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed them until my eyes started prickling with tears as soon as they pulled up.
“Isn’t it supposed to be ‘let’s hear it for the boy’?” I laugh, discreetly wiping under my eye.
“Ewwww, boys,” Lupe says. “We’re off boys for now, Aunt Hen.”
“Speak for yourself,” Yasmen says, locking the car and walking up the driveway. “I’m very much still on your daddy, Deja.”
“You see the level of cringe we’ve been dealing with this whole trip?” Deja scrunches her face into teenage disgust. “They’ve been like this ever since they picked us up from campus.”
I pull Deja into my arms and squeeze. This is my girl. Even when she and her mom were on the outs—teenage girls will test their mama’s nerves—Deja and I had a special connection. Always have. I see so much of myself in her when I was that age.
“You doing all right?” I ask, pulling back and stroking the karat gold braids that are new since I saw her last.
“Yeah, I’m good. Your braids are on point, Aunt Hen.” Deja looks up at me, narrowing her eyes, our resident hair influencer. “You go to that lady off Clairmont I told you about?”
“Of course I did.” We high-five and she walks into the house.
“Hey, Aunt Hen.” Lupe falls into my arms like she just crossed the Sahara. “You got anything to eat? I’m thirsty, too.”
I chuckle and brush the long red hair back from her face. “I think we can rustle something up.”
She passes inside and I’m left with the two women who have become my aces over the last few years. I pull them both into a hug and relish the scent and feel of unconditional love. I’ve heard people talk about platonic soulmates. These are mine. God said Hendrix will need somebody, and saved the fiercest, sweetest, most badass women on the lot for me. I found them later in life, but I found them and I’m never letting go.
“How you doing, sis?” Yas pulls back and smiles up at me.
“I’m good.” I sniff and swipe my cheeks. “I promise I’m happy to see you. It’s just been… a lot. So much, and I needed that hug more than I realized. Come on inside.”
“I wish we could have been here when your mom was in the hospital,” Soledad says once we enter the living room.