Chapter 48 #3
On the way to meet my friends, both of our phones started blowing up. Upon opening my phone, I had to admit I was surprised that I was even on this group text.
Maverick
Hey all, I need help. This is last minute, but this is the SOS to end all SOSs.
I’m coming home for my girl. There’s no way I can live without her, and I’m coming to win her back.
I am flying in tomorrow morning, and here is my ideal plan.
Can someone get her out of Grá around noon?
When she’s out, I want to come in and hang something I made behind the counter.
Hopefully, my grand gesture will open the door to her forgiveness.
I’m not expecting it from her or any of you right away (looking at you, Jules), but I can’t do this life without her. Are you in?
Bennett
About time.
Murphy
Let’s. Fucking. Go.
Maeve
Thank God, Maverick. Tell me when you want her out, and Tucker and I will take her to see a dog we’re looking at.
Jules
Hope your grand gesture is grand, Maverick. Though I think groveling and an apology would be better than just hanging something.
Maverick
There’ll be plenty of that, don’t worry, Jules.
Audra
I’m glad to read this, Maverick.
After everyone responded, I took my turn.
Donovan
Good luck, man. If the thing you’re hanging is anything like that counter, I can’t wait to see it.
That was the truth. Maverick was an extraordinarily talented man, and I couldn’t wait to see what he had concocted.
Maverick
Thanks, guys. This means the world to me. You all mean the world to me. I’m an idiot. Cora Clarke is my damn world.
Not a minute later, Audra’s phone rang. Before she answered, I saw Jules’ name flash. I touched her wrist gently and looked at her.
“Remember, no spilling the beans on Maeve.”
She nodded at me. As if she knew what was coming, she answered the phone on speakerphone.
“Hey Jules, you’re on speakerphone with Donovan here next to me.”
“Hi, lovebirds. Any chance that the two of you are still here in New York?
“Actually, we are! We switched to a later flight,” Audra said.
“I’m in a bind,” Jules began. “My flight doesn’t leave until Sunday, but I don’t want to miss this. Even if it’s just to instill the fear of God in this man, that if he ever does something like this again, I will kill him.”
We laughed, but there was an undercurrent of seriousness there.
I piped up before Jules or Audra could continue, “Come with us. The plane is leaving around 6:00 p.m. Can you make that work? Or rather, can you make it to my place by 4:00, and we can drive together?” Well, that was a wonderful surprise.
I was glad the man came to his senses. Hopefully, he made peace with whatever demons he had to.
“That’s what I was just going to ask. Yep, I can make that happen. Thank you, Donovan. Shoot me your address and I will be there with bells on at four.”
Continuing our afternoon, we pulled up to Arvaci, and the two of us were the last to arrive.
Walking in felt like a page from my past. It smelled the same, looked the same, hell, the guys were even in our favorite booth.
The three of them stood up to hug me, but it wasn’t a pat on the back and move-along obligatory hug.
Each embrace took a little longer than normal, each of us expressing our own apologies for how things had unraveled.
I couldn’t believe it. I thought they’d be resentful of me pulling away, but no, it turns out that every one of us felt the weight of our missteps.
After Audra was introduced, we sat down, and it was like no time had passed. Social media told me they were fine, but from across the table, I could feel their happiness and peace. The one I had only recently found.
My girl sat and mostly took in the tales of our youth.
There were so many laughs we shared, so much mischief, and so much adventure.
We really did take advantage of the opportunities we had.
Reminiscing with those men was a balm for my soul that I didn’t know I needed.
I squeezed her leg under the table because it meant the world that she was there next to me.
Every situation that passed in New York gave me the opportunity to appreciate her deeper.
Did she care about the silly thing we did a decade ago?
No. But you wouldn’t know that based on the way she was invested in the conversation.
When it was time to leave, each of them commented on how wonderful she was, and how happy they were for me. I was on cloud fucking nine.
We didn’t have time for anymore sightseeing because we stayed at the coffee shop longer than anticipated. Audra assured me it was okay because we could always return.
Back at the apartment, we barely enough time to pack before Jules arrived.
I had a very different plan in mind for our return journey, but it ended up being a short flight where we kept our clothes on, but laughed our asses off.
It had been a whirlwind couple of days, but when we landed, it wasn’t even a question of where Audra would be going for the evening.
It was just assumed she’d be with me, and I loved that.
I took that as the most telling takeaway from the weekend.
We collapsed on the bed and cuddled briefly before falling into a deep, cozy, comfortable sleep.
The apology, or what they were calling Reveal 2.
0, could not have gone better, and I teared up at Maverick’s declaration of love for Cora.
So much of what he said paralleled what I felt for Audra, who was full-on crying.
How crazy was that? The intensity of their relationship mirrored ours, so maybe the depth of my feelings for her weren’t completely insane.
Granted, they had a history when they were kids, which Audra and I didn’t, but still, I felt his words deep in my soul.
I wondered if the woman next to me was thinking the same thing, too.
I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her next to my body.
When it was apparent that they were going to be just fine, the mood changed from suspenseful to joyful.
The twins pulled out drinks, cake, and music, and the night became a celebration.
I looked around, and my heart was overflowing.
This was exactly where I was meant to be in this life.
At one point, Audra and I were dancing, and I saw Theo looking in the window.
Audra’s back was to him, so she had no idea he was there.
I bent down and gave her a deep, sensual kiss.
It was the equivalent of me marking my territory.
When she pulled away, she was laughing and smiling, still none the wiser that he was there.
I glared at him and hoped that he could hear me loud and clear.
She was mine now, fucker. With the whirlwind of everything that had happened over those past few days, I hadn’t given him much thought, but I was going to have to figure out what to do.
This shit was simply not going to continue.
He walked away, flipping me off, but that night was not the night for worrying about him. She was coming back to my place anyway.
As we were wrapping everything up, Audra jumped up into my arms. “Take me home,” she whispered into my ear.
At that exact moment, I wished we had our mystery driver from the night before, but I got us home just fine.
By the time I got out of the bathroom to seduce my girlfriend, she was fast asleep in the cloud bed.
She looked like a literal angel, and I sent a thank you to the heavens for what it had given me.
I never believed peace was something I’d get to claim—it always felt out of reach. But seeing her there, tangled in my sheets, I understood what it meant to belong somewhere, and I belonged with her.