19. Maverick Carter
Chapter nineteen
Maverick Carter
I watch Evie point out different camera settings to Maddie with a smile on my face. It’s halftime, and the Thrashers are winning. But even if they lost, it wouldn’t dim my good mood. Evie has been happy . She was anxious when we first arrived, but over the last two hours she’s grown more and more comfortable.
“Have you even watched any of the game?” Levi asks, a smirk on his face. He’s leaned back in the seat next to me with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Of course I have. I’m just checking on her,” I say, because there’s no point in denying who I was looking at.
My eyes travel to Beckham next, who I’ve also been periodically checking on. He’s with Kayla, who asked Evie not long ago for permission to hold him. I reluctantly gave him up. Evie letting me hold him felt like a victory, and I wanted to soak up the feeling as long as possible. Plus, Beckham really is the cutest baby on the planet. He takes after his mom to be sure.
“Your head has been moving between them like you’re watching tennis instead of football,” Levi says with a chuckle. “They’re both fine, you don’t need to worry so much.”
I don’t know how to explain that I’m not concerned so much as happy for Evie. I love seeing her smile. Her whole demeanor is softer and brighter. I could stare at her all day. But if I said all that, the word that I like Evie as more than a friend would continue to spread. I’d like as few people as possible to find out before Evie. I’m not entirely sure of her feelings for me, and I want to be certain before I tell her.
“I know,” I reply.
“Do you?”
I shoot him a look. “How many times have you looked at Dahlia since we’ve been here?”
He raises a brow. “However many times I want, because she’s my wife.”
I look toward the field again, but Evie is right at the windows with Maddie. So I’m only incriminating myself more. I should have kept my mouth shut. I’m usually much better at that, but I feel defensive when it comes to Evie.
“You know, I grew up with her and Drew too,” Levi says. “I saw how the three of you were. Saw how you always watched out for her. It was as obvious then as it is now.”
I clench my jaw. I’m as appreciative of his detective work as Evie was of mine in New York.
“I don’t know why you’re shutting me out. It’s not like I don’t love Evie. You two would be great together,” he says, making me relax a tad .
“But?” I ask, because the I’m the oldest, listen to me tone he’s got going on implies he has more to say.
“I was just having fun teasing you before you got all up in arms. Should I have a caveat?”
I look at Beckham while thinking of Levi’s question. As much as I care for Evie, this whole situation is less than ideal. She’s healing from her past, in a bad financial position, and has a son. I’ve always wanted to be a father, but starting a relationship with a baby is much different than getting married and her getting pregnant.
“I know it’s not the same, but was it hard stepping in when Dahlia and Jasmine had a life already?” I ask, keeping my voice low. Everyone is fairly preoccupied, but I don’t want any of my other overly observant siblings to get involved.
Levi and Dahlia met on a beach vacation years ago, but ended up parting ways. When they found each other again, Dahlia had lost her parents, and was the sole guardian of her teenage sister, Jasmine. Jasmine is a senior in high school this year, so it’s different than Dahlia having a newborn, but he might still be able to give me advice.
Levi tilts his head to the side, thinking. “It wasn’t as hard as you might think. We had to make sure to communicate a lot, especially once we moved in together. I didn’t want to overstep. I think if you just talk through expectations though, it’s not that difficult.”
I nod, taking in his words. It already feels like boundaries are blurring between me and Evie, which is probably my fault. I’ve been trying to take as much as possible off her plate so she could breathe easier. If we started dating, I’d have to be careful to not take that too far.
“Uncle Mav!” Maddie says as she walks over to me. “Aunt Evie says she’s going to teach me how to use her camera the next time I see her.”
“That’s great, Mad Dog,” I say her nickname with a smile. It’s a slightly ridiculous one, but of course that’s Grayson’s doing.
“I wanted to ask if I could come over after school one day this week to learn.” She’s practically bouncing, and even though she’s thirteen now, her puppy dog eyes are top notch.
“Of course you can. Just ask your mom and let me know what day.”
She smiles big. “And maybe you could pick me up from school on your motorcycle?” She stretches out the words.
I laugh. “That’s up to your mom and dad. I’ve got an extra helmet though.”
She squeals. “Okay, okay, I'll go ask her.”
As soon as she skips off toward MJ, Evie comes and takes the seat on the other side of me.
“She’s got you wrapped around her finger,” she says.
Levi laughs. “She’s got all of us like that. The only people that ever tell her no are MJ and Bash.”
“What about Adrian?” Evie asks.
“He’s done TikTok dances for her,” I say.
Evie’s mouth drops. “ No .”
“Oh yes, he’s done multiple videos with her,” Levi adds before standing up. Without saying anything else, he heads in the direction of his wife and sister-in-law. Now who’s being obvious?
“I have to see this,” Evie says.
Ignoring Levi’s sudden departure, I pull out my phone and open up my camera roll. I don’t do much social media, but Grayson makes sure to send all of the videos to our group chat so none of us miss them. Evie leans against my shoulder to watch the latest one, laughing as she sees Adrian dancing surprisingly well next to Maddie and Grayson.
“I can’t believe my own eyes,” she says with a giggle. I want to play every video on my phone so that she stays like this, but that feels too obvious, which I seem to be the captain of lately.
“Between Juliette and Maddie, the man has gone soft,” I say as I lock my phone.
“He’s always had a soft center, but it’s nice that he has people who help bring it out more.”
Evie’s head doesn’t move from my arm. I have to will myself to breathe normally so she doesn’t know how much this is affecting me.
“How are you feeling?” I change the subject. Maybe she’s sick? I hate to be so pessimistic as to think that’s the only way she’d do this, but I also don’t want to reach too high in thinking it means more than it does.
“A little tired, if I’m honest. But don’t think that means I want to go home early.”
I chuckle at the sass peeking through her voice. “We can leave whenever you want.”
“I know,” she says instead of arguing with me. I feel like Michael Phelps at the Olympics, just getting medal after medal.
We go quiet for a moment. I soak in the feeling of her by my side, while avoiding looking at any of my siblings. I won’t have their knowing looks pop my blissful bubble.
“It’s weird having Beckham be away from me so much,” she says in a low voice, likely so Kayla doesn’t hear.
“That’s understandable. I can go steal him back for you if you want.”
“No, I’m kind of hoping that the longer Kayla holds him the more she’ll want another baby. It can be my revenge on Drew for him surprising me in New York.”
I laugh and she giggles, turning her head into my chest when others look at us. I tentatively wrap an arm around her shoulders.
“What are you two conspiring about?” Drew asks from the row in front of us, suspicion in his eyes though he’s smiling.
“Nothing,” Evie and I say in unison, then laugh some more.
Her laughter is like balloons tied to the burdens of this last week. They begin to float away the more she giggles. It starts to feel like maybe things aren’t as bleak as they seem on the hard days. I know it’s not always going to be like this, but that’s okay. It makes these moments all the sweeter.