Chapter 17
Maverick
It’s frustrating. Not only am I trying to show her how much I care about her, but I'm battling the demons Rob left behind. No matter what I do, it’s more than Rob did and she questions my motives.
I can be a patient man though. I’ve been single for a long time and waiting for her to be ready to take our relationship to the next level isn't an issue. She’s going to be mine one day, she just doesn’t know it yet.
“Hey, baby?” I step into the living room with a refilled glass of wine for each of us and find Sydney’s eyes closed as she lays on the couch with Bree.
“Hmm?” She murmurs without opening her eyes.
“Have you looked outside lately? I think we got over a foot of snow.”
“No,” she groans, shaking her head without lifting it up from the cushion. “I don’t want to deal with this right now.”
“Why don’t you guys stay the night? I’m not comfortable with you driving in this much snow. The weather report says the roads are terrible.”
“Where would we sleep?”
“Well, I have three spare bedrooms. You can each take one. But the last one is messy so you should probably just sleep in my bed.”
She peeks one eye open and I grin at her. I’d love to have her crawl into bed with me and snuggle all night long.
“Did it actually snow or are you just trying to get us to stay?”
“I wouldn’t lie to you, gorgeous. You’re exhausted. I don’t want something to happen to you if you drive home. If you really don’t want to stay here, I’ll drive you guys home in my truck and in the morning I can bring you back here to get your car.”
“That’s such a hassle for you.”
“Nothing’s a hassle when it comes to keeping the woman I love safe.”
The words are out of my mouth before I even know what I'm saying. Sure, we’ve only been dating for about a week, but I’ve been lusting after Sydney for years. Honestly, I think I fell in love with her long before Rob even walked out.
I'm not embarrassed or upset I said the L word, but I'm worried about how she’ll react.
“Don’t say a single word.” I hold up a hand to stop her response. “I’m not looking for you to return the sentiment, but what I said is true. I love you, Sydney. I don’t want anything to happen to you. So, either stay here or I’ll drive you home.”
“We’ll stay,” she whispers without another word.
“This is awesome!” Danny’s smiling ear to ear when I show him my childhood room.
It’s still decorated the same way as when I lived in it. The place is full of baseball decorations and trophies. There are a few bats still resting behind the door and the bottom of the closet is full of my old mitts.
I’ve thought about cleaning this room out and redecorating.
Something to make this look like a spare bedroom and not my childhood preserved for eternity.
The only thing that’s stopped me is all the good memories these items bring to mind.
Every memory makes me think of my parents and that’s not a connection I'm willing to give up.
“This was my room when I was a kid.”
“Really? All of this was yours?” He stares up at me with wide eyes.
“Yup. Every bat and mitt I’ve ever had. I’m sure there’s at least two dozen baseballs hidden around the room and in the closet.”
“I’ve always wanted a room like this,” he whispers as he spins to take the entire space in.
Dad made sure all the rooms were large. He wanted me to have enough space for all of my things to stay in my room. Mom hated clutter in the main areas of the house and I still keep my house the same way.
“Then why don’t you make your room like this?”
“Mom says we can't afford it.” He frowns and drops his gaze to the ground.
I make a mental note to talk to Sydney. If he really wants to redecorate, I’d happily fund it. He’s so excited about this room. Jeez, if I can convince her to move in, he could have this as his bedroom and keep all of my old stuff.
“I'm going to make sure your sister and mom are settled in.”
“Ok.” He settles on the end of the bed and plays with a mitt that was laying on the pillow.
“Hey, Danny?”
“Yeah?” He glances up at me.
“Feel free to explore and look through whatever you want in here. I'm sure you’ll be able to find some cool things.”
“Thanks, Maverick! You’re the best!” He rushes over to me and throws his arms around my waist, giving me a tight hug. I hug him back, loving how comfortable he is around me. I feel like we have a special connection he never had with Rob.
We had a talk earlier about how he needs to treat his mom with respect, even when he doesn’t want to.
We discussed Rob and how Danny feels about everything.
I told him I'm here for him whenever he wants to talk and I'm more than willing to listen.
I want to be his friend, but I also made it clear I won't put up with any sort of negativity towards Sydney.
As soon as Danny releases me and starts opening drawers, I back out of the room and softly shut the door. I spin around to search for Sydney and find her standing right behind me.
“Hey, I was just coming to look for you.”
“You’re so good with him,” she whispers. “He loves you so much.” Her brows tug together and form a deep V.
“I love both of your kids. They’re great and so appreciative of everything.” I close the distance between us and loop my arms around her waist. “How’s Bree?”
“She’s doing a little better. She hasn’t thrown up since before dinner.”
“That’s good. I was worried when I picked her up from school. She looked awful.”
“She wants to tell you goodnight.”
“I’ll be right back then. Whatever the princess wants, the princess gets.” I press a quick kiss to her temple before I head down the hallway to the guest room Mom decorated in soft pinks and purples.
There are flowers galore in this room, mixed with ballerina décor. Mom used to always say since she never had a daughter, she could at least make the guest room girly.
“Hey, how are you feeling, princess?” I take a seat on the bed next to Bree and lean back until my head is on the pillow next to hers.
“I'm ok. My belly still hurts, but I don’t think I'm going to puke.”
“That’s good. I'm not sure how many more clean shirts I have,” I tease her.
“I'm sorry I puked on you.” She wrinkles up her nose in disgust. “And thank you for cuddling with me. You made me feel a lot better.”
“You’re welcome. I liked cuddling. I never have anyone to cuddle with.”
She grins at me, then scoots closer and tugs on my arm. As soon as I extend my arm, she’s cuddling into my side and laying her head on my chest.
“I wish I had a daddy like you. My dad would never take care of me when I was sick or hold me after I puked. He’d just tell me to go to my room and call for Mommy if I was going to get sick again.”
My heart breaks with her words, but I don’t know how to respond without telling her what type of man Rob is. Instead of opening that can of worms, I hold her a little tighter and kiss the top of her head.
“I love you, Maverick,” she whispers softly.
“I love you too, princess. Do you want me to lay with you for a little bit?”
“Could you stay until I fall asleep?”
“Of course.”
I lay next to Bree until her breathing evens out, then I carefully climb out of bed, making sure I don’t wake her up. I’d hate for her to stir and not be able to go back to sleep.
I press a soft kiss to her head and tip toe out of the bedroom. Shutting the door behind me, I glance up and down the hallway, trying to figure out where Sydney could be.
Deciding to try the living room first, I head that way. If she’s not there, I’ll check my bedroom after grabbing us each a glass of wine.
Sydney’s standing in front of the big bay window overlooking the front yard. She has the sleeves of her sweater pulled over her hands and she has one hand up by her mouth. She’s lost in thought and doesn’t hear me coming.
I stop behind her and slip my arms around her waist, plastering her against my chest. She lets out a soft gasp, but doesn’t turn around to look at me.
“Are you ok?”
“Yeah, just thinking.”
“What are you thinking about?”
With my question, she spins in my arms and stares up at me with tears in her eyes. It breaks my heart to see her upset.
“No crying, beautiful.” I swipe my thumbs under her eyes, removing any moisture.
“I'm an idiot.”
“No, you’re not. Why do you think that?”
“Because you’re this amazing man! You keep going out of your way to put me and my children first. All I’m doing is keeping you at arm’s length and that’s the dumbest thing ever! Why aren’t I clinging to you and begging you to marry me?”
“Well, you don’t need to beg me to marry you. I already asked, you just need to say yes.”
“I'm scared,” she whispers, wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her head against my chest.
“I know. I get it, Syd. I'm not trying to push you, but I think we’re really good together. I just want you to keep giving me a chance. I'm not Rob and I'm never going to let you down the way he did.”
“You’re nothing like him and I'm fully aware of that. I think that’s what scares me the most. I expected nothing from Rob and learned to never count on him…
but if I let you in… I could learn to depend on you.
I’d get used to having a partner in life and as a parent.
I'm scared of what would happen if all of that gets torn away from me.”
“I'm not walking away from you. I'm here for the long haul.”
“You can't know that! What if you decide a year from now you hate having us in your life and you don’t want to raise someone else’s kids?”
“That’s not going to happen,” I whisper as I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “I love those kids. They’re so amazing because they have an amazing mother raising them.”
She stares up at me and swallows hard. I know this is difficult, but I want her to trust me. I want her to count on me always being there.
“You promise this isn't temporary? This isn't a fling?”
“Sydney, I think I fell in love with you the first time I met you. I stayed away for years because you were married and I'm not that sort of man, but now you’re free to date whoever you want and I think that should be me. I want you in my life. I want you living in my house and I want to be the father your kids never had in Rob.”
“I think I want that too,” she whispers, swiping at her cheeks again.
“Then let’s stop hiding this. We should let the kids know we’re dating in the morning and give this relationship a real shot.”
“Ok.”
“We’re doing this?” I duck down to meet her gaze. I want to make sure we’re on the same page.
“Yeah, let’s do it.” She grins.
“Good. Then I think it’s bed time. I'm exhausted and I think you should sleep in bed with me.”
“Oh, yeah? And why is that?” She giggles as she takes my offered hand and walks down the hallway towards my bedroom with me.
“Because Bree got to sleep on my chest all afternoon, I think it’s your turn now.”
“Do I get to wear one of your t-shirts too?” She smirks, nudging my shoulder with hers.
“I’d absolutely love to see you in my t-shirt, baby.”