Chapter 9
nine
EZRA
I watch Maverick leave, using every ounce of willpower I have to let him.
I knew anger was a possibility, but I was hoping for a happier reunion.
And when he was touching me, I thought I had it.
I thought I had the love of my life back.
You’d think I’d know better by now. Luck has never been on my side.
“Don’t go after him,” Willa says, her voice low and menacing. I look at her over my shoulder. I expected her anger. She trusted me as Ben, her husband’s best friend. Now she knows I deceived him, too.
“I won’t. Not yet.”
Willa grabs my shoulder and pulls me around to face her.
“Not now and not ever. You will give him space, and if he decides he wants to speak to you, he will.”
“I have to,” I say, looking down at my feet. Willa’s stare is full of judgement. While earned, it’s still hard to face.
“How about instead of chasing down the man you left heartbroken, you go find your brother? You know your twin? The one that was so destroyed by your disappearance he turned to alcohol to cope and almost ruined his entire life? Or are you too much of a selfish bastard to remember or care about him?”
Her words cut like a knife. It’s not that I don’t love and miss Kai, but the moment Maverick walked into this room, I forgot anyone else existed.
He’s always been that for me. The center of everything.
My reason for everything. I just need a chance to explain that to him.
Willa is right, though. Today is not the day to do that.
“I have to go.” It’s all I can manage before turning and walking out the door. I pause with one foot in the room and the other in the hallway, my back still to Willa and Declan. “Will you give them my number?”
“I’ll give them the option,” Willa says. I nod, knowing it’s the best I can ask for.
I want to keep my head down on the way back to the hospital’s parking garage, but I’ve spent the last eight years looking over my shoulder and being very aware of my surroundings.
I won’t stop now. It’s how I manage to dodge my brother and Belle as they make their way back to Declan’s room.
I need to speak with them both, but I’m still too raw from Maverick’s reaction and would crumble if Kai reacted the same way.
I can’t afford to break. Not yet. Not until all of this is over.