Chapter Seven
Seven
“Hey, honey, how’s the ranch? How is my sweet Maverick?”
“Your bestie is perfect, Mom. It’s been a great day. Joey’s having a blast.”
“I have no doubt,” she responds, and I can hear the smile in her tone.
“We went for a quick ride and just finished swimming in the pond. We’re about to sit down to eat. So I just wanted to tell you we’ll be home a little later.”
“Okay, no rush. Me and Dad went out on a little day date.”
“Hey, Shay-Shay.” My dad’s voice sounds through the phone.
“Is my captain being good to y’all?”
“Yep. Both the Crash Brothers are here, and they’ve shown us a little bit more of ranch life today,” I say, emphasizing the twins’ on-ice nickname.
“Good, tell Beauty he better be on his best behavior,” my dad grunts, trying to act tough.
“What about Cash?” I question him, not missing that he singled out Maverick.
“Cash isn’t the one who looks at my daughter like his next glass of water.”
Oh my gosh.
I hear my mom’s signature laugh in the background, and I wonder if she’s encouraging this or if my dad actually noticed him looking at me like that.
“Okay, on that note, gotta go. I love you both. See you tonight.”
I walk back over to the patio table, ready to finish the sandwich Bellamy made for us.
As I approach, I can’t help but pay more attention to the way Mav watches me.
His eyes trail up my exposed legs to the hem of the oversized T-shirt I threw on over my swimsuit.
My insides melt at the fire and longing in his eyes.
Yep, next glass of water, and not from the tap. More like a tall glass of Perrier.
I shake the thought, pulling my eyes from Maverick. “So that was my parents. I wanted to make sure they knew we’d be here till late today.”
Mav nods and starts to speak, but Joey interrupts him.
“Shay, do you think Mom and Dad will let me get a tattoo like Maverick’s?” my brother asks randomly in between bites of his sandwich.
“Maybe when you turn eighteen,” I say, because I hear the excitement in his tone, but in reality, I know the buzz of the tattoo gun and having to sit still for a stranger probably wouldn’t go so well for him.
“What would you want, buddy?” Mav asks him.
“I want a bison.” Joey beams at Maverick.
This doesn’t surprise me at all. Ever since we took a family vacation to Yellowstone National Park when he was four, he’s been obsessed with all things national parks, especially the animals.
“That’d be cool.”
“Did you know there are over five thousand bison in Yellowstone National Park?”
Mav smirks, tapping his finger on his chin. “I do think a cool guy told me that once.”
“Me. It was me.” Joey’s smile is large and proud, making me chuckle.
Mav nods, brushing his hair out of his face, and it’s the first time it hits me how much longer his hair is getting.
I can’t help but wonder if he’s going to let it keep growing out.
“Yep. But one thing I’ve been wondering, and I know you’re the one who can tell me, what’s the difference between a bison and a buffalo? ”
Buffalo are native to Africa, and water buffalo are native to Asia, whereas bison are the North American Buffalo. Mom and Dad are taking me to Kruger National Park in Africa when I turn eighteen to see the buffalo there.”
I love the smile on my brother’s face as he talks about his dream trip. My parents have taken us to most of the big national parks in the US, and they’ve been planning this one for a while because it’ll be a huge steppingstone for Joey to travel that far.
He rushes out, “And the lions, elephants, rhinos, and zebras.”
“That sounds right up your alley, bud. Maybe I can convince Coach to take me, too,” Maverick responds, causing Bellamy and Cash to snicker from their side of the table.
That lights Joey up even more and has me thinking about my dad’s comment a few minutes ago.
“I’ll tell him, Mav. He’ll say yes.”
“Okay, now back to this tattoo. I think I might have an idea.”
Maverick turns his body toward Bellamy. “Amy, do you still have that set of skin markers?”
It only takes her a split second to answer. “Yep, they’re up in my room.”
I can’t help the smile that slips onto my lips because I see where he’s going with this, and it's going to make my brother’s day.
“Would you mind going to get them once you finish eating? I would offer to go up there, but…” he pauses, looking between his brother and stepsister, “it sounded like y’all were making a mess up there earlier.”
I love the way he’s trying to keep his words PG for Joey.
Cash grunts something under his breath, and Bellamy side-eyes him, taking the last bite of her sandwich before standing up and patting Mav on the shoulder. “Wouldn’t want to traumatize you again now, would we, Rick?”
He looks in my direction with that statement and raises his eyebrows. “Yeah, no, thank you.”
Oblivious to the conversation, Joey interrupts, “What’s your idea, Mav?”
“What if I draw you a tattoo, one that will last a couple of days, but that way, you can see what you think?”
His eyes widen. “Really?”
Mav smiles. “Yep.”
He nods, rocking in his seat on the picnic table. His eyes trail over Maverick’s scattered tattoos as he waits for Bellamy to bring the markers.
“I think I want one like yours,” he says, pointing to the tattoo on Mav’s forearm. It's two C’s back-to-back for Cane Creek with a rope threaded through them in the shape of an R.
“Okay, do you know what it stands for?” Maverick asks him in a soft voice, one I notice he only reserves for Joey and his Gigi.
Joey smiles and nods. “Cane Creek Ranch, one of my favorite places on earth. Not as cool as a national park, but really, really cool.”
Maverick laughs, and I even hear Cash let out a little chuckle from the other end of the table.
Bellamy walks back out with a basket of markers in hand. “Here ya go. Just don’t blame the finished product on my supplies. They can only help the artist so much.” She uses air quotes when she says the word “artist,” teasing Maverick.
Cash chimes in, “Yeah, Joey, just so you know, Maverick isn’t as good at drawing as he is at hockey.”
“I believe in him,” Joey says, beaming at Maverick, and I’m pretty sure he’d believe Mav hung the moon if he told him so.
Mav holds out his fist for Joey. “That’s right, buddy. Give me knucks.” Moving to straddle the bench beside him, he asks, “Okay, show me where ya want it?”
My brother holds out his arm. “I want it where yours is.”
“Perfect.” Mav smiles before biting the black marker between his teeth as he adjusts Joey’s arm.
Why do his lips around that marker look so hot?
“It won’t hurt, will it?” Joey asks innocently. He’s extremely smart, but sometimes it takes him time to connect what’s playing out in front of him.
Maverick shakes his head. “No, buddy.” He smiles reassuringly. “I’d never hurt you.”
My chest squeezes at the care in his tone.
Fifteen minutes later, my brother has a pretty good replica of Mav’s tattoo, and he’s extremely stoked.
We watch an excited Joey show his new artwork off to Bellamy as Cash pushes her on the wooden swing that overlooks the horse barn.
Mav’s voice sounds quiet, even though he’s right beside me, almost like he’s thinking out loud without knowing it. “I love that dude. I hope you know that… I hope he does too.”
“We know,” I whisper, my throat clogging with emotion. I wish everyone treated Joey with the kindness, patience, and friendship that Maverick does.
“He’s the best.”
“He really is.” I smile at my brother, who’s running back over to us now.
“Is it okay if I go help Cash and Bellamy down at the barn?”
I look up to see them standing, waiting for him. “Sure. Remember the barn rules and listen to what they say.”
His long, gangly legs are running at them before I even finish.
“We can go down with him, if you’re worried,” Mav tells me.
I shake my head. “No. I’m trying to work on not being a helicopter sister. This is an opportunity where I know he’s good.”
“In that case, wanna get inked? I’ll draw you a little basketball.” He wiggles his eyebrows, twirling the marker between his fingers.
“Only if I can give you one too?” I stand there with my arms crossed over my chest, appearing more confident than I feel.
He raises an eyebrow at me. “You think I’d give up an opportunity to have those hands on me?”
I roll my eyes, pushing him gently. “Shut up.”
He sits down beside me, and it hits me how close we are when his cinnamon-scented breath flitters across my skin as he draws a simple basketball with the number eleven on it.
“Not bad,” Mav whispers, tracing his thumb over the inside of my wrist. Goosebumps spread across my skin at the contact.
“Yeah, not bad at all.” I smile, admiring the little signature he left under the ball.
“It’s cute. Think you’ll ever get a real one?”
“Probably, but I haven’t given it much thought, and I want to make sure it's something I really want. Something meaningful to me.”
“Makes sense. Some of mine are really meaningful, and others are just whatever I liked that day.”
I take in his scattered tattoos along both sides of his arms. Every year I’ve known him, the ink has grown and grown.
“They all look really good… The ranch one is your newest, isn’t it?”
The smirk on his face grows. “So you have been paying attention to me?”
Ignoring his comment, I wave him off and add, “I’m sure this is one of the more meaningful ones.”
He nods, and that look he tries to hide, but I see it now and again, spreads over his face for a split second before he answers.
“I got it because, even though this ranch may not be my long-term dream like my brother’s, it is who I am to my core.
And it’s the land that not only holds special memories that I’ll never get back, but,” he pauses, and this time there’s no hiding the emotion on his face as he finishes, “it holds my sister in its soil, and because of that, it’ll always be home. ”
My chest tightens as I smile softly at him, looking out at the expansive hills and mountains surrounding his beautiful home. “It’s a beautiful place; there’s something special in the air. I feel it every time I’m here.”
“It’s her,” he says, looking up into the sky.
He’s never opened up this much about their younger sister, who they lost. During all the years of friendship, he has only mentioned it once.
In fact, I only know about the tragedy because Bellamy shared it with me.
So, I stay quiet, wanting him to know I’m here to listen, but not to push him on the topic I know is a very difficult one for him.
“Sometimes I feel her, like a whisper in the wind,” Mav says, and the heartache in his words cuts something deep inside of me.
My sweet and funny Mav is a little broken too.
I squeeze his hand. “I’m sure she’s here then. No wonder this place is so special.”
He smiles, still looking up into the summer sky.
And in an instant, his playful mask is back in place as he asks, “Okay, enough of that, what do you want to do before y’all have to leave?”
I shrug. “Well, it’s only fair I get to give you a tattoo too.”
A full-force Maverick grin takes over. “Hell yeah, Little Moore. Give it to me, babe.”
I pick the marker up from the picnic table. “By the way…I suck at drawing.”
“Even better, at least I know there’s one thing you aren’t good at,” he retorts, and I swear this man is way too good for my ego.
“So where do you think my next tattoo should be?”
“Hmmm,” I say, perusing his body, and my eyes can’t help but land right where his swim trunks ride up, showcasing his thick thighs. There’s no stopping my core from clenching at the sight.
Get it together, Moore.
My eyes jump back up to his, and as soon as I see his smirk, I know he probably sees the drool in the corner of my mouth.
Trying to recover quickly, I say, “I think you need a slutty thigh tat. It would go with all this.” I wave up and down his body.
“Are you saying I’m a slut?” Maverick fakes a gasp.
I purse my lips and raise my eyebrows. “I mean, if the shoe fits, Leblanc.”
“I’ll be a slut for you, Little Moore.”
I hold my hand up playfully. “Alright, alright. I need you to calm down, sir. I have to get into my creative headspace.”
Really, I’m sweating and trying to think about what to write on his beautifully thick…thigh. And now I’m thinking, or more like imagining, how thick something else is.
Stop.
Divert.
Roadblock.
Friendzone.
Okay, back on track. I think for another minute, and then it hits me exactly what he needs right there. So, in my prettiest cursive, I write his newest nickname.
Beauty with a red rose on the end for good measure.
“Do you get the red rose addition?” I look up at him through my lashes as I finish coloring in the rose. His eyes burn into me, and I feel it on every inch of my skin.
Why is his presence all of a sudden so intense for me?
“Yes, I grew up with a younger sister, so I’ve seen all the princess movies. That was actually one of my favorites.” His words are laced with emotion I haven’t heard from him before. It makes my closeness to him feel even more magnetic.
I bite my lip and realize my free hand is digging into his other thigh, holding myself in place. And shit, I can see the bulge in his swim trunks now. A freaking huge bulge. Practically prying my eyes away before I embarrass us both, I snap out of it and back up.
Standing, I rush out, “Now we’re both inked up, let’s go show Joey. I know we need to leave soon, too.”
I swear I see a hint of redness on Mav’s cheeks before he replies, “Okay, you go ahead; I'm going to check on something before I head down.”
I nod, but I can’t help but wonder if that’s code for “going to fix my hard-on.”
And I also can’t help but wonder what a vision that would be.