Chapter 14 Thea
The last time I woke up next to a sexy, snoring Maverick Walker, I made a beeline for the door.
This time, I woke up with a strange feeling in my heart, like I didn’t want to leave, so I decided I wouldn’t.
Last night had been a fucking dream. Every time I thought he couldn’t get any better, he blew my expectations out of the water.
I got up to get into the shower. It was a beautiful shower made of stone. I saw several bottles of hygiene products and they all looked manly. I had to check, just like I had looked at the toothbrush holder by the sink. You can’t ever be too careful.
The water cascaded around me and it felt so good.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I didn’t want to think about it.
I just wanted to be in this cabin away from all of the skeletons banging at my closet door.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t hear Maverick come into the bathroom.
I just felt his arms wrap around me from behind.
Leaning into his embrace, he dropped a kiss on my lips.
“Almost thought you ran out on me again,” he said with his arrogant ass smirk. “I’m never going to live that down, huh?”
“Nope,” he quipped. “But I know a few ways you can make it up to me,” he said, and I yelped as his hand reached down to play with my pussy.
For the next hour, that’s exactly what I did.
I made it up to him in the shower, in his bed, and now on the kitchen counter as we waited for the bacon to finish cooking.
Judging by the state of the bacon an hour later, I’d done exactly that. Finally taking a break so he could add eggs to a pan, I took a moment to look around his house. The living room was stunning, and it made me curious to know who decorated it.
On top of the fireplace were several pictures.
I noticed one with Maverick and Jane standing by a man I assumed to be his father.
They were smiling in front of a lake with a beautiful cabin behind them.
There were also multiple photos of him and various brothers from the club, including my own.
I noted how happy Davien looked as he was laughing around a bonfire with his friends and holding a beer.
One photo caught my eye. It was a photo of what looked like Maverick as a young child. He was standing by a blonde-haired girl who looked nearly identical to him and another boy who had a dark complexion.
“Who’s in this photo with you?” I asked, calling out to him from over my shoulder.
“Which one?” he asked and quickly jogged over. A smile crept on his face. “That’s my sister Tellie and my best friend Cage.”
“Sister?” There was still so much I didn’t know about him, but I couldn’t be mad when I was also hiding so much. “I should’ve known, you two look just alike.”
“She’s my twin,” he said with pride in his voice.
“How come I haven’t met her?”
“It’s kind of a long story, but she left town when we were 18,” he sighed. “She hasn’t been back since. Or even called. Our family took it hard, so we try not to bring it up so much anymore.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, wrapping my arms around his back. “It must be hard to have lost your twin like that.”
I felt for Maverick. While Dav and I didn’t talk every day, he was still such a huge part of my life. I couldn’t imagine never speaking to him again.
“I can’t wait to take you here and for you to meet my pops,” he said, obviously changing the conversation. “We have a family lake house and it’s the perfect fishing spot. My parents practically live there. Well, when my ma isn’t too busy in everyone’s business.”
We both laughed. Jane definitely loved sticking around the club when she could, so she could keep an eye on things.
“I can’t wait to meet your dad, but fishing?” I said with a scrunched-up nose. “That can wait.”
He turned around to face me and planted a kiss on my lips.
“You know,” he said, “this is the first time this place has ever felt like home.”
I smiled. “Why is that?”
“Just your presence is calming,” he said, nuzzling my neck. “I’ve never brought a woman here before, and I’m so glad I waited until I found you, Thea.”
Before I could respond, the smoke detector began to beep, and Maverick groaned as he pulled out of my embrace. I apologized for distracting him, but started to laugh as I watched him take the pan off the burner, the smell of burnt eggs and bacon filling the house.
“How about we eat breakfast at the clubhouse?” I nodded, still laughing at the disaster of breakfast, and he wasted no time finishing what he started.
***
We pulled into the clubhouse around 2 p.m. He got off his bike and I followed.
Walking in, there were people spread all around the common room, but I ignored them.
I saw Serena and Anna sitting at the table in the corner.
I looked up at Maverick and he gave me a knowing nod.
Before I walked off, he said, “We’re leaving around 11 tonight.
I got church and then I got to handle some business in town. You good?”
I nodded at his words. He caught me off guard when he grabbed me and planted a dramatic, passionate kiss on my lips and I heard some hollering and cheers around the clubhouse.
I knew he did that on purpose, asshole. I shoved him off and gave him the finger and he laughed at me as he pretended to grab his chest in pain.
Turning away, I started making my way towards Serena and Anna and the looks on their faces said it all. “Don’t,” I bit out and pointed at both of them. “We can go upstairs and talk about it if you promise not to do that loud ass squealing shit.”
They both tried to contain their excitement and dragged me upstairs to my room.
“Okay, so you and Anna are going to Jynx tonight to see if anyone tries to sell you drugs?” Serena questioned me.
I had spent the last hour or so giving them the lowdown of my date last night.
I wasn’t going to lie, I thought things were going to be awkward between me and Serena, but if she was mad at me, she didn’t give it away.
Anna also told me that she didn’t think Maverick had ever brought a girl to his house before and that I was, in fact, the first girl to be on his bike.
Not that I didn’t trust his words, but it was nice hearing someone else confirm them.
I was starting to like them both and that thought pained me because I had more people that I was going to miss when I inevitably had to leave.
“Yep,” I said. “I think you’d come with us if it weren’t for,” I let my words trail as my eyes made contact with her huge stomach. We all laughed. “Don’t worry, ladies. I’ll be fine as long as you give me all of the juicy details!”
“I can’t believe that Bane asked you to be his,” Anna said.
“Well, I’m not sure if that counts seeing as he was about to fuck me silly. I think that was the sex talking”
The girls both gave each other a knowing look and I cocked my brow at them. “Sweetheart, he just kissed you in front of the whole club after he dropped you off from a ride on the back of his bike. That’s the biker equivalent of him peeing on your leg.”
I laughed at Serena’s words, but I also let them soak in. Maybe last night was more than just us getting wrapped up in the throes of sex.
***
I looked in my bathroom mirror and I saw old Thea again.
I was wearing a red sequined dress that hugged my curves while showing skin but covered it with sheer fabric, matched with my suede kitten heels.
I decided to go with silver jewelry to tone down the red dress and my hair was in loose beach curls across my back.
I sighed. I never liked this version of me, so prim and proper. It was how I grew up, but there had been a darkness in me since my parents died that had kept me from feeling like I really fit in with the high-society life that my brother wanted me to be in so badly.
Anna walked out of the bathroom in awe. “I make one hot stuck-up bitch!” I laughed at her words.
“Sorry, I know these are your clothes, but damn girl. You got great taste and this dress looks like it is worth more than my car payment.”
“It is,” I teased. I helped her adjust the straps on her dress. She was wearing a halter-top style dress that was silver and sparkled. It was form-fitting and she looked like the dress was hand stitched just for her. “You look beautiful,” I smiled, but it didn’t reach my eyes.
“You okay, T?” I shook my head. “Yes, let’s go buy some coke!” I shouted and she laughed. We made our way downstairs and Maverick, Crash, Hollywood and my brother were waiting on us. I once again heard whistles and I rolled my eyes.
Hollywood looked like he was getting ready to throw up. I glanced at Anna just as she noticed, and her eyes dimmed.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Crash said as he looked at his sister. “Remember, I’m 23,” Anna quipped.
Maverick walked over to me and whispered in my ear, “If someone touches you, I might go to jail.” And I laughed, knowing that he was completely serious.
A few hours later, Anna and I were sitting at the bar at Jynx, the same place I had met Maverick.
The boys had gone through the plan with us, and it wasn't Mission: Impossible or anything. It was simple. They would get to the club before us to not look suspicious. When we would arrive, they would already be sitting across the bar, and we’d also sit at the bar and basically just look pretty and expensive.
Easy work, and this time my drinks were free.
Leaning down to speak to Anna, I said, “What was up with Hollywood earlier?” She gave me a look like she had been caught. “It's nothing. Don’t worry about it,” she shot back.
I nodded, not wanting to push her further and make her uncomfortable.
I ordered another drink and just let the crowd take over.
We small talked and joked as our buzzes got stronger.
From the corner of my eye, I saw someone quickly walking towards us and I almost dropped my drink when I realized who it was. It was Chase.
“I would have called you but Marcus took my phone,” he said as he pulled me in for a hug. It felt good to be near my best friend again. “He tracked your location and I couldn’t tell him not to come. He’s behind me.” And sure enough, I looked behind Chase and there was Marcus and he looked fuming.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Thea?” He shouted at me.
“And what the fuck are you wearing?” he shouted as he took in my outfit, which was hardly revealing.
Marcus looked the same. He was about 6’5” with dark brown hair.
He looked like Jacob Elordi in a Nate Jacobs kind of way and definitely not a Noah Flynn type of way.
I made the mistake of looking over at the boys and they were heading over here.
Marcus caught them walking over this way, too, and he scoffed.
“You come with them? You fucking around on me?”
“Don’t make a scene,” I said. “I’m here with my brother,” I said, pointing to a very pissed off Davien. “Since when have you had a brother, Thea?” he said accusingly. He had to be high because his anger seemed over the top for a man who’s been screwing my best friend.
“Since always, numbnuts. Do we have a problem?” I heard my brother say from behind me. I turned around and made eye contact with a very pissed off Maverick. I knew I had to de-escalate the situation before this turned ugly.
“No, we don’t have a problem,” I responded before Marcus could say something smart. “If you want to go outside and talk about this, we can, but don’t cause a fucking scene. You know I can’t stand that shit.”
“Fine,” he said and started making his way towards the door. “I’ll be back inside in a minute,” I said to the group. Maverick didn’t say anything, he just looked pissed off and I didn’t know what that meant.
As I headed outside, my eyes met Bridgette’s. I can’t believe he brought that bitch with him. I didn’t even acknowledge her presence and kept walking by. I saw the hurt flash in her eyes and I couldn’t help but smile.
Fuck. This night turned into a mess.