Chapter 10
When Turquoise’s grandmother reneged on getting her for the weekend, I was pissed.
I had a whole date planned for Maverick and me, but I couldn’t go.
That wasn’t the first time, so I shouldn’t have been surprised.
Sometimes I felt like she didn’t want my baby around.
She didn’t treat her badly, but she didn’t spend time with her as much as she could have.
At times, I felt like she blamed Turquoise for Bria not being here, but that wasn’t something to put on a baby.
It wasn’t Turquoise’s fault we’d lost Bria.
Not having Bria around was hard for me, too.
I went from being in love and awaiting our baby to becoming a single father in a matter of hours.
It was scary, but I did what I had to do for my baby.
A coworker had two concert tickets that he got for himself and his wife, but they couldn’t go, so I took them off his hands.
I paid him a little more than what he paid for the tickets without him asking, but it was worth it to me.
My father and stepmom were around, so they were able to keep Turquoise for me. She loved going to their house anyway.
After I dropped her off, I went to pick Maverick up, then we headed to the concert.
The lineup for the evening was multiple R&B singers, so the venue was packed.
As I sang along with the person on stage, I noticed Maverick looking uncomfortable. Her eyes bounced around the arena as she hugged her body. I slid up behind her and put an arm around her neck, and the other on her hip.
“Are you okay? You look a little uncomfortable.” I pressed my lips to her ear.
She leaned her head back against my chest and looked up at me. “It’s a little overwhelming in here.”
“Do you want to leave?”
She shook her head. “No. I’ll be okay.”
Her hair was bone straight for the night, so I nestled her under my arm and massaged her scalp. For a moment, she closed her eyes. I felt her body relax against me the more my fingers ran through her hair.
I tilted her head toward me, then kissed her lips. “You will always be safe with me, Maverick. I want you to remember that, okay?”
The music faded into the background as I stared down at her.
I was curious as to what made her so uncomfortable, but I didn’t ask her.
I didn’t want to make her feel any worse than she did.
I did the only thing I knew how to, and that was to tell her and show her that she could feel comfortable around me, no matter where we were.
I gripped the front of her neck and brought her lips to mine. I didn’t give a fuck about the people standing next to us or behind us. The only thing I wanted to do was taste her sweet ass lips. They tasted like cherries from the lip gloss she wore.
My dick pressed against her back, so I had to break the kiss. We hadn’t crossed that line yet, but I was ready to whenever she was.
“You feel better?” I asked after pecking her lips one more time.
“Yes,” she whispered.
She turned around and focused on the performer.
We spent the rest of the time with her in my arms, singing our hearts out to the songs we knew. I wasn’t a great singer, but Maverick didn’t seem to care. She sang along with me and would occasionally giggle. If me being silly kept a smile on her face, I would be that.
The concert didn’t end until a little after midnight, and I hoped Maverick wasn’t ready to part ways because I wasn’t.
“Thank you for tonight,” Maverick said as we walked back to the car. “I appreciate you for not tripping out on me.”
“I have no reason to do that. All I ever want to do is make sure you are good whenever you are around me.”
We made it to the car, and I opened the door for her. There had to be a reason for her to think I would trip over something like that, and I was sure she would share whenever she was ready.
I bit my lip as I watched her slip into the car.
She wore a red dress that stopped in the middle of her thighs, with heels that made her legs look longer than they were.
Maverick was so fucking fine, and I didn’t miss the amount of looks she got from other men and women at the show.
On some real shit, it made me puff my chest out a little, because I had the baddest chick in there.
A lot of the women there could hold their own, but Maverick was on a different level.
At least to me she was. She had to be one of the most gorgeous women I had encountered in life.
“How did you manage to get tickets at the last minute?” Maverick asked when I got into the driver’s seat.
I started the engine, then put my seat belt on. “Someone from work had them, and I needed to make up for the last date we were supposed to have.”
“I wasn’t upset about it, but this definitely made up for it. It was a really good show.”
I pulled out of the parking spot and turned the radio on at a low volume. It was a lot of traffic trying to get out of the arena, but I was in no rush.
“How do you feel being back in your own home?”
“It feels great, but a little scary. I almost didn’t want to go back, but I loved my house before the fire, so I would learn to love it again. I was assured the problem was fixed, so on that end, I should be good.”
I inched the car a little closer to the exit. The car next to us seemed like they were in a rush, so I let them go ahead of me. They didn’t get far, though, because there was still a lot of other people in front of us.
“That’s good. I can imagine how scary that must have been. At least you have your dog now.”
“Yeah, he does provide some comfort. He has his own room but always manages to sleep in mine. I don’t mind it though.” She giggled.
Since her dog was in her room all the time, I assumed it wasn’t anyone else coming around except her friends. Bullmastiffs were known to be protective, and I figured her dog was, even though he liked me right away.
“I know you said you are single, but does that mean that there is no man around at all? Like, it ain’t a nigga that’s going to be upset that I’m bringing you back home after midnight, is it? I’ll fight the nigga if I have to. I just want to be prepared.”
Maverick’s laughter filled the car as she turned her body to face me. My mouth watered as I glanced down at her thighs, as her dress had risen a little.
“No, Onyx.” She giggled. “There is nobody that you have to fight. I would hope I don’t have to ask the same question since you were the one who initiated our dates and conversations.”
It was the perfect moment to tell her about the chick I dabbled with sometimes.
I already told her I had to end things with her, because I wanted things to work out with Maverick and me, and I didn’t need any loose ends to fuck shit up.
She was cool with it and mentioned working things out with her husband.
I wished her luck, but even if it didn’t work, I wouldn’t be around to find out.
“No, there is nobody that’s going to step to you as a woman or no shit like that. The chick I was fucking with, I ended it. Plus, she’s trying to focus on her husband.”
The inside of the car was dark, except for the light from the streetlights, but I noticed when Maverick’s eyes damn near bucked out of their sockets.
“Onyx.” She said my name with a bit of disappointment, and it bothered me a little. “I never imagined you would be messing with a married woman.”
“It wasn’t done on purpose. I didn’t even know at first. Then I continued occasionally.
She’s a cool chick, but it was just something to do when I wanted to fuck.
I ended things with her after our first date.
She wished me well, and we hung up the phone.
There was no need to discuss anything else.
I’m sure she wouldn’t reach out to me, but I blocked her number just in case.
I’m serious about you, Maverick, and I want to see where things go. ”
“I’m not judging you at all. I’m just surprised.”
We pulled up to her house, and I parked.
“I can understand that, but you have nothing to be worried about. Yes, I did it, but I’ve always been faithful in any relationship I’ve been in.”
Cheating wasn’t the right thing to do, in my opinion, but I also understood that not all marriages and relationships were easy to get out of.
Children and finances played a major part in why some people chose to stick out their situations more than others.
For me, I didn’t have to go through any of that stuff.
My past relationships weren’t perfect, but I didn’t stay in one for long if it wasn’t worth it.
“I would hope so.”
“For sure.” I unclicked my seat belt. “Let me walk you to the door.”
Maverick bit her bottom lip as she took her seat belt off. She leaned over the console and ran her fingers through my beard before she grabbed it.
“How would you feel about coming inside?”
I wasn’t sure if it was me or not, but the way she said inside suggested she wanted more than for me to come inside the house.
“I’d come wherever you want me to.”
We shared deep and prolonged eye contact until she let her eyes travel around my face, then smirked.
“Let’s go then.”
I jumped out of the car and quickly made it to her side to help her out. I didn’t plan for the night to go on for too long, but I was excited about the direction it headed in.
My dick was already hard by the time we made it to her front door. Spencer was at the door when she opened it, but she told him to go lie down, and he did.
As soon as he was out of the room, Maverick pushed me against her front door.
In seconds, her warm mouth was on mine. It took me no time to fall into the groove of the kiss. I grabbed her ass and pulled her closer to me. My hands grazed over her ass, then down to her thigh. Goosebumps formed on her hot skin as my fingers traced a line on her leg without breaking the kiss.
Maverick moaned in my mouth as our tongues snaked around each other’s. Her tongue tasted like cherries and vodka.