Chapter 15
I was officially a taken woman, and now, when men tried to stop me while I walked my dog, I was quick to tell them I had a boyfriend. It had been a long time since I was able to utter those words.
Just the thought of Onyx made my heart beat faster and a smile spread across my face.
He had been perfect, and I enjoyed getting to know little Miss Turquoise as well.
I told Onyx plenty of times how good of a father he was to her.
With the help of a nutritionist, Onyx had been finding new things for Turquoise to try, and she’d been doing so much better.
Spencer liked having her around because she always played with him, even though he didn’t like to play for too long.
He especially enjoyed playing fetch with her in the backyard.
The people I got him from trained him well, because he knew that he couldn’t jump on her or be rough with her like he did sometimes when he and Onyx played tug-of-war.
Most of the time, he liked to cuddle with me while I watched television.
If there were such a thing as a perfect person, it would be Onyx.
He listened to me when I talked about my patients and didn’t care that some of the stories were nasty.
Some conversations with my patients weren’t for the faint of heart.
I didn’t have to worry about filling my car up with gas or any type of maintenance work on it, because Onyx handled it all.
I no longer had to take out my trash or cut my grass, because Onyx took care of it.
Onyx was the manliest man I had dealt with in a long time.
I loved having him around, and I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.
Not to mention the man put me through the mattress every single time we had sex.
There was always a perfect combination of fucking and making love.
Onyx also liked to talk me through each orgasm.
I visibly shook just thinking about the way he would whisper in my ear about how well I took the dick.
Or when he gripped the front of my neck and buried his dick as deep as he could inside of me.
Not to mention that he kept dark chocolate and oranges at his place for me whenever I stayed the night.
The sound of my phone brought me out of my thoughts of Onyx. My face lit up when I saw it was him calling.
“Hello.”
“What’s up, Miss Maverick? Were you busy?”
The deep tenor of his voice made my body shiver.
I lowered the volume on the TV so I could focus on Onyx.
“No, just sitting here watching a movie with Spencer.”
“I hate to do this, but I need a favor.”
I sat up because his tone changed and had me on high alert. Onyx never really asked me for anything, except when I was free or when I was coming over. For him to ask for a favor meant it was something important.
“What do you need?” I twirled a couple of strands of hair in my fingers.
“Turquoise has this ice cream social at her school, and unfortunately, I can’t make it. We were down a person, so I was asked to stay. I totally forgot about the social until I checked the calendar. Normally, I would ask my pops or Sharon, but they are both busy.”
“Um, okay. Is it just her class? Or?”
I closed my eyes and prayed it was just the class, but a social sounded like it would be the whole school, and the thought made my pulse quicken.
“It’s the whole school. She was so excited about it when I dropped her off this morning, and I feel bad that I can’t be there. I understand if you can’t go.”
Closing my eyes again, I inhaled a deep breath, then exhaled a couple of times.
As a kid who had both parents, I knew how important it was to have parents, or at least a family member, show up at school events.
There wasn’t a single event that I had at school where at least one of my parents didn’t attend.
With that being said, I knew what I had to do.
“I can go.” Inwardly, I groaned, but I tried to make my voice as cheerful as possible.
“Thank you, baby. I appreciate you more than you know.” The sound of the fire alarm blared in the background. “I have to go, but I’ll text you the information as soon as I get on the truck. Thanks again.” Multiple people could be heard shouting behind him, as the alarm continued to blare.
Before I could respond, he hung up. I didn’t take it personally because I knew duty called.
A couple of minutes later, the message came through with the information for the ice cream social, along with Onyx telling me that he had already informed the school that Turquoise could only have gluten-free ice cream.
I was glad he did, but I would double-check with them when I got there, to be on the safe side.
Since I had a little over an hour to get to the school, I took Spencer for a walk around the neighborhood, then got dressed for the day.
I didn’t have plans on going anywhere, so I’d been in my pajamas the whole day after I showered this morning.
I was sure Onyx hadn’t been able to tell Turquoise it was me that was coming and not him, so I hoped she wouldn’t be too upset when she saw her father wasn’t there.
My eyes scanned the school’s parking lot when I arrived and felt nauseous by the number of cars that were in it.
How could so many people show up for an elementary school event in the middle of the week?
I knew people would come, but didn’t anyone work?
I drove around until I found a spot in the back of the parking lot.
Once I turned the car off, I pulled down the visor and inspected my appearance.
I wasn’t Turquoise’s mother, but as a reflection of her father and somewhat of a guardian in her life, I needed to look presentable.
After I applied a fresh coat of lip gloss, I fixed my ponytail, then gave myself a pep talk.
“You can do this, Maverick. It’s just a bunch of kids eating ice cream. How bad could it be?”
By the looks of the full parking lot, it could get really bad. I checked the time on my phone, then tried to shake the nervousness out of my hands and got out of the car.
I took deep breaths as I made the trek across the parking lot. The sun was out, but it was a little windy, but it didn’t stop the heat that I felt in my chest. The closer I got to the door, the hotter I felt.
From the outside, I could hear all the kids screaming. I adjusted the strap on my crossbody bag and pulled the door open.
As soon as I entered the building, the screaming got louder, and it was mixed in with the chatter of the adults.
I was conflicted, but I knew I couldn’t let Turquoise or her father down. I entered the gymnasium where the main event was being held and scanned the crowd for Turquoise. It took me a moment to find her, but when I did, I walked over to the table she was at.
Turquoise ran to me at full speed. “Miss Maverick! What are you doing here?” She glanced behind me. “Where’s my dad?”
I bent down to her level so she could hear me.
“Your father had to work late, but he sent me here in his absence. Is that okay?”
“Yes!” She clapped her hands, then grabbed my hand.
I laughed and followed her around the room to the different tables.
She made sure to tell each person that she could only have gluten-free ice cream.
So she didn’t feel left out, I got whatever flavors she got.
Kids could be weird sometimes, and I didn’t want anyone to make her feel bad for being a little different.
I wasn’t sure how long Onyx would be because he sent a message saying they were trying to find a different replacement, but I had already decided I would fix dinner at his house. I didn’t want Turquoise’s schedule to be thrown off.
When we left the school, Turquoise and I drove to their house.
“I’m glad you came today,” she said as we entered the house.
“I’m glad I did too.” I managed not to overly panic at the number of people there. Turquoise was too young to understand what would have happened if I had had a panic attack.
“Can I have chicken nuggets?”
I pretended to think about it, but Onyx had already told me she could have chicken nuggets and fries for dinner.
“You sure can.” I tapped her cute little nose. “Go wash your hands while I get it ready.”
“Okay.” She ran out of the kitchen, and I put the food in the air fryer.
Once Turquoise was set up at the table with her food, I made something different for Onyx and me.
After dinner, I put Onyx’s food in the microwave, then helped Turquoise get ready for the night.
The teachers probably knew the kids would be no good after all the ice cream, so there was no homework.
Turquoise and I got comfortable on the couch, once she was cleaned and the kitchen was back in its original state. I didn’t worry about Spencer because I texted Kayla to go by and check on him on her way home from work.
The day didn’t turn out as bad as I thought it would.