Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Jo
I hated talking about this because I was young and naive when it happened, and I swore I would never be that girl again. But if I had any hope of making Maverick understand why a relationship wasn't in the cards for me, then I needed to explain.
"What happened your freshman year?"
"Preston Barrett's what happened."
"You're going to have to give me more than that."
Of course I was going to, but I didn't have to like doing it.
"Preston Barrett was my boyfriend my freshman year. I guess boyfriend was a loose term, considering I didn't know until later on that he had a different girl for every day of the week. I fancied myself in love and was planning our future together."
Okay, maybe not that many but it sure felt like it.
"So he broke your heart."
"Obliterated it is more like it. I gave the man my virginity, and in return he called me an easy whore who spread her legs too quickly. That any guy with half a brain could fuck me because I was in desperate need of attention."
I could still hear his words like it was yesterday. I swore that day that no man would ever have the same control over me again. And they hadn't because I never screwed a man more than once until I met Maverick.
"Is that why you have so many rules before you have sex with someone?"
"That's exactly why. I needed to make sure no man could ever hurt me again. It was hard to do, so I refused to learn their name or let them have anything besides my body."
"You took control of your destiny."
"Damn right, I did. If men can screw around, then so can a woman. I'm no different from any man who randomly picks up a woman at a bar. Men just look at me differently because women aren't supposed to be that way according to them."
"So why was I different?"
I gave him an exasperated look and threw my hands in the air. "I have no idea. I've always chalked it up to amazing sex and nothing more. I figured if I didn't think about it too hard, it wouldn't matter because at the end of the day, I walked away."
Now I couldn't walk away because for the rest of my life I was going to be tied to him due to the baby I was carrying.
"Well, I'm glad to know you enjoy the sex."
Maverick gave me a cocky smirk, and I was tempted to kick him in the shin. It was a childish response, but I wasn't feeling very mature at the moment.
"Don't look at me like that. You know damn well how good you are in the sack. You don't need me to boost your ego."
"No, I don't need it, but it's nice to hear every now and then."
"Well, don't get used to it because you're not getting sex from me ever again."
That was probably a big fat lie. Maverick was hard to resist on a good day, and I had a feeling things were about to get complicated real fast.
Maverick had the nerve to shrug. "That's fine with me. I'm just happy to be in your and the baby's life."
Well, wasn't he just Mr. Damn Perfect for saying that. It was sickening how sweet he could be. No wonder I never hung around after sex. With words like that, a woman could easily find herself falling for the man.
"What about you?" If I had to confess my life, then so did he.
"What about me?"
"Why did you never get married?" I mean he was a catch and any woman––besides me––would be lucky to have him.
Maverick merely shrugged like it was no big deal. "I never wanted to. I was career military, and that was fine with me."
I felt like there was more to that story, but I didn't get the chance to ask him because his phone rang.
"Sorry, it's Nolen. I have to take this."
I watched as he walked out the front door, and for a second, I wondered what it would be like if I actually let myself be with a man like Maverick for more than just sex.
No, not someone like Maverick but Maverick himself.
If anyone would be a good husband to me, it would be him, and I was sure he would make an amazing father.
Too bad I was too messed up to allow that to happen.