CHAPTER 26 Everleigh Bradley
Stuck
I feel so much closer to Maverick after our night in Los Angeles, but as the plane touches down back in Vegas, reality starts to set back in.
First of all, the viral video of Penny’s cheating asshole husband is everywhere. I can’t escape it on any social media site, and I hope and pray she deleted all of hers so she doesn’t have to see it.
She texted me her flight information, and she’ll be here with the boys in a few hours.
But aside from that, I can’t help but feel the punch back to reality with where I’m at with Maverick.
We can’t hold hands in public. For all intents and purposes, I’m parading around as his publicist. I’m issuing statements on his behalf, arranging interviews as he gets back to practice this week, and curating his persona to be a little less prickly.
We can’t be together, which makes these intense, strong feelings all the more confusing.
We ride together back to our building, and it’s as the elevator carries just the two of us up to our floor that I say, “When we’re at the Complex or stadium, you should probably still act like you hate me.”
He turns toward me, and he cages me in. He’s so fast that I’m breathless as he grinds up against the front of my body. “But I don’t hate you. I want to fuck you.”
“Same,” I manage to squeak out. “But we need to keep it professional in front of anyone associated with the Aces. My brother included.”
He clenches his jaw with disapproval as his eyes sear down into mine, and the elevator doors open on our floor, forcing us off. This time he kisses me outside my door.
It’s one of those kinds of kisses that makes my toes curl, but I know Penny and her boys will be here any minute. Sammy and Benji don’t know it yet, but their lives are about to be flipped upside down.
I head inside and make sure my place is ready for guests. I have one guest room that really isn’t big enough for a woman and two boys, so I unpack my suitcase in the guest room instead of the master bedroom. This will work fine for a few days.
I get a call from Milton that I have guests, and I tell him to send her up. I wait by my door for her, and I’m surprised when Maverick comes out of his condo, too.
“Pen’s on her way up,” I say.
“I figured when I heard your door open. Can I meet her and her boys?” he asks.
I nod. “Of course. I’m sure they’d love that.”
The elevator doors slide open, and I rush to pull Pen into my arms. She starts to cry, and Maverick correctly assesses the situation.
“I bet you’re Sam, and you’re Ben,” Maverick says, pointing to the two boys.
Sammy narrows his eyes. “Are you a football player?”
Maverick narrows his eyes back. “How’d you know that?”
“My mom said you’re Auntie Ev’s boyfriend,” Sammy says, and Pen pulls back and mouths sorry.
Maverick’s eyes catch mine, and mine are wide with horror. We’re so not there yet, but it’s also the easiest explanation for a child to say he’s my boyfriend since we can’t exactly say he’s the dude I’m currently screwing even though we haven’t defined anything yet.
“No, Sammy, honey. I said he’s the man Auntie Ev is working with,” Penny says, correcting her son.
I laugh. “We work together, and yes, he plays football.”
“Prove it,” Sammy says.
Maverick grunts a little bit of a chuckle. “Come on.” He heads into his condo, and the boys look at their mom, who looks at me.
I nod. “Maverick is great with kids.”
He turns around, and his eyes dart to mine, and they seem to soften just a little. He takes them into his condo, giving Penny and me a minute alone.
“How are you doing?” I ask.
“He didn’t come home last night, so at least there’s that.
He did call to check in this morning like he always does on business trips before the boys go to school, but I didn’t answer.
The boys don’t know anything, but my God, it’s everywhere.
Everywhere. I had to turn my phone off completely because of the number of messages I’ve seen.
I had to redirect our path at the airport when their father was on a television screen making out with some other woman.
I don’t know how to protect them from this.
I don’t know how to protect myself from this.
I just knew I couldn’t be there at home when he got home. ”
“You can stay here as long as you need to,” I say.
“The boys will need to go back to school. I can’t keep them out forever.”
“Then move here,” I say with a shrug.
“Like it’s that easy? Just—” She snaps her fingers. “—move?”
“I did it.”
“And how’s that working out for you?”
I nod toward Maverick’s place. “Not too shabby.”
She cracks a small smile. “I’ll think about it, but I don’t want to make any rash decisions. And besides, enough is going to change for those boys. I don’t need to rip them away from their friends and everything they know, too.”
“Good point. But I’d love to have you here.”
“Aren’t you coming home at the end of your contract?” she asks.
I lift a shoulder. “To be determined.”
Maverick’s door opens, and the boys exit to the hallway.
“He wasn’t lying,” Benji confirms.
“Yeah, we had to believe him when he had like seventy billion Aces shirts,” Sammy concurs.
“I’ll see if I can get you two some Aces swag while I’m at practice tomorrow. Do you want to come watch?” he asks.
They both look at Penny, who looks at me again.
I shrug. “I have an all-access pass. It doesn’t say I can bring guests, but it doesn’t say I can’t.”
“Can we, can we, can we, Mom? Puh-lease?” Sammy begs.
“I got nothing else on the agenda,” she admits. “Let’s do it.”
The next morning, we all head to the Complex, and Maverick participates fully in practice. He’s already game ready, and I can’t help but watch his powerful legs, his concentration, his accuracy as he looks down the field and makes a play.
God, he’s hot.
I’ve banged that dude three times. Lucky me.
The boys are really well-behaved, and there’s a family area inside where they climb for hours on the play structure, and Penny gets some much-needed quiet time of her own.
Thursday and Friday are much the same. I coach Maverick on what to say to the media. I get in touch with Ellie to get started on Maverick’s foundation idea. We go over some of the ideas he wants included in the foundation. We visit the shelter again.
I have long talks with Penny, who needs to get home for the weekend since the boys both have soccer games and they’ve already missed enough.
Some of the excitement around the viral video has died down, though I’m not sure it’ll ever really go away.
Either way, Pen is ready to face it head-on.
While she had her quiet time, she spoke with a lawyer, and she’s headed home armed with divorce papers.
Maverick and I are basically forced to keep things as professional as possible until Friday evening hits. I’m standing in the lobby with Maverick waiting for the elevator, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to pounce as soon as we get upstairs.
And then my phone starts to ring.
I check the screen. It’s Ivy calling.
That sick feeling is back in the pit of my stomach, and I get the distinct feeling I shouldn’t answer, that it’s going to change the course of this evening. But I have to. I need to know what’s going on.
“Ivy?” I answer.
Her voice trembles as she says, “It’s cancer. And it’s worse than we thought.”
I close my eyes as if that’ll end this nightmare.
We always think we have this unlimited amount of time. I’ll get closer with my mom when I move back to Chicago next year. I’ll go with her to her weekly facials. Maybe I’ll get her to do a mani-pedi appointment with me once in a while.
We don’t realize it’s too late until it’s too late.
“How bad?” I whisper, and Maverick’s eyes whip to mine. The elevator doors open, and he ushers me on.
“The PET scan showed all these mets on her bones and—”
“Mets?” I ask. I feel Maverick’s eyes on me.
“Metastases. The biopsy confirmed it started in her breast and has metastasized to her bones.”
“Oh my God,” I murmur, my eyes filling with tears. “So what’s the treatment plan?”
“It’s stage four, and for what she has…there’s not really a cure. It’s just about keeping her comfortable at this point. Maybe giving her some more time,” she says, her voice breaking.
I have a million questions. How’s she doing? How did it get so bad so fast? But I ask the one that seems to press hardest into me. “How long does she have?”
“They don’t know. The doctor said it’s likely a year. Maybe less.”
I feel myself starting to break down at that. How my little sister can hold it together while she tells me this…well, maybe she’s stronger than me.
I’m going to lose my mom in a year or less, and I’m stuck here in Vegas for the next year, stuck with a man I hardly know yet I’m falling for, stuck in a job that will open all sorts of doors for my future.
Just stuck.
“Thanks for letting me know. If there’s anything I can do…” I trail off.
“Yeah. We’re all sort of at a loss. I’m here if you need me,” she says, the little sister taking care of her big sister.
“Thanks, Ivy. Love you.” We don’t say that enough.
“I love you, too.”
We hang up, and as much as I don’t want to break down in front of Maverick, I just worked my ass off to keep it together over the phone with my sister. The second I end the call, the dam bursts.
He pulls me into his chest and holds me, and somehow, it’s exactly what I need. He doesn’t ask questions, doesn’t press. I’m sure he could hear Ivy’s voice telling me the bad news anyway.
We get off the elevator, and he ushers me toward my condo. I unlock the door, and he follows me in. I realize it’s the first time he’s actually been in here.
He doesn’t take the time to look around or see what he can learn about me from my décor. Instead, he sweeps me into his arms and carries me to the couch as if I’m a child, and he sits with me on his lap while I cry into his chest.
This isn’t something I ever wanted to bond with someone over, but I guess we’re both losing our moms, and the sad reality of that feels like a knife through my chest.
And maybe I’m stuck here as we live this new reality, but being stuck here in Maverick’s arms feels a lot better than I ever imagined it would.