Chapter Twenty-Nine
Twenty-Nine
A Few Weeks Later
“Wanna go for a ride?” Maverick asks as we walk out of Gigi and Papaw’s house, after inhaling the best meal of my life, in honor of Bellamy’s rodeo later tonight.
“Yes, I love seeing your cowboy side.” I smile.
He reaches between us, taking my hand in his. “Eighty percent dumb jock, twenty percent cowboy, but one hundred percent your man.”
Laughter rolls out of me, but my chest warms at his claim. “Oh my gosh, you are too much.”
Mav pulls me into him, nuzzling behind my ear. “You know you love it.”
Yes, I do.
I turn in his arms and decide to say something that’s been on my mind a lot lately.
“I do love it… Can I tell you a secret?” I ask him, my voice full of the emotion I feel for this man.
On my tiptoes, I lean in and whisper in his ear, “I’m so in love with you, Maverick Leblanc.
I love every single thing about you. Even your silly jokes. ”
He stares at me, his kind eyes boring into mine. But he surprises me when he steps back, a huge smile taking over his face before he cups his hands around his mouth and shouts as loud as he can. “SHE LOVES ME. THE GIRL OF MY DREAMS LOVES ME.”
Then he’s gently tackling me to the ground, somehow making sure I land on top of him as I giggle the whole way.
Maverick takes my face in his hand. “I love you, more than every blade of grass in this field, more than hockey, more than breathing, more than anything. Thank you for letting me love you.”
Leaning down, I press a kiss on his lips. “Thank you for not giving up on me and for loving me so genuinely. So fully.” I kiss all around his face as he holds me tight, his smile bright as ever. “No one could ever love me the way you do.”
“GET A ROOM,” echoes across the field, and I bury my face in his neck.
“Oh my gosh. Was that your papaw?” I whisper.
He leans up on his elbows, looking over my shoulder. “Yep, he and Gigi are staring at us from their porch.”
Mav lifts me up, standing us both back on our feet.
Cupping his hands around his mouth again, he shouts, “SHE LOVES ME.”
As if on cue, Rocky Balboa cock-a-doodle-doos from where he’s strutting in front of Gigi and Papaw’s porch.
Mav scoffs, “Damn bird always trying to steal the spotlight.”
I bite my lip and shake my head.
Giddy. Every day I’m with this man.
Gigi jumps up, clapping her hands in excitement. Papaw slings his arm over his wife’s shoulder and shouts back, “That’s good, Son, real good.” Before yelling at the rooster that hasn’t stopped crowing.
We wave goodbye to them again, and Mav turns. “Jump on,” he says, pointing to his back.
I hop on, loving that he’s so huge, my 5’9” athletic frame doesn’t faze him in the slightest.
Once we make it to the barn, it’s so much quieter than normal since Bellamy, Cash, and their parents just left to head to the rodeo for check-in.
“Do you feel comfortable riding with me?” he asks, gesturing to his horse.
“Of course,” I say without hesitation. The thought of Maverick’s hard body nestled close to mine in a saddle has me all kinds of excited.
“We’re going to go on a difficult trail, so I’d rather you ride with me on Roman. He knows the trail well.”
I nod eagerly, excited. “Okay.”
He gets Roman ready to ride while I walk around, loving on the other horses. I give June some extra treats from Joey. I know he’ll ask me at the rodeo tonight, and I can never break a promise to him.
“All set,” Maverick says, and I join him, excited to do something we’ve never done before.
A few minutes into our ride, he leans his head down, resting it on my shoulder. “So you really love me, huh?”
I smile, glancing back at him. “I got it pretty bad for you, Beauty.”
“You aren’t just dick-matized, right?” He raises his eyebrows.
“That sounds like some shit Symone would ask me. And while that part of what we have is pretty damn amazing, I love you for more than your big dick.”
He bobs his head. “Saying all the right things, Little Moore.”
“Stating facts, baby.” I grin.
His lips press to the side of my face, and I feel the smile in his expression.
We make it to the edge of the forest, and Maverick’s quietness doesn’t go unnoticed by me.
For the first time, I wonder where we’re going. This is an area we’ve never taken Joey to before.
About fifteen minutes later, I see beautiful wooden angel wings in front of a tree, and it hits me.
Maverick swings his leg over Roman and hops down. He extends his arms toward me and lifts me off the saddle.
“I’m guessing you know where we are?” he asks.
I nod, unable to speak, not wanting to get emotional.
“It’s okay, baby. Yes, it’s sad, but I come here as a way to feel closer to Jules.”
I smile, my heart breaking for the beautiful man in front of me.
“Who made the angel wings?” I ask.
“Mainly, Papaw, but I helped him.” He nods, clearing his throat. “The bench too.”
I take his hand and follow him to sit down.
“I brought you here today because I wanted to tell you something.” He pulls my legs to drape over his lap.
“You kind of stole my thunder telling me you loved me earlier, but honestly, it’s a relief because I was worried this would be too much too soon.” He smiles, digging a piece of paper out of his pocket.
“Nothing you can tell me is too much, Maverick. I want every single thing you’ll give me. Every day, every second. We’ve spent enough time apart, and I don’t want to waste any more.”
He kisses my forehead and whispers, “Read this.”
Jules,
Cash reminded me of a memory today.
Do you remember that time we went up to Boston for that wedding? Mom and Dad took us to that Bruins game too. I think that was the weekend I decided I wanted to play in the NHL one day.
I remember thinking that the wedding kiss looked really fun when I saw the groom kiss his beautiful bride.
Me, you, and Cash were roaming around, finding something to get into while Mom and Dad talked to the old folks. We found a cool fountain. You probably talked me out of jumping into it, knowing me.
I remember I told y’all I wanted to kiss Kirsten Kameron soon, just like the groom had kissed the bride and you said, “Well, you can’t marry her because I don’t want to be friends with her, and I’m going to be very best friends with both of your wives.”
I didn’t think much of it, but I know Cash asked how you knew that, and you said, “Just like I know what your wives will be like.”
Do you remember what you said about my wife?
You said she’d be tall, beautiful, and strong enough to put me in my place when I needed it.
Well, I think I met her this week.
Shay Moore is the epitome of tall and beautiful. She’s also my coach’s daughter, but we won’t worry about that right now. Her mom already loves me, and she has the coolest brother, so I’m sure Coach will come around.
You’d love her because she gives me hell and doesn’t fall at my feet. Plus, she’s an even better athlete than me.
Wish you could meet her.
Love you, Sissy.
Maverick kisses my tears away. “I didn’t mean to make you upset, but I wanted you to know how special you are to me. Our fate was written well before we ever met.
My heart feels like it could burst at how much this means to me. I kiss him with all my emotion, leaning my head against his, trying to gain my composure.
“Maverick, words could never explain how special that memory is. I’m sorry I wasted three years of our time on someone who didn’t deserve it.”
My chest flutters at the depth of this man’s love. The thought that I almost missed this love takes the breath out of my lungs.
He shakes his head, kissing away a few more tears. “Don’t do that. We have forever, especially now that I know you love me too.”
When he smirks, I smile, and overwhelming happiness floods my nervous system at the idea of forever with Maverick Leblanc.
Taking one out of his playbook, I cup my hands around my mouth. “JULES, I LOVE YOUR brOTHER MORE THAN ANYTHING, AND I PROMISE TO KEEP HIS ASS IN CHECK FOR YOU.”
He beams at me, and I want to be the reason he smiles like that every day of our lives.