Chapter 9
Maverick
As the women walk up to us on the ranch, two sides of my heart pull at each other. One is elated with joy that Brielle is here, as if coming home. The other is fiercely protective that someone is coming to take it all away from me.
The latter wins out as I stand taller, arms crossed, staring at my ranch hand, Brooks, leading them to us. “What are they doing here?”
Brooks shrugs. “None of you were answering. She wants to speak to Colt.” He nods at the redhead omega, Kinsey.
Brielle scoffs, mockingly folding her arms over her chest to mirror me. “Is that how you greet me after the other night?”
I grab her arm, pulling her away from the crowd. She tenses under my hold, and I can smell the slight signs of distress, so I let go and step away from her. I never want to smell that coming from her again.
“I just wanted to talk to you alone,” I tell her, softening my tone.
Brielle looks over her shoulder, keeping Kinsey in her sight, and blows out a breath. “Talk about what?”
“How come you didn’t tell me your friend was looking for my dad?”
Her face scrunches. “Well, I don’t know, Maverick. Maybe because I didn’t know it was your dad, and it’s her business, not mine.”
Some of my anger deflates, and I nod. “Right, right. That’s obvious. Sorry.”
She looks at me with a slight frown. “Did you think I was only talking to you for ulterior motives?”
I’m silent for a moment, because now it has crossed my mind. There’s more than just attraction with Brielle, but I only ever get small hints of her scent so it’s hard to tell.
She scoffs, hurt bleeding into her eyes. “Wow. Fuck you.”
I grab her arm again before she can walk away, spinning her closer and cupping her face, smashing my mouth against hers.
Whatever happens after this, at least I’ll have a kiss from her.
She gasps against my lips, and I pull her closer.
Her hands snake around my neck as her raised knee rubs along my hip.
Pulling back, I lick my lips, savoring her taste. It’s like bottled sunshine, electricity zipping through my veins just from a simple kiss.
“Oh wow,” she says, breathless. “What a day for kisses.”
I frown a little, wanting to know what she means.
Brielle sighs. “Just hear her out, okay? For me?” She flutters her eyelashes, and I’ve never seen such a perfected pouty face. There’s nothing I wouldn’t give her when she looks at me like that.
I nod, and she holds my hand as we turn back to the men.
As we’re walking up to the group, I hear Kinsey tell them that my father is hers, and it has my hackles standing straight up. How does she know that for sure? She sounds so confident about it, and it rubs me the wrong way.
“What?” I yell, annoyed by her proclamation.
She startles, looking between me and Brielle. “My mom told me that this man is my father, and it’s the only thing she had of him. She didn’t know his name or anything, just this photo.”
I snatch the photo from her.
“Hey!” she shouts, and I hold it out from her reach as I examine further.
Tension pricks at my skin as growls ring out around us.
I ignore them as I stare at the image. It’s clearly my dad, happier than I’ve ever seen him, with a woman I don’t recognize.
There’s a smile on his face I didn’t know was possible.
I hand the photo back to her with a scowl.
“How does she know that’s your father?”
The redhead tucks the photo away, glaring at me. “If you don’t know how sex works, I can explain it to you. But usually people fuck, and sometimes a baby comes out nine months later.”
My temper rises. Nobody speaks like that to me.
Brielle steps between us. “Let’s all calm down. Accusations were thrown, but take a deep breath. You too, Kinsey.”
Without a second thought, I pull her into my arms, and I feel her relax into me as I inhale her soft scent.
It’s starting to come out more every time we’re together, still only in faint tendrils.
All I need is the small hint to know she’s mine.
There’s no doubt on my part, and it’s the one thing keeping me grounded.
She faces the rest of the men. “While all the growling and shit is hot, can we get back to the point of finding her dad without the snarky comments?”
It takes a lot to force myself to not let my emotions get the best of me, but I explain to Kinsey that I’ve had to move Levi, my father, into a community home because of his double-hip surgery. By the end of the conversation, we resort to fixing a date to drive up and introduce her to him.
Since Colt, Dallas, and Brooks seem to be courting Kinsey, I have no choice but to make peace with the possibility that she might be hanging around more than I thought. Deep down, I don’t mind too much given the fact that I want to keep Brielle at my side if she’ll let me.