“Stay.” He kisses the top of my head.
“But when you go to New York?—”
“Just… stay. For now. I don’t know what the future holds, Bay, but I’m having a tough time making any decisions if they don’t include you.”
My throat gets tight, but I nod. “So maybe we don’t make any big decisions for now. You can train and rehab and heal. And we’ll see where we’re at in a few weeks.”
As much as I want to tell him I’ll follow him wherever he goes, I can’t. At the same time, I can’t imagine what that’s going to be like, sending Maverick off to the other side of the country knowing that we likely won’t be able to make it long distance.
But I won’t tell him to give up on his dream.
So I do what I do best.
I put on a smile and pretend everything is okay.
25
MAVERICK
Lap after lap,I swim as my night with Baylee replays in my mind. I have no fucking clue how I’m supposed to leave her in a few weeks, potentially for an extended period. Going away to college was one thing. Charming isn’t that far away. But New York? That feels like another world. One where I don’t have my best friend and her son.
The alarm on my phone rings on the bench, and I pull myself out of the pool. I stretch my neck and arms and realize the cold water has numbed all the aches and pains, at least for now.
I should be elated that this is a noticeable improvement.
Except I can’t stop thinking about what it will mean if I get the go-ahead to play again.
I grab my stuff and walk down one flight from the roof pool to my condo, hop in the shower, and then dress. By the time Jace and Beau arrive, I’m tired of making myself crazy, worrying about the what-ifs.
Jace does a quick sweep of my condo. “Just making sure you don’t have any crazy ex-girlfriends lurking.”
“I guess you heard what happened last night.” I grab them bottled waters from the fridge.
“It sounds like you got yourself a bunny boiler.”
I frown. “Why would you say that?”
He laughs and cracks open his water. “Didn’t you ever see that movie,Fatal Attraction?”
“No.”
“The mistress boils the kid’s pet bunny because Michael Douglas broke up with her. Savage, right?” He takes a swig of water. “It’s an old flick but pretty good. Saw it at the drive-in.”
Tension knots my stomach as I consider what he’s saying. Could Kira have vandalized Baylee’s house? Was she in town then? She flies to Texas often to visit her family, who live in a neighboring town. I text the sheriff and ask him to check on that for me.
“I blocked Kira’s number last night, so hopefully we won’t have any more problems.”
Jace smirks. “The cat’s out of the bag, bro. Everyone’s talking about how you’re back. I’m guessing you’re gonna have more fangirls stop by.”
Fuck. That’s the last thing I need while I’m trying to convince Baylee that we can work. “Don’t give my address to anyone.”
Beau points down the hall. “Can we get to work? I need to get to the fire station in a few hours.”
I show them to the spare bedroom, which I guess is now a nursery.
Jace whistles. “Are you sure this isn’t your kid? Because holy shit, you bought a lot of crap.”
“Babies need a lot of things.”
