“Stop,” she interrupted, reaching across my desk and resting her hand on my forearm. “Don’t apologize. You know I’ve never cared about your indiscretions in our line of work. Everyone operates differently, and judgments get clouded all the time. Your darkness, Soph, doesn’t scare me. I’ve always known it was there, but since you never talked about it, I never asked. I’ve only ever cared about your well-being and safety.”
My eyes watered, because she was right: I’d never outright told her these things. She gave me a soft smile, as if reading my mind.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice? We were partners for years. I knew there were times you took a perp down when we could have avoided it. Your moral compass points to that of avigilante justice-seeker, avenging peoples’ wrongs, not waiting until justice is legally served. And that’s okay.”
I sniffled, wiping my nose with the back of my hand. “I never thought you’d be okay with knowing those pieces of me.”
She shrugged. “It was an unspoken thing between us. Kind of like your eating disorder.” That had my gaze snapping to hers, but she still had a soft look on her face. “I may not have agreed with it, but… I’m different now. The world isn’t black and white like I’d once believed it was. After everything that happened with Oliver…” She shook her head. “Well, a lot of mistakes were made by law enforcement officials, and that was them following procedure every step of the way.” She sighed, shaking her head slightly. “What I’m trying to say is, you’re perfect as you are, and I love and accept all those parts of you. If you choose to talk about it more, I’m here for you. And if not, that’s fine, too.”
“Thank you, Cal.” My voice was quiet, strained. “Dean… he never—could never—understand those parts of me. I never felt safe enough to show him all of me. We couldn’t work out, no matter how much I may have wanted it to. But Maverick… God, he gets it. He getsme.Said it himself. Even if that means he’s on the other side of the law.”
Callie raised her eyebrows. “You’d sacrifice your career?”
“What? No—I’ve never given that any thought.”
“Hmm.” She pulled back to relax into her chair. “So, you’re seeing him tonight? Is he going to eat your kitty cat?”
I laughed, some of the pressure in my chest lifting. “I wish you’d stop saying that. But yes, probably. I should confirm with him about tonight. Right?” Or maybe I was just making an excuse to hear his voice because I hadn’t heard from him since we exchanged those lewd photos.
A small part of me wondered, again, if I’d scared him off.
Callie just hummed, telling me she knew exactly what I was thinking.
“I’m going to call him,” I said.
That had her perking up. “Put it on speaker.”
He picked up on the first ring, and I hated that my stomach did that stupid fluttering thing that made my heart lodge in my throat.
“Sophie,” he greeted, tone dripping in honey.
“What, noDetective?” I mocked. A grin split my face in half, and I should've hated how happy talking to him made me feel, but fuck, I didn’t. I loved it.
“Would you prefer I call you that?” His timbre dipped, nearly raspy, and Callie fanned herself in a playful way. My face and ears heated, my stomach muscles clenching in response.
“Either is fine,” I squeaked.
Maverick chuckled, and it was a delightful sound. “I told you I’d call you whatever you want, baby.”Baby.
Well, fuck me. I was putty, and Callie knew it, too, by the way she sat back in her chair and covered her mouth.
“Mmhm,” I murmured noncommittally. “That’s good, too, Mav.”
“Do I make you nervous, baby?”
More like horny.
Clearing my throat, I said, “You don’t affect me at all.”
“Mmhm,” he threw back, disbelief coating the word. “Well, your picture the other night would say otherwise.”
I sucked in a breath and glanced at Callie again, whose eyes were bright with amusement as she mouthed, “What picture?” I waved her off.
“Shut up,” I snapped playfully.
“What did I tell you about talking to me that way?”
I shifted in my seat. Okay, so he was in a flirtatious mood, and I needed to play along despite Callie sitting here. I’d never live this down. “And I told you I was okay with it.Sir.”
