“It gets worse,” he says, chomping down on his candy.
“How can it get worse than that?”
“All of my other friends in my inner circle, they all knew about it and didn’t say anything. I understand friendships are complicated and that their loyalties might have been split, but come on. Not one of them had enough of a backbone to see that what was happening was wrong and fucking tell me?”
Some of his suppressed anger seeps through his normally composed façade.
“That’s really horrible.”
“It is. But it’s made me really value honesty. I can put up with a lot, but I cannot deal with lies.”
A tremor of guilt courses through my chest. I may not have ever outright lied to him, but I haven’t been forthcoming either. Clancy being my grandfather. Our family owning the rescue center. My eye condition.
“Anyway, when I found out about the cheating, I amped up my alcohol intake even more.”
“But you dumped his ass, right?”
He drops his head. “Not right away. He begged for a second chance, so I gave him one. Deep down, I knew it wouldn’t work, but I guess I wanted to give him a chance to make things right.What I learned is that there are times when trust is so badly broken, it can’t be fixed.”
A heavy silence hangs between us as seconds stretch into what feels like an eternity.
“So what happened?” I ask softly.
“I ended things with Luca and cut out all my former friends from my life. But I was so broken by everything that had happened, I ended up spiraling. My drinking and my mental state both took a turn for the worse. I hit rock bottom, and thank god Ollie was there because he saved me.”
“How?”
“Booked me into rehab. Best decision I ever made. For the first time in my life, I actually confronted my issues. Like how to deal with unresolved negative feelings toward a dead parent. Or being disappointed with a living one. Or feeling like the world’s biggest loser squandering away all the opportunities I have that so many people would kill for because I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.”
So Clancywasright when he said he sensed that Maverick was lost.
And I was so fucking wrong for assuming he had a perfect, easy life just because he came from money.
“Is that why you bought the sanctuary? For some direction?”
“That was a big part of it. And it’s a nice way to honor all the good memories I have of Grandpa Rick.”
I smile at him. “I’m sure he’d be proud of you and what you’re doing.”
“I hope so.” A wistful expression washes over his face, and then his blue eyes sharpen, surveying the towering mound of candy debris spilling from the coffee table to the floor. “I’ve dumped way too much on you for one night. It’s getting late. We should probably think about…”
His eyes shift toward the hallway.
“Bed?” I finish for him.
“Sleep.” He runs his hand over the sofa cushions a couple of times. “I’ll be fine out here.”
“Why would you sleep out here?”
He turns to me with awhy do you thinklook and an impish grin on his lips. “Because it’s the gentlemanly thing to do.”
I snort. “I think the sugar is going to your head.”
“Got a better idea?”
“Don’t I always?” He rolls his eyes, but I ignore it. “We’re adults. We can sleep together.” That impish grin is replaced by a wolfish one. “As in, actually sleep. No funny business.”
He tips his chin up, still grinning. “No funny business,” he repeats. “You want the first shower?”
