MAVERICK
We arrived at the car dealer. Of course, everyone knew him.
“Mr. Winston, we have something new that you might like,” said the man with a broad smile.
“Not for me.” Lake didn’t let go of my hand. “For my wife.”
My face flamed. Shit. I should get used to it.
“Wife?” Even the dealer looked surprised. Now, I just became the person I loathed. “Congratulations.”
“Maverick, pick a car so that we can eat.” Just like that- it was like shopping for a toy car or going to a grocery store to buy a carton of milk.
“You know what, pick one for me.”
“No.” He shook his head. “It’s your car. You choose the brand, engine, and color.”
“Okay.” I took him to the cheapest cars on display. Fifty grand wasn’t even affordable, but that was the only cheapest car I could see. “How about this one?”
“We have three colors available: black, red, and gray. That’s the latest model with 453 horsepower, 406 lb-ft of torque-”
“Leave us for a moment.”
When the man left, he looked right into my eyes. “Why don’t you want me to buy something for you, Maverick?”
“I don’t wanna be a gold digger, Lake. People will judge me, and I don’t want to hurt the people I care about.”
“Would you rather care for the people’s judgment than those who don’t know you?”
“You don’t understand.”
“I do, Maverick. I loathed my father for years. He treated me like rugs, gave me the hardest jobs, and humiliated me in front of his friends and my colleagues. No matter how hard I tried to be a good son and his employee, I still never heard a single compliment from him, not even a nod. I’ve done my best so he would be proud of me one day, but then I realized that day would never come. I would never be the best in his eyes. So I stopped trying. I invested my money in the Hover and Osmium. I started Infinite Media, and I don’t even know if he knows about it, and I don’t care. On the other hand, Mom never gives up on me while pushing me to be the best version of myself. She always reminds me not to lose to the greed of money, that I should enjoy life because time won’t come back.”
“She seems a good mom.”
“She’s the best, and she will never judge you. I want to buy you something because I earned that much, and I want to share my hard-earned money with you, and because you need a new car.” He started playing with my hair, twirling it around his finger.
“Fine. I want a BMW M2 Red.”
“Are you sure? Porsche is good.”
I rolled my eyes. “It hurts my head to even think of the price tag. Just BMW.”
“Well, take the M2 Red,” he yelled at Aaron. Don’t change your hair color. It suits you and makes your eye color pop out.”
“Right away,” said the dealer hurriedly. “I’ll ready the documents, Mr. Winston. I’ll personally forward it to your office.”
“Thank you, Aaron.”
I might have just blushed. “It’s my natural hair color, bunny.”
“Really?” He looked surprised.
“Yes. I don’t dye my hair often.”
“Good. Keep it that way. What time is your class tomorrow?”
“Morning. Then I have to work at the bar at night.”
“You quit.”
“No. That’s not-”
“Fuck your job.” He literally dragged me away. “Aaron, I want the papers ready this week.”
“Everything will be ready by tomorrow, Mr. Winston,” Aaron said.
“What food are you up for?” he asked as we returned to his car.
“Less plating and more food.”
“Nothing fancy then.”
His nothing-fancy version was still a high-end restaurant as he opened a door for me.
“Don’t we need a reservation or something?”
“I know the owner.”
“Of course you do. Is she sexy and blonde?”
“What’s your beef with blondes, Maverick? You can’t stereotype blondes.”
“I don’t hate blondes. I just checked out the women you dated. They’re all blondes.”
“Hookups, Maverick.”
We were immediately accommodated in the VIP area as if we were royalty.
“This is Rome Langston’s mother’s restaurant. Rome married a royal princess from Triberis Capria. Strike worked for Rome before in Winterbourn.”
“You’re kidding. A real princess?” I blinked in disbelief.
“Yeah. They met here when Princess Carlott was running away from home. She became Rome’s assistant.”
“Wow. And Rome has no idea who she is?”
“Yup.”
“It’s like a story from royal romance movies.”
“Yup. Rome is now a lord of some kind in Capria.”
We ordered dinner and ate in silence, and the food was superb.
“So if there’s one thing you can change in your life, what is it?”
“You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t wanna change anything good or bad. Those good and bad experiences make me who I am today.”
“Neither am I,” I replied without hesitation.
“Not even meeting your father?”
“Especially that one. I turned out to be a good person without him.”
“I can ask someone from Osmium to dig deeper into the identity of your father. That is if you want to.”
“No thanks. My mother knew but did not tell Nana.”
“Why did you ask me that question anyway?”
“I wanna know if you have regrets in your life.”
“Maybe I have, but that’s life. Two years ago, I thought I fathered a young boy.”
“Then what happened?” I grabbed the glass of wine and drank it. I wasn’t ready to hear something like that, but Lake began to open up to me.
“For a moment, when I saw the woman with him, my world stopped. I remember her from high school. She lost her virginity to me. The boy has the same eye color as mine. I asked her, but she said she knew the father. I still asked Gabe Linden to run a full background on the mother and a DNA test on the boy. Uncle found out what I did. It turned out he’s not mine.”
“What if he’s yours?”
“I would not run away from that responsibility. Uncle Moses’ story with the love of his life was tragic. If I fall in love, I will never give her up for money or power.”
“You have never fallen in love?” Wow. I wouldn’t be surprised. Lake Winston was notorious in bed but never gambled his heart.
“No. How about you?”
We shared the chocolate for dessert.
“My first heartbreak was in senior high. I thought he was going to be my forever. He went to study in another State. I even gave my virginity to him, but after two months, he stopped texting me. He didn’t pick up my call anymore. End of my stupid love era.”
“That fucker.”
I smiled. “Yeah. I realized he wasn’t my one true love.”
“So you’re a hopeless romantic?” He smirked.
“I guess so. You should try it sometime.”
“Forget about it, Maverick. Then you met another fucker.”
“Yeah. I was so careful with my heart for over three years that I fell for his charm.”
“That asshole is not even charming nor attractive.”
“How do you know?” I stared at him. “Never mind. Don’t answer that. It’s creepy, Lake.”
“Just taking care of my investment.”
“Your investment?” I arched my brows. “Don’t come closer to me, or I might stab you in the eye.”
“Yes. Do you realize we have our first date as a married couple?”
Shit. And Lake wasn’t even a bad date. In fact, he was funny if he was loosening up and not yelling at me. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“We should do this more often.”
“What? Talk about our lives? I told you I wanted to know more about the notorious Lake Archer Colter Talon Braddson Winston. Damn, you have a handful of names.”
“Among other things.”
“Shut up.” My face burned thinking of what other things he was talking about. Wait a sec. Was he flirting with me? I hoped not.
“I was talking about going out on a date, Maverick.”