LAKE
It was fun to watch Maverick blush before her boss. What Rocco did back there was admiring. We didn’t often see a boss fighting for his employees. But I still couldn’t shake off that Natalie went to my penthouse, and Maverick allowed herself to be treated like that. It pissed me off. I could still feel my body shaking from rage.
I knew she didn’t want to get involved with Natalie because that woman could be mean if she wanted to, so Maverick chose silence and peace of mind.
After we talked over the phone earlier, she still texted me. Despite ignoring her constant almost obsession with sending me messages, I deleted them.
From the start, she knew it was just sex, and I didn’t want a relationship with her. When she started to get clingy, I declined most of her invitations because I wasn’t that stupid. She wanted more.
Maverick just came out from the back door, looking upset.
“What’s wrong?” I went to her, and the guys retreated to the car.
“You is what’s wrong?” Her eyes narrowed. She wasn’t just upset. She was pissed.
“What did I do now?” Confused, I held her arms, and she glared further. “Okay.” I let go of her arms.
“You’re so clueless about the life of a working-class, aren’t you, Lake? You’re only good at barking orders, controlling everyone around you, you control freak entitled spoiled dick.”
“That’s not true. I was once an employee.”
“Of your father or your own family company. That doesn’t count.”
“Companies and that’s true, but like I told you, my father is a bully. So don’t tell me I’m clueless. The only thing I didn’t do was scrub toilet bowls. In college, I washed plates with my bare hands. I know how to use a washing machine and mostly iron my clothes when I’m not at my mother’s house. That’s how cruel my father was to me.”
“It wasn’t cruel. He wanted to teach you what normal people do in their daily lives because, in this world, nothing is permanent. Even the richest man in the world can become poor if God allows it. Your father wanted you to learn to stand on your own and not to be nepo, entitled kids with all the privileges yet to treat people like rugs.”
I couldn’t help but smile. She just took every word right coming from Linden’s mouth. For the first time in my life, I chose the right person to be a part of my life, even just for 365 days.
“Why are you smiling?” She raised her eyebrows slightly.
“Let me guess, Rocco chided you for making the biggest mistake of your life, and you’re going to waste your 365 days with me.”
“Try, you’re a heartless slutboy and will break my heart. Don’t come running to me asking for a couch to crash if it happens. What the fuck, Maverick? Are you desperate for a rebound, or are you just borderline stupid?” Her words were a gut punch.
“What the fuck?” My blood boiled instantly. My jaw locked hard as I fisted my hands, about to burst into the door, but Maverick held my arm tightly, stopping me.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I glared down at her. “To teach that asshole a lesson for treating you that way.”
“No, you won’t. You won’t dare touch my friends, or our deal is over.”
Growling, I twisted my arm around her grip. “What did you just say?”
“I’d rather scrub toilet bowls than suffer and be with an arrogant asshole like you. And by the way, he was willing to lend me money if I only asked. I will return every dime if you don’t behave as a good husband.”
Speechless, I swallowed the lump in my throat and unfisted my hands, and we both retreated our steps.
A heartbeat passed, and she peered up at me. “Well, are you?”
“Am I what?” My words came out harshly.
“A heartless slutboy?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” I blinked and looked away as I let go of a shuddering breath.
“You’re a good person, Lake. There’s just too much anger and angst inside your chest that needs to be out, or you will explode into flames.”
“I’m still pissed at you.”
“For what? For not making a scene? Would your girlfriend-”
I stared down at her. My eyes were in flames. “Say that word one more time, I swear to God, Maverick-”
“What? What are you going to do?” This woman was relentless and testing me.
“I will fucking break our agreement, and I don’t give a fuck if you loathe me in the end.”
“Okay.” She finally stepped back because she was probably aware that I was serious as fuck at this moment, and she could feel the tension crackling up between us.
Shaking my head in annoyance, I let go of another breath. “Unbelievable.”
“Are we going home or not?” she called out, about to get inside the car.
***
When I went downstairs, I had already changed into a t-shirt and denim jeans. Maverick was on the couch in her silky pajamas, her makeup gone, but her attention was solely on the iPad screen.
“Can we talk?”
“I thought we’ve had enough talk today.” Finally, she lifted her gaze at me. She was really enchanting. Her expressive eyes were almost magical, like a window to her soul. She was fiery and feisty, but she also had a good heart.
“I’m sorry for not dealing with Natalie properly. Now I understand what you meant. You shouldn’t have to deal with that situation if I just talked to her and told her the fact that I wanted to move on with someone else.”
“So it was more than just ‘we fucked’.”
“It was for me. She’s not my girlfriend, but sleeping with me seemed to give women the idea that we’re dating.”
“I got it, Lake. You’re a catch.” She went on writing something on the screen.
“But you don’t think so.”
She snorted. “You are. To be honest, I’m still finding it hard to believe that I’m wearing your ring and that I’m your legal wife. Unless you married someone before me that you’re not even aware of.”
“I’ve never been married before, Maverick.”
“So what did she want?”
“You’re dying to know, aren’t you?”
She looked at me as she watched me with sharpness. Her eyes showed more tiredness than interest in my personal life. If I was being honest with myself, I wanted her to grill me with questions.
“Not my business, but I have a pretty damn good idea what she wanted from you. She even looked desperate. It’s sad. Are you sure she’s not carrying a baby bunny, Winston?”
“Fuck no.”
My reply made her smile. “You should get some rest.”
“I’m not the one who has classes tomorrow.”
“And you can go to work anytime or from home?”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to work from home if you’re not here.”
“Why? Is the assistant position vacant?”
I smiled. “I don’t want you to work as my assistant, and Venus is good at her job.”
“Is she blonde?”
I knew where this conversation was going. “Check my Instagram. I followed her.”
“No thanks. I don’t even follow you.”
“You’re kidding.” I regarded her with a hard stare. “Why not?”
“Because I’m not one of your groupies.”
“Well then, as my wife.”
“Nope.”
“Then I’ll follow you instead.”
“Don’t bother. I don’t even post frequently and only have about one thousand followers.”
“I’ll tell my friends to follow you. They have massive platforms.”
“I don’t care. Being an influencer is not my thing.”
“It’s fine.” I opened the Instagram app and searched for her name: “Maverick Bates.” I hit the follow button, and then I went to check her last post, which was dated last week.
She posted a selfie of herself with Rocco and her friend, maybe her roommate, at the bar. I pressed the like button and went to the Bazz Village Bar account she’s tagged, which has ten thousand followers. I followed it, too, and liked and commented on the latest post about their signature drink.
“We should check this one out, guys, this coming Friday,” I said out loud as I tagged my friends with millions of followers. “Thank me later, wife.”
“What did you do?” She perked up.
“Don’t stay up late. Good night.” I kissed her forehead before I even realized what I was doing.
It still puzzled me how it was easy for us to talk for hours and never get tired of it. Even though we argued in between, I still got up in the morning with a smile on my face.
I looked downstairs at her again before heading to my room. One thing I was sure of was I really liked Maverick, and I had a feeling I was going to screw everything up ten times over.