Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 77936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“That was amazing.” Maverick sounded all dreamy and about twenty seconds from sleep as I untangled us. I quickly dashed to his attached bath to throw away the condom and grab a towel.
“What you needed?” I asked as I tried to clean him up, not that Maverick seemed overly concerned about the mess.
“God, yes.” He cuddled in, head on my chest, idly stroking the tat on my pec. “What’s this one for?”
“You.”
“What? Seriously?” He raised his head to narrow his eyes at me.
“Yeah. After you left, I was kind of a mess, barely making it through my community college classes.” My face heated. “Got to talking to Grayson one night, and he was going on about ink as therapy. Said it calmed his head better than anything else. I figured, what the hell? Asked for the name of his artist. Whiskey might have been involved.”
“It’s a comet?” He traced the star, which rode on fanciful plumes of ink.
“You were my star, the thing that made everything else okay. And then you were gone, onto bigger and better things.”
“I’m so sorry.” Maverick’s eyes turned liquid and hot as he blinked several times. “God. So sorry. I didn’t think enough about how my leaving would affect you.”
“You were a kid.” I rubbed his back, hoping he wouldn’t cry because I might too.
“Young and self-centered isn’t a great excuse for hurting my best friend and the guy I loved.” Maverick shook his head.
“But like a comet, you found your way back into my orbit. Maybe part of me knew.” I kissed his temple.
“Maybe.” He exhaled hard. “I’m still sorry for all the wasted years.”
“Not wasted,” I said sternly. “You needed to go. Could you have handled leaving better? Maybe. But you did need to go. We both needed to grow up. You needed to discover who you were out from under your dad’s thumb. And I got Willow, and I can’t regret that.”
“True.” He stretched to brush a kiss across my lips. “Perhaps this is how it was meant to work out.”
“Yeah.” My brain churned. I continued to have trouble believing this would work out in the end, that our comet wouldn’t turn meteor and crash to Earth. But Maverick didn’t need my doubts.
“We’re going to make it this time.” He glared like he’d sensed my doubts anyway. “I’m not giving up on us.”
“Me either.” That was an easy promise. “I love you.”
“Love you too.” His face softened again as he lowered his head back to my chest. His breathing became deeper, more regular as he drifted off, and I could only hope he never came to regret his promises.
Chapter 36
Maverick
“I feel bad your visit hasn’t been more exciting,” I told Adler as we sipped our coffee on the back porch. He’d been here a week now, but most of it had been a blur with Faith’s accident, hospital trips, and logistics. We’d barely gotten a chance to talk, and he was due to leave in the next few days.
“Don’t apologize.” Adler waved my concern away. Today’s outfit was iridescent jeans and a blue heavy metal band T-shirt. “You’ve had a lot going on.”
“I have.” I grimaced because my to-do list kept growing, not shrinking. Soon, I would need a whiteboard like Colt to track my various responsibilities. Seeing Faith in the hospital, getting Hannah ready for the first day of school, trying to keep the ranch afloat. It was a lot.
“Besides, I love it here.” Adler grinned wide. He did seem much more smiley here than the last time I’d seen him in LA. “This is the clearest my head has felt in years. I’ve continued going to meetings in town, but sobriety feels different out here. You should start charging our other friends for the privilege of coming here to reset—”
Boom. An idea smacked into me, lighting up my brain like the comet in Colt’s tattoo. “Say that again.”
“I love it—”
“Not that part. Charging. What if that’s the answer to the cash flow issues and our needing more hands?” I stood from my deck chair, loving this idea more and more. “Like offering a dude ranch experience on a real, working ranch to folks looking for a reset, like you said. Get them helping with basic chores, maybe put them on some of the tamer horses…”
“I’m down.” Adler was somewhere between laughter and wonder. “Maybe I can be your first visitor once you give the ranch its makeover.”
“It does need a fresh start.” I was spurred on by Adler’s enthusiasm. Finally, a chance to use all my hospitality industry skills right here on the ranch, a colliding of my two worlds, a fresh start for all of us. “Wait. We can’t have people coming to visit Lovelorn Ranch. That sounds too depressing.”
“Nah. It’s fine.” Chuckling, Adler gave a vague shrug. “Tell a few ghost stories about your pioneer ancestors.”