CHAPTER 13

Maverick

 

I was not happy.

I watched Cricket with my girls, and a lot of thoughts were going through my mind, but mainly, I was pissed as hell because I was supposed to have had this with her. She was supposed to be the mother of my kids. She was supposed to teach our daughters how to cook and put on makeup and deal with periods and all that shit.

This was supposed to be us. I wanted it to be us… with her. I wanted a family with her. And I’d never get that. There were plenty of times in the past that I’d thought about it and missed Cricket and the life we were supposed to build together, but actually seeing it made the ache in my chest throb so hard I felt it in my bones.

Cricket gave Dixie Mae a high five and then turned around and took one step before she froze. Her eyes collided with mine, and I wasn’t sure if she knew what I was thinking or not, but she knew I wasn’t happy.

Maybe she realized the same thing I was, maybe she thought she wished she’d been here, making a family with me instead of marrying a rich piece of shit and becoming a famous chef, maybe she regretted what she did. I didn’t know. A part of me didn’t want to, either.

Because if I found out she was truly happy without me, that would be worse than knowing she was sad while we were apart… misery loved company and all that.

“I’m done,” Aubrey proudly announced, and Cricket jerked out of her daze.

Her lips parted when she blew out a breath, her eyes crossed momentarily, then she plastered on a smile and turned to Aubrey. “Great. I already heated the pan, so let’s get some oil in there.” I remained rooted as she worked her way around the kitchen and engaged with my girls, and by the time supper was finished and the table was set, my mood had shifted.

It was as if the four of us had sat together a thousand times, and I loved how easy it was. The girls were so excited at what they helped make, and they devoured their food, and I did the same. “This is amazing.”

“Thanks, my sous chefs did all the work.” Cricket made sure to give them credit.

“What’s a soup chef?” Dixie Mae asked with a mouthful of chicken.

“Wait until you swallow to talk, baby. And Cricket said sous chef, not soup chef.”

Cricket wiped her mouth with a napkin. “A sous chef is my helper, just like you were. The kitchen doesn’t run without a good sous chef.”

One thing I always regretted was that I didn’t get to taste Cricket’s food at her restaurant. She was always an amazing cook, but I knew over the years she had to have gotten so much better because of her success. If what she made that night was any indication, I was right.

We’d had good conversation and gotten on the subject of sports when Aubrey asked if Cricket and I were friends when I played basketball. “We were, and I went to every one of his games. He was really good.”

The best part about playing was looking into the stands and seeing her wearing my number and cheering me on. Really anything that I did, the best part of it was having her cheering me on. I wondered how I managed to survive on my own without her at my side.

“Hey, there’s four of us here now. Can we play two-on-two?”

Cricket’s face blanched, and I laughed. An athlete she was not. “Cricket doesn’t really do the sports thing.”

“It’s not that. It’s because I don’t have tennis shoes.” She shrugged and totally lied. “Sorry.”

“What size shoe do you wear?”

“Six and a half.”

Aubrey’s eyes lit up. “Me too! I have extra, so you can borrow a pair.”

I didn’t even try to step in because I wanted to go one-on-one with Cricket. I’d love an excuse to get my hands on her again. “I’ll play with Dixie Mae, and you and Cricket can be on a team.”

“Awesome.” Aubrey pointed at me. “Better get your protein in now, Pops, ’cause you’re gonna need it.”

My shoulders shook with a chuckle. “Is that supposed to be trash talk?”

“Why, you scared?” She crossed her arms.

“Not as scared as you should be.”

* * *

It had been a while since I’d played anything other than one-on-one with Aubrey, and even though I was in shape, I was out of breath, but I was having a blast. We all were. The girls were laughing, and Cricket was smiling like crazy even though she and Aubrey were losing terribly.

“Aren’t you supposed to go easy on your kid?” Cricket asked with a grin as I checked the ball to her.

“Never.”

She bounced the ball with two hands, and I got distracted by her tits, and she used that to her advantage to pass to Aubrey, who scored around Dixie Mae. “Thirteen-six,” Aubrey announced. “You better get your head in the game, old man. We’re closin’ in on you.”

“Do you talk this much trash during your games?” Cricket asked with amusement.

She nodded proudly. “Yep. I like to get in their head. It’s fun.”

“She really is your daughter.”

I was a huge shit talker back in my day, and Cricket always worried I’d get punched in the mouth for it, which I did a couple of times, but it didn’t matter because all I cared about was winning. “I know.”

Dixie Mae and I ended up beating them, and I had to be the bad guy when I told them we’d have to wait another day to play another game. But with the promise of ice cream, they quickly changed their tune and rushed inside to get ready for bed in record time.

Once they were in their pajamas, Cricket had the ice cream bar set up, so while they were eating those, I grabbed a quick shower.

I walked back into the kitchen to see Aubrey’s ice cream melted because she was watching Cricket braid Dixie Mae’s hair and listening to her tell a story. “He always won the huge teddy bears at the fair with the basketball game.”

“I know, I have three in my room,” Dixie Mae said excitedly.

“I’ve got a couple, too,” Aubrey said as she tucked her leg under her butt. “I can never even get one ball in, but he always gets all three. It’s not fair.”

Cricket laughed. “Next time you go to a carnival, you should ask him to play the baseball game… the one where you have to knock down the bottles.”

“Why? Will he win me another teddy bear?”

She shook her head even though Dixie Mae couldn’t see her face. “No, because he’s terrible at it, and he gets so mad his face turns red.”

“Oh, like that one time another dad yelled at me because he thought I should have gotten a foul called on me. I heard him yelling at the guy and could see how mad he was from the court.”

“Your father is very… protective of the people he cares about, so that doesn’t surprise me if someone was yelling at you that he’d get angry.”

That was the truth, and Cricket knew from experience just how protective I was….

 

I was dripping with sweat and thankful Coach had called a time-out. Only three seconds were left on the clock, and we were down by two. The team hurried to the sideline, and we all grabbed a towel and downed some water as we went over the inbound play.

The ball was coming to me.

Coach wanted us to tie, so I needed to hit a jumper. I only needed two points in order to get us into overtime. It was a play I’d executed hundreds of times, so we were all confident about it.

After we broke, I glanced up into the stands to get a glimpse of my girl, but what I saw instead made me stutter in my steps. Tom Clancy, douchebag extraordinaire, was standing next to her, leaning close, his face only inches from her. She scooted away and smiled at me but was clearly uncomfortable even as she cheered for me.

When my defender checked me with his shoulder, it snapped me out of it for a brief second. I tried to focus on the game, but it was impossible. The ref blew his whistle, and I fought for my position, and just as the ball was thrown to me, I saw Tom grab her butt and haul her against him. Out of instinct, I caught the ball and then turned around and tossed it toward the basket, then charged into the stands.

Everyone broke out screaming as the buzzer went off, and I couldn’t care less what the outcome was. All I cared about was getting to her, getting his hands off her, and then killing him.

I grabbed the railing and pulled myself over, then reached him before he had a chance to run away. “You’re dead,” I promised just as I grabbed his shirt with one hand and then drove my fist through his face. Once, twice, and on the third, my arm was grabbed, and I was pulled back.

But I kept fighting. Defending her from a piece of shit who I’d already warned more than once.

“Mav, stop. Honey, please, he’s not worth it. Stop it!” Cricket’s voice came through the fog, and I finally let him go.

She threw herself at me, and I went down a step. My focus shifted to her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Are you?”

“Ryder! Get your ass down here!” Coach screamed at me from the court, and I looked around until I saw my family.

When I spotted my dad and brothers pushing through the crowd, I waited until they were close enough to hand Cricket off. “Stay with her.”

Hunter, who was a couple of years younger than me but filling out fast, nodded as he put his arm around her shoulder.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I grabbed Cricket’s face and kissed her quickly, then turned around and jumped back onto the court.

Coach glared at me, and I followed him back into the locker room, high-fiving everyone on the way. I knew he was pissed I lost the game for us, but I didn’t care. He led me into his office, where he slammed the door behind him. “Look, Coach, I’m sorry, but—”

“How in the hell did you make that shot? You were almost at half court.”

My head reared back. “It went in?”

“Yes, you idiot. Not only did we win but you charging into the stands before it even hit the rim to tear some guy off your girlfriend is sure to be all over the news.” He shook his head with a grin. “I hope you like being in the spotlight, kid, because I have a feeling you’ve just made a name for yourself… that is if he doesn’t press charges and you get a record.” Even if he did, I wouldn’t have cared. All I gave a shit about was her, and if I got punished for protecting her, then I’d deal. As long as she was safe, nothing else mattered.

 

The three of them all giggled, and it brought me back to the present. As much as I loved that they were having a good time at my expense, it was getting late, so I had to be the fun police. “What’s so funny?” I played dumb, and Cricket just pressed her lips together.

Dixie Mae fought laughter, and Aubrey lied to my face. “We were talking about how bad you and Dixie Mae beat us.”

“I see…” I walked into the room and put my hand on her shoulder. “It was pretty bad, wasn’t it?”

She tilted her head back. “I’ll get you next time.”

“I’m sure you will, kid.” I gave her neck a squeeze. “Time for bed, girls.”

“Can Cricket finish my hair first?”

“Sure, baby.”

It didn’t take long before she was done, and both girls hugged Cricket before they said good night and went to their rooms. I followed to tuck them in, and after a few minutes, I returned to the kitchen, where it was now just Cricket and me… alone.