Maverick

Pain radiated through me, jolting me awake. “What the fu—” 

“Welcome back, Prince.” There was an edge to Kyle's voice that had me searching my foggy mind for some memory of why he sounded so pissed at me.

“Wh- what happened?” I tried to sit up, but my ribs exploded with blistering heat forcing me to stay down.

“You don't remember?”

Remember?

Memories flooded my mind like a bad home movie. The warehouse. Bobby's grimace as I told him to put me on the roster. Some hulk of a guy more than willing to step up to the plate. 

Lo...

Lo?

Fuck, Lo was there.

“Oh, shit,” I whispered, bringing a hand to my face to inspect the damage, because from the agony splintering around various parts of my body I knew there had to be a lot.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Kyle spat, pushing from the chair and jamming his fingers into his hair.

“Lo was there? You let her—” Fuck, it hurt to talk. Everything hurt. But the ache in my chest at the idea of her seeing me like this was worse. She wasn't supposed to be there... to see me like that.

“You think I wanted her to go there?” he seethed. “To see that? But I didn't know what else to do. Luke called me...”

Fucking Taffia. Traitorous motherfucker. 

I slowly swung my legs off the edge of the bed. My fingers curled into the mattress as I breathed through the pain. My face was sore, the skin across my cheekbones and around my eyes tight and tender. And from the stinging across my ribs, I knew if I looked down  there would be bruises. 

“I get it. You need to exorcise whatever demons haunt you, man. And I've tried to be understanding, but last night was fucked up. Lo didn't deserve that. Hell, I didn’t deserve that.”

More memories came. Hazier this time. Her gentle touch as she cleaned my wounds. The brokenness in her voice as she said goodbye. 

“I need to see her,” I rushed out and tried to stand but my body crumpled back down.

“This is what you're going to do. You're going to take a shower.” He gave me a pointed look adding, “You're on your own there, bro. Then I will drag your sorry ass to get your ribs looked at. Coach will shit a brick when he sees the state of his star player. You will not call Lo, or text, or try to see her. Handle your shit first. Give her time. And then you and I are going to have a little chat.”

“Fine,” I groaned as I tried to test the waters again, standing slowly. Finally upright, I loosened my hold on my midriff. The pain was immense. Burning and deep. And when I breathed in it stung like a bitch, but I was upright. And for as much as I hated to admit it, Kyle was right.

“I’ll go do damage control. There’s no way you’ll be able to hide this one but maybe I can lay a few breadcrumbs.” He gave me one last look and turned to leave but I called out, “Stone.”

“Yeah?” He glanced over his shoulder.

“Thanks, I owe you.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you do.”

I shuffled unsteadily around my room. When I found what I was looking for, I located Lo’s number and started typing.

 

Maverick: I’m sorry. For everything. Kyle said I need to give you space, so that’s what I’m going to do. But don’t take too long, Lo. I need you. I will always need you.

 

When I caught sight of my reflection in the bathroom mirror, I realized now why Kyle was so pissed. It looked like I’d survived the end of the world. Dried blood clung to a deep cut in my lip. My right eye was almost swollen shut. And my ribs were an ugly patchwork of black and blue. Shit.

It was a feat, but I managed to shuck out of my sweat pants and turn on the shower. Steam misted up the glass screen as I stepped inside, wincing when the hot water slid over my tender spots. It hurt so damn much, I had to press a hand to the tiles to keep myself from buckling. Last night was a blur. I couldn’t even remember the guy’s face. But I remembered his fists. The feel of them hammering into my ribs, into my face. It had hurt, but the pain was good. It switched off everything else—gave me something to focus on. It made me forget.

My failures.

My fuck ups.

Him.

It made everything pale into insignificance.

But she wasn’t supposed to be there. I’d told Lo once, when she’d asked me when she would get to see me in the ring, she should be careful what she wished for. And I’d meant it as a warning. To her and myself. Because I knew if she ever saw me fighting it would change everything. She’d already seen too much. If she saw that part of me as well, I’d have nothing left to protect myself with.

Too fucking late now.

She’d been there. Watched as I got my ass handed to me. It wasn’t about the losing or winning for me. It was about power. About fighting back.

About reminding myself that although I was a pawn in my father’s games, I still had some control over my life.

Unable to withstand the pain anymore, I turned off the shower, grabbed a towel and patted myself down. My cell phone vibrated, but it wasn’t the name I wanted to see, so I ignored it. Getting dressed was a different story. Every time I tried to lift my t-shirt over my head the pain was so intense, I had to stop.

In the end, I gave up. Swiping two Advil from the nightstand, I washed them down with the glass of water from the night before and lay down on the bed. The day after a fight I usually felt renewed. Calmer. Today was different. I felt on edge. Guilt tight around my heart like a vise.

And I didn’t know what the hell to do with that.

~

“Oh my god, Maverick,” Mom breathed out, pushing off the stool. She came to me; her eyes dull with despair. “Why? Why would you do this to yourself?”

“Maverick,” Gentry said but Kyle shot him a look and he backed off.

“I’m fine, Mom.”

Tears welled in her eyes as she took in my injuries. “This has to stop. Tell him, Gentry, tell him this has to stop.”

Gentry’s mouth opened but Kyle stepped between us. I couldn’t see what he was mouthing to his dad but whatever it was, it worked. Gentry came and put a hand on Mom’s shoulder and squeezed. “Come on, Rebecca. Let’s give Maverick some space. I’m sure he’s had an exhausting day.”

“But…” she started to protest, but he was already guiding her back to the stool.

“I’m fine, Mom. The pills they gave me are the good kind. And nothing's broken.” Thank fuck. I don’t know how I would have explained that one to Coach. “I just need to rest for a couple of weeks.”

“Go on.” Gentry met my heavy stare. In the past, he’d been the first one to lose his cool with me. but something was different. “I’ll have Loretta make you something to eat before she leaves. We’ll talk about this when you’re feeling more up to it.”

Okay then.

I had nothing, so I gave him a tight nod and followed Kyle out to the pool house. After letting me sleep off the pain for a couple of hours, he’d woken me up, insisting I get checked out at the medical center.

“Have you spoken to her?” I asked once we were inside. Lo hadn’t texted me back, but I’d noticed Kyle texting someone while we waited.

“I let her know you were okay, yeah.”

“Is she… is she okay?”

He dropped into the chair and I sat down on the couch. “What do you think?” The protective edge in his voice reached some deep part of me and I bristled. He wasn’t supposed to be the one protecting her, I was.

“Stone, I’m—”

“If the words ‘I’m sorry’ leave your mouth so help me God, I will finish what that loser started. We had to drag you out of that place barely breathing. Can you even imagine what that did to her? It hit me hard, Rick. But Lo,” he hesitated. “She’s still hurting. You know what she went through…”

I knew. Shit, I knew that Lo had lost her mom and brother. I knew it was still raw for her. Even though she rarely let her walls down, I knew she still carried the pain of her losses.

“And then to watch her clean you up like that. Like it wasn’t killing her on the inside. If you were anyone else, I’d be telling you to keep the hell away from her. She deserves better, so much fucking better than this. But I know you, Rick. And I know something happened to make you agree to fight that animal. So, you’d better start talking, and you'd better have a good fucking reason. Or you are going to lose the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”

His eyes widened as if he couldn’t believe he’d just said all that, then a small smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “And no, I’m not talking about me, I’m talking about Lo. Just so we’re clear.”

Fucker.

“I’ll tell you,” I said. “But then I need you to do something for me.”

He cocked his eyebrow, leaning back in the chair. “I’m listening.”

This was it. The turning point. There would be no going back after this, but he was right. If I didn’t open up—reveal my deepest darkest secrets with someone—the darkness would consume me, and I’d lose Lo before I ever got a chance to really make her mine.

And I couldn’t let that happen.

~

“Hello? Maverick?”

Just the sound of her voice relaxed me, seeped into my bones and made breathing easier.

“In here,” I called, shifting up the bed.  After coming clean to Kyle, he’d left me to go and do damage control with Lo. The fact she was here… well, my debts owed to him were stacking up.

“Hi.” She appeared in the doorway, her eyes running over my face. “You look better than you did last night.”

“I—” My throat closed up, and I swallowed hard trying to find the words. “Please.” I flicked my head to the chair, and she nodded.

“Kyle needs to work on his persuasion tactics.”

My eyebrows shot up, and she smiled. It was small, uncertain. But fuck if it didn’t settle something in my soul.

“He didn’t kidnap you, did he?”

“Not quite but let’s just say he wasn’t entirely honest.”

Okay, so maybe I needed to retract my statement about owing him. But whatever he said or did to get Lo here, I was grateful.

“We need to talk,” I said, not wanting to give myself time to think about it. If I paused, even for a second, I knew the words would escape me and I’d close down.

“Okay,” Lo said shifting uncomfortably. “But usually when people start a conversation with ‘we need to talk’ it’s only going one way.”

“I guess that’s up to you.”

Confusion furrowed her brows. “I… I don’t understand.”

“I want to tell you the truth. About why I fight. Why I went there last night. I guess I should have told you this from the beginning, but I didn’t want you to look at me with pity in your eyes.”

“Maverick,” she whispered. “You’re scaring me.”

I shuffled to the edge of the bed and sat in front of her. “Just hear me out, okay?”

She dragged her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded. I wanted nothing more than to lean in and kiss her; to capture her mouth with mine and lose myself in her. But this needed to be out in the open. Before we went any further, Lo needed to know the truth.