Page 103 of Maverick

Everybody else nods. Well okay then. "Okay, Pie."

What did I just agree to?

34

MAVERICK

Ilean back in my chair, surveying the chaos unfolding around us. The restaurant's packed with my family, their voices rising and falling like waves crashing against the shore. Colton's waving his arms wildly, nearly knocking over a glass of water as he argues with Jonas about some movie they saw last week. Nick's got his head in his hands, clearly regretting sitting between them. Bree and Janey are sitting across from them, heads bobbing left to right as the men argue.

The doors to the kitchen open, and John appears, face like granite. All of us suck in our breath and go dead quiet. He grunts, going back into the kitchen, and all of us exhale and do air high five's from across the room.

Cadence leans across the table, her warm breath tickling my ear. "What's going on? Why does everyone suddenly remember their manners when John pops out?"

"Remember our manners? You're assuming we have any." My fingers absently tracing patterns on the tablecloth. "Well, let's just say John and Colton had a... disagreement last Christmas."

Her eyebrows shoot up, curiosity sparkling in those beautiful eyes. "A disagreement?"

"John had just gotten out of prison, and he offered to make Christmas dinner. But Colton was being annoying as fuck while John was trying to cook. John may have threatened him with a knife." I shrug, trying to downplay it. "But honestly, we're more worried about missing out on pie if John decides to kick us out."

As if on cue, John's head appears in the kitchen doorway, again. The restaurant falls silent, forks freezing midair. Even Ransom, who's engrossed in conversation with Abby at the next table, shuts up. John narrows his eyes, scanning the room before disappearing again. The collective sigh of relief is hilarious.

"He makes really good pie." My stomach is threatening to eat itself, and I try to peek through the still swinging door to see if we're any closer to those little wedges from heaven coming out, but I can't see a fucking thing. We've all eaten full meals, but…pie. I turn back to Cadence, because she's my favorite thing to look at, but also, I have questions. "Were you ever going to tell me you're an ass kicker?"

"Ass kicker?" she repeats with a snort. "It didn't really come up in conversation."

"Cadence. Come on, that feels like a pretty big part of yourself you just…denied. And you lit up out there. And you seriously held your own with her. No one can do that. Not any of us, at least."

Her cheeks heat, but I see little flashes of pride fighting to surface. Why is she fighting it?

"I wasn't denying it, not really. I just haven't trained for a long time." She winces. "When my grandpa passed, I still went. It was nice to spend time with people who knew him. It felt like I got to keep his memory alive that way. But when Nan got sick, my priorities shifted, and there just wasn't as much time for that stuff."

Well fuck, of course she wouldn't have as much time. "That makes sense. But now that things are more stable, and you've got some extra time…do you think you'll start back up?"

She bites her lip as she looks around the room. Finally she turns to me. "I think…I might like that."

"Good. I want a chance to wrestle around with you."

She giggles and reaches over to flick my nose. "We don't have to be at the Dojo to wrestle around."

"God dammit woman, did you have to say that? Now my pants are too tight." I glare at her, but that's not good either, because her t-shirt is low cut and I have a perfect view of those perfect breasts.Danger! Need distraction.

Clearing my throat, I search for something else to talk about. Something not sexy at all. "Hey, what were you and Ransom talking about back at the dojo? You two seemed pretty deep in conversation."

Cadence takes a sip of water, her fingers tapping a nervous rhythm on the glass. "Oh, you know, just stuff about family and how you all came together."

Ransom's not usually one to share that kind of information. "Really? He told you about that?"

She nods, a soft smile playing on her lips. "Is that okay? I wasn't trying to go behind your back, or pry or anything."

"No, of course, it's fine. He just doesn't usually talk about the past. At least not easily. He's still a bit of a mystery to us."

Her eyebrows wing up. "A mystery? You guys have been a family forever. How do you not know everything about each other?"

"Most of us know pretty much everything about each other, but Ransom's always been a little different."

"Different how?"

"We're all nosy as fuck. And we don't hesitate to pry into one another's lives, especially if we think whatever we dig up isgoing to be funny, or important. Cause, well, if we can make fun of something stupid we will. But we also want to make sure if there's anything bad or fucked up going on, we help."

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