Page 111 of Can't Get Enough

“Okay,” I say after a few moments. “Let’s be good to each other.”

CHAPTER 34

MAVERICK

When the phone rings a few minutes after I disconnect with Hendrix, I’m not surprised it’s Zere. I actually thought she’d call sooner.

“Hey, Zee,” I say, sitting on a stool at the countertop in Hendrix’s kitchen.

“Hey, Zee?” She infuses each word with outrage. “Fuck you, Mav.”

“You’re upset that I’m seeing Hendrix.”

“Up… upset? Why would I be upset that you’re seeing one of my friends only three months after we broke up? That would be ridiculous.”

“You barely knew her beforeLewks, and your connection is primarily through business. Don’t act like the two of you have been close for years.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me. You’re dating, Zere, and I don’t begrudge you that at all. I’m happy for you.”

“Of course you are because it makes you feel better about this shit with Hendrix.”

“I was happy for you before anything officially happened with Hendrix.”

“Officially? Let’s deal with that word for a moment. When exactly did this begin?”

The moment we met.

I don’t say that because she would hate me for it. She may alreadyhate me. Zere and I were not together when I met Hendrix, but I would have been drawn to her even if we had. I wouldn’t have acted on it, but I don’t believe her laugh, her heart, her beauty and drive would have impacted me any less.

“It wasn’t a start exactly,” I reply after a moment of figuring out how to say this. “When we met in Miami, we connected around our shared passion for venture capital.”

“Passion,” she scoffs. “Go on.”

I give my annoyance a second to abate before continuing.

“And of course, her mother has Alzheimer’s and after what I navigated with my grandfather, I understood what she might be feeling. We became friends.”

“Why her?” Zere’s voice goes shrill with hurt. “She’s not even your type.”

“Driven? Generous? Kind? Funny?” I soften my tone. “Aren’t you that type, Zee?”

“But physically, she’s not your type.”

My face twists into a scowl. “What’s that mean?”

“I was a model, Maverick. I was onPeople’s Most Beautiful list. How do you go from me to her?”

“Wait a damn minute, Zere. I don’t know who to feel most insulted for. Me, because you think I’m that shallow. Hendrix, because you don’t see how fucking gorgeous she is, inside and out.” I pause and gentle my voice. “Or on your behalf, because you don’t understand the good I saw in you, the beauty I saw in you, outshines your physical appearance. Is that why you thought I was with you?”

“Of course it’s why you were with me. Men like you who can buy and have anything they want add beautiful women to their collection. I’ve understood that all my life. Is this some kind of phase you’re going through? A midlife crisis?”

“Let me be very clear. I think Hendrix has the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. Her face is art to me. I love her body. I think it’s thick in all the right places and I’ve beenphysicallyattracted to herfrom the moment we met.” Tension creeps across my shoulders and I squeeze the phone more tightly. “I would never be in a relationship with someone solely based on physical appearance, though. I wish in the time we were together you had realized that. For your sake.”

“I’m not body-shaming. Don’t try to put that on me,” Zere says, a defensive note piercing her voice. “I’m just saying a man like you can have anyone he wants.”

“And I do.”

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