Page 13 of Forsaking All Others

Turning back to Holly, I release my hold on her. She stumbles back a step, but quickly recovers. Straightening her shoulders, her eyes slide to mine.

“You can do better, Maverick.”

I shake my head.

That’s what she doesn’t understand.

“No, baby, a man can’t do better when he’s already had the best.” I watch her go soft and it’s too much. I can take the anger. I can take her getting in my business too. I cannot take Holly giving me her soft because I’ll forget the rings on her finger ain’t mine. “Go home,” I order.

Go the fuck home before I don’t let you go home to another man.

Chapter Five

Holly Armstrong

Partof me knew I’d regret coming here, but that’s only because Maverick and I have a routine of sorts. Every time we share a moment like we did last night, one of two things happens. He either picks a fight the very next day or he bounces off the face of the earth for a little while. For a man who likes to keep his enemies guessing, Maverick is awfully predictable when it comes to affairs of the heart. But I’m not complaining. The truth is I need him to disappear. I need him to fight with me because when we’re not fighting, we’re lovin’ and I forget all the things that tore us apart.

I forget I gave my heart to another man.

That I’m creating a life with someone else.

Still, I took a chance and hoped for a different outcome. I guess I should’ve been more specific, because going head to head with Vivi wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. Not only did that bitch make sure I saw her, she made it clear that she spent the night with Maverick by asking Ghost, who stood two feet away from my car, to go back inside the clubhouse to see if she left her keys in Mav’s bed.

It took every ounce of self-control not to spit in her face. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those women who blames her failed marriage on another woman. Vivi didn’t stand in front of a reverend and vow to forsake all others—that was all Maverick and he shit on those vows. But Vivi—she’s a woman—we’re supposed to straighten each other’s crowns, not knock one another when we’re down. She climbed into bed with my husband the first chance she got, knowing very well we both still loved one another deeply and she throws it in my face every chance she gets.

Maverick is right, I do steer clear of the clubhouse. But not because I have some undying hatred for the club. Maverick’s brothers are just as much a part of my family as they are his. Do I resent him for putting the club before us? Yes, of course, but that’s not why I stay away. I avoid this place because of Vivi. Because the very sight of her makes me want to roll up my sleeves and take a sledgehammer to her face.

I swallowed my pride to come here today and look where it got me. I’m sitting in the parking lot of the compound, unable to turn my car on because I’m still shaking from my encounter with Maverick.

A knock sounds on the passenger window startling me, and I turn my head to find Maverick staring back at me.

“Unlock the door,” he orders.

A sane ex-wife would ignore his command and drive away. She’d remind herself that she divorced the man knocking on the window for many reasons and even though he’ll always be part of her life, there needs to be boundaries. But I don’t do any of those things. I hit the button on the side of the driver’s side door and unlock the doors. Maverick pulls open the passenger door and folds himself into the seat.

He’s always looked a little out of place in a cage, but this—him sitting inside my Toyota Highlander, his knees flush against the dashboard and his arm hanging over the console—it’s almost comical.

“Fucking hell,” he grunts. “How do you move this seat back?”

“There’s a button on the side.”

Finding the button, he adjusts his seat accordingly. I wait for him to look at me, but he keeps his gaze focused on the front windshield. I’m about to ask him why he followed me out of the clubhouse, when he turns his head. Those intense brown eyes of his lock with mine and I see the struggle.

Ifeelit.

He wants to turn his back on me.

He doesn’t want to care.

But it’s beyond his control.

“Why are you here, Holly?”

Licking my lips, I look away.

As much as I love Colt, and as much as I respect him too, I always revert to Maverick in some form. It’s not intentional but I think when a woman who was previously married enters a new relationship it’s natural for her to compare her new man to her old man. The thing is most woman evolve after time. They learn to leave the past in the past, they don’t measure their new man to their old one.

Unfortunately, I’m not one of those women.

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