Page 108 of IOU

I kiss Sam on the nose. “Come on.” I nod, giving her the signal to follow. “Mama needs to go home and straighten out her man.” Sam barks and I give her a little pat on the head. She knows men need a woman to handle them. She has a time with Barker, the only male sea lion in her habitat.

I knew when I got accepted as an intern with the aquarium that Sam was my spirit sister. No, not spirit animal, even though she is that too. Sea lions have always been my spirit animal, but Sam, in particular, is the best sea lion a girl could ever ask for.

I cried for two solid days when I was promoted to be her trainer. I had worked so hard to prove myself. I cleaned whatever I needed to clean, I studied, I observed. I did everything to get a trainer position. It was a dream come true and I did it all on my own.

Sure, Maverick bought me a season pass to do all the extracurricular sea lion petting I wanted, but I was the one who wowed the staff with her incredible sea lion wooing skills and grades. After Maverick and I hashed out our differences in the fire department’s parking lot, we went back home.

We went to class.

We witnessed Tucker getting arrested for bribing a professor who flunked his ass. His girlfriend, Taylor, well, she changed schools. Come to find out, students hate bullies.

The rumors still spread around Maverick and me, and that was fine. We knew who we were, and we spent our time together, drinking water and playing Who Wants to be a Millionaire until we graduated.

Now we have a house close to our families. Maverick’s pops is doing well, living in an assisted living facility—he refused to live with us—since Cooper was drafted to the minor leagues straight out of high school, thanks to Aspen’s dad. He didn’t attend college like Maverick and Pops wanted, but they are happy for him regardless. Cooper, like his big brother, lives by his own code. He wasn’t about to let Pops’s and Mav’s dreams for him get in the way of his own.

I lock Sam in her habitat and kiss her nose. “See you tomorrow, chica. I’ll let you know if we need to plan a funeral. Sam nods like she understands. Maverick is sexy and all, but sometimes even the sexy ones have to die.

Leaving Sam to her own devices, I find my jacket and purse, and pull out my phone. A text flashes on the screen.

Mom: Should I wear the green dress or the gold one?

I grin, so excited that my mom is finally dating.

Me: He’s a firefighter, Mom. You always wear red!

You guessed it. My superhero, Devon Sawa, guardian angel, aka Boss, is dating my mom. You can thank me for hooking them up. I might have set them up on a blind date by asking them to lunch with me. Except, I didn’t stay. I rushed out the quick story about how Boss looked out for me and then kissed my mom on the cheek and waved goodbye.

They hit it off by bonding over how kids were such a pain in the ass. I didn’t care, though, because I knew they were talking about Maverick.

Mom: Are you sure?

I fire off a text, getting into my car.

Me: Positive. Don’t be late! It’s his only night off this week.

Of course I keep up with Boss’s schedule. He’s all lonely since Mav and I have moved away, but rest assured, I keep him visiting so much that he’s actually looking to move and commute to work. I’m not even sorry. I may not have known my real father, but I have adopted Boss and he’s better than that sperm donor.

When I’m sure my mom is settled and not going to text me anymore, I head home, not bothering to call my pain in the ass boyfriend and warn him. He’s been acting odd all week. At first I thought maybe it was his heart acting up, but when I checked his watch history, everything seemed okay.

We live about five minutes from the aquarium. On really pretty days, Maverick will walk with me to work, but today he didn’t, deciding to head to his office early. Mr. CEO has not slowed down one little bit. Just this past fall, he opened a new branch in Atlanta where he has to be chained to the bed to keep from trying to take over that branch too. He hired an extremely knowledgeable branch manager and the company is thriving. One thing about my man is he knows how to run a company.

His problem is following up on our plans.

Parking, I pull out the keys and dash up the walkway, finding our front door unlocked, which isn’t all that odd. Maverick still has the personality that no one would dare come in his house unannounced, but I still lock the door because hello, we live in a crazy world.

Pushing open the door, I find the living room empty just the way I left it. A blanket is thrown over the edge of the sofa where Maverick ate his breakfast and settled his heart down with my body. It’s been mutually beneficial for both of us to relieve stress.

“Maverick,” I call out. “Are you here?”

I take the stairs to the basement where he still holds his Wednesday night poker games with Sebastian and Rowan.

I knock softly. “Maverick?”

When he doesn’t answer, I crack open the door and find him sitting at the table, his head in his hands and a pile of cards in front of him.

“Are you okay?” I ask softly into the darkened room. “How long have you been in here?”

He turns at the sound of my voice. “You’re late.”

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