Page 97 of IOU

Is she indebted to him like I am? Is this a deal going on? Wait, is Maverick calling in a favor?

Aspen turns her attention back to Mav, pausing only to give me a little wink. I’m not sure who this girl is, but I think I kind of like her.

“Always the charmer, Lexington.” She fishes a card out of her pocket, handing it over with a smug look. “I assume you have a marker.”

The muscle in Mav’s cheek twitches, but he doesn’t react until she raises her brows.

“What’s it going to be, Lexington?”

After a moment, Maverick runs his hand through his hair and sighs, dropping his chin to his chest. “I assume you can make good on your part of the deal?” he asks, slowly pulling out the marker from his back pocket.

She nods. “I already did.”

The tension in Maverick seems to relax as he passes her the marker. What the hell is going on here? Is he—

“Turn around, Lexington. I want to enjoy this.”

I feel my jaw go slack. I’ve never seen anyone not fear Maverick and—is he really turning around and giving her his back?

“I don’t envy Jameson for a minute.” He laughs, shaking his head and turning around so she can press the card to his shirt. At this point, I have no doubt as to what she’s doing. Maverick Lexington is owing someone a favor. I’ve seen him take favors and call in favors, but I’ve never seen him go as far as to owe someone else a favor where the terms aren’t by his own making.

It takes Aspen only a second to scrawl out the letters and hand the card over to Maverick. “Make sure your brother is playing in Sunday’s game. He gets one shot and one shot only to impress him.”

Mav nods, fighting back his emotions, but I can tell her favor pleases him.

Aspen Von Bremen just did him and his brother a favor. One that Maverick couldn’t do himself. The question is, what?

“I’ll make sure of it. Thank you, Aspen.” He tips his chin at the girl. “I mean it.”

Everything to Maverick is a business deal. Nothing is ever personal, but this—this favor—this is personal for him and he appreciates it. “Now get the fuck out of here. I don’t want any issues with Jameson.”

Who the hell is Jameson? And since when has Mav cared who has a beef with him? Typically, he doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks about him. He’s the almighty at Havemeyer.

Aspen chuckles as her phone rings in her bag. “You let me handle Jameson.” She looks at the screen and holds up a finger, signaling for Mav to wait or hush, I’m not sure which.

“Where the fuck are you?”

A deep voice roars through the phone and I look at Maverick, who just shakes his head. But it seems not to faze Aspen since an even bigger smile tugs on her face.

“What do you mean, where am I? I’m right where you told me to be,” she lies, setting her shoulders as if she’s readying for a verbal sparring.

Another growl sounds through the phone, but I can’t make out his words. I can only assume they were not sweet. Again, though, this doesn’t upset Aspen. “Bennett, for the love of God, I am waving at you. How do you not see me?”

I feel a grin slipping onto my face when Maverick shakes his head as if me encouraging her is not the thing to do at the moment.

“I swear, when we get home, we’re having your eyes checked. Just stay there. I’ll come to you.”

The angered voice interrupts her laugh, but I can still make out the sentence, “When I get to you.”

Maverick worries the card in his hand while the voice on the other end of the phone continues yelling at Aspen until she puts the phone on mute and addresses Mav once again.

“I’ll be back to collect my debt. That is how this works, yes?”

Maverick sighs, no doubt rethinking his deal with Aspen and whoever this Jameson guy is. “Yes, that’s how it works.”

Aspen smiles at me, her phone still on mute. I wonder if she’s in any trouble. Why is this guy so mad at her? “It’s nice meeting you, Ainsley.”

“It’s nice to meet you—” Stomping sounds behind Aspen and she grins, never looking back at the massive body filling the stairwell with a scowl that would scare off armies. His phone is clutched in his hand as if any minute he will shatter it to pieces with one squeeze.

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