Page 56 of Fractured Hearts

“Do what you need to do, and I’ll meet you downstairs,” he says before kissing me and making his way out of my room.

What the hell is happening?

fifty-three

EZRA

Waking up with Maverick’s warm body wrapped around me should have been enough to start my day off great. It would have if it wasn’t for the screaming muscles in my body and the uncertainty of what happened between us last night. I tried to stay as still as possible so I wouldn’t wake him and break the moment, but my muscles were so sore, I needed to move.

“Good morning,” Maverick croaks behind me in a sleepy voice before placing a soft kiss to my neck. I could barely breathe, terrified this was him not fully awake, just waiting for the moment he tells me last night was a mistake.

“I need to go stretch. My muscles are tense,” I say before he gets a chance. Sliding out of bed and away from him is difficult and not because of my stiff back.

“About last night,” he says, and I can feel him shuffling into a sitting position behind me.

“I get it. You don’t need to explain,” I say around a lump in my throat.

“Get what?” he asks. “Look at me, Ezra. Please.”

My shoulders slump, but I slowly turn, staring at his bare chest instead of his eyes. I think if I look into his eyes right now, I’ll break. He doesn’t give me a choice, reaching out with his finger and gently tilting my chin up until my eyes meet his.

“I don’t regret it or whatever you’re overthinking right now,” he says with a small smile. “I just think it’s a good idea to go slow and get to know each other again. I don’t want to jump back into this and ruin things before they even get started.”

I let out a heavy exhale. It’s not exactly what I want, but it’s so much more than I thought he was going to offer me. “Okay,” I say, nodding even with his finger still on my chin. Maverick smiles, his eyes twinkling in a familiar what that I wasn’t sure I’d ever see on him again. Not after what he’s been through. Not after what I put him through. He leans in close to me, pressing his lips softly against mine in a sweet but quick kiss.

“Go stretch, old man.”

I laugh. “I’m only a year older than you.”

Maverick gets out of bed, naked as the day he was born, morning wood on full display, shoots me a smile, slaps my ass, and makes his way to the bathroom in the hallway. My eyes bulge as I run after him and check to see if Jo’s door is open. Thankfully, it’s closed. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind seeing him naked, but it feels cruel for us to both walk out of this room together with him looking like that.

That satisfaction I thought I would feel with Maverick being mine—well, almost mine—isn’t there. If anything, I feel a little guilty. I don’t want to hurt her. Jo is an amazing woman, and she deserves someone to love her for everything she is. Whoever that is will be a lucky bastard. I ignore the pain in my chest at the thought of some faceless stranger holding Jo, but I chalk that up to my instinct to protect her. It’s what I’ve been doing for over a month. It’s just a habit.

Slowly making my way down the stairs while Maverick is occupied and not able to see how sore and stiff I really am, I think about what happened over the past few days. That podcast episode really fucked me up. Maverick’s pain was awful to hear, but Kai’s killed me just as much. I need to call him. The moment my foot touches the bottom of the stairs, I realize I had left my phone upstairs. I look up the staircase and decide the phone call can wait. My yoga mat and foam rollers are calling my name.

I feel much better after stretching. Not back to normal, but enough to function without pain for the most part. Making my way into the kitchen, I stop in my tracks. Maverick is sitting on one of the stools with Jo standing between his legs, his hands on her hips. It would look more romantic if she wasn’t biting her lip nervously and picking at the sleeve of his blue sweater. She doesn’t seem to be aware she’s doing it, lost in thought somewhere while Maverick rubs soothing circles into her skin with his thumbs. He looks worried.

“What’s going on? Did something happen?” I ask, walking quickly over to them. “What’s wrong, Bambi?” I ask her, taking the hand that was playing with Maverick’s sweater and holding it in my own to get her attention.

She gasps, seeming to come back to Earth as she focuses on me and then quickly looks at Maverick before turning back to me. “Nothing is wrong!” she squeaks. Maverick laughs and gazes at her with a type of adoration that triggers immediate jealousy. What the fuck is going on right now?

“We just want to talk to you about something,” Maverick says, reaching over and putting his hand over where mine and Jo’s are still joined. My brows pull together as I wait for him to explain. Every worst-case scenario runs through my mind like a fucked-up slideshow. “I’d like to be with both of you.”

“What?” I blurt, not sure I’m understanding correctly.

“Maybe explore things with both of you is a better way to explain it,” he says casually, like my mind isn’t about to implode.

“Willa mentioned it, actually,” Jo says, sounding more timid than I’ve ever heard her. It makes me squeeze her hand even though I didn’t remember I was holding it. “But it’s a big decision and something that all of us need to agree to.”

“How . . . uh,” I start, trying to gather my thoughts. “How would that work?”

“We’d have to get a lot better at communicating,” Jo says with a nervous laugh. “Figure out what works best for all three of us.”

“I would essentially date both of you, but you wouldn’t be dating each other,” Maverick says with a shrug.

I look at Maverick, and he’s smiling with so much hope behind those sweet honey eyes. There’s no way I could deny him anything. I’m not sure I’d want to. Do I love the idea of sharing him? Not really, but if I had to, I’m happy it’s Jo. I’ve come to like having her around, and I don’t think I was ready for her to split from us, anyway. Not that she can. We’re still stuck here for now.

“Okay. Yeah. Let’s do it,” I say with a lot more conviction than I’m feeling. This is a recipe for disaster, but all I can think is that if I say no and force Maverick to choose me, we’d be doomed from the start. It’s utter arrogance to think he would even choose me over the woman who has been healing the hurt I caused. So I’ll do what I have to do and share him.