Page 14 of Falling Stars (Wild at Heart #2)

BAYLEE

In my passenger seat, Mav’s quiet. He’s staring out the window.

It’s odd to spend so much time with him—seeing him before work, talking to him before I go to bed, watching him with my son.

He’s gotten up several times to help me with Leo in the middle of the night, which I wasn’t prepared for. I’m so used to doing everything on my own that having someone help me makes me feel unexpectedly vulnerable.

Sleeping on the couch and waking up to see his sexy smile every morning reminds me so much of the friendship we had in high school—before everything went sideways. It’s bittersweet.

And as much as I hoped to remain detached, hanging out with Maverick has dredged up old feelings.

I fiddle with the radio. “There’s supposed to be a meteor shower next month.” He glances at me. “I realize they’re not real shooting stars, but I pretend they are. I like to make a wish every time I see one.”

His lips tug up. “I remember.”

I don’t know why I brought that up. I’m glad it’s dark so he can’t see the way my face heats. The last time we stared up at meteors was the night I tried to kiss him and made a royal ass out of myself. “I know those wishes don’t really come true. It’s just fun.”

“It’s okay to make a wish on a falling star.” He looks down at his lap, then turns away. “I hope every one of your wishes comes true.”

None of them come true, but that sounds pathetic, so I keep those words to myself. “Vera can watch Leo until nine tonight. So we don’t have to rush.” When he doesn’t say anything, I glance at him. “Are you ever going to tell me why you’re avoiding your brothers?”

At first, he doesn’t respond. Then he scrubs his face with his palm.

“I just need to be alone for a while so I can hear myself think. I love my brothers—you know I do—but they have opinions about everything. I have some pretty big decisions to make, and I need to figure out how I feel about things first.”

I don’t ask him what those big decisions are. I want to respect his privacy. If he wants to tell me, he will. But jeez, I’m tempted to ask. “Are Leo and I ruining your fantasies of quiet nights to yourself?”

He chuckles. “Not at all. I love having you around.”

Part of me wants to float away with happiness, but the rest of me knows he’s simply saying I’m a good friend. “Well, kick us out if we get too loud. Beau’s camper doesn’t sound so bad.” Mav makes a growly sound that makes me do a double-take. “What was that?”

“Nothing. Just… nothing.”

When we pull up to my house, a desolate feeling settles in my chest, which is the reason I’ve been putting this off as long as possible. “I can’t believe we lost this house.”

“For some reason, I thought your mom owned it.”

“My parents did, but after the divorce, they had to sell. My mom agreed because that was the only way my father could give her any child support. But that dried up pretty quickly.”

“Do you ever talk to him?”

“Nope. He treated my mom like crap. I can’t forgive him for that.” I take a deep breath. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

After I grab my duffle bag full of giant trash bags, I lock up and come around my car. I catch the grimace on Maverick’s face as he tries to slide out of his seat. “Here. Take my hand.” I hold it out to him.

He stares at it, then glances at me. “For a woman who hates accepting help, you’ve always been quick to offer it.”

“What can I say? I’m a riddle wrapped in an enigma.”

Chuckling, he places his rough palm in mine. “Just hang on in case I try to faceplant.”

My brow furrows. “Does that happen often? The faceplanting?”

“Not yet. I’m just not a hundred percent.”

“Yet. It’ll happen.”

At home, he only seems to struggle when he first wakes up, but otherwise, he seems okay. Then again, it’s not like he’s running a gauntlet in the condo.

When he’s finally upright, I realize there’s no way he should be helping me move anything right now. “Mav, this is a bad idea. You should be at home, icing things. Your neck or shoulder, whatever hurts.”

“It all fucking hurts sometimes, so if we wait for me to heal, we’ll be here a while.”

My heart sinks. His pain is worse than I realized. He takes a wobbly step before he lets go of my hand and manages to walk straight.

I don’t know why I didn’t notice his uneven gait before this. I guess I’ve been overwhelmed just being around him again .

“Are you taking any painkillers?” I ask as we make our way to the porch.

“Some over-the-counter stuff.”

“I have some CBD you can try. When I’m sore from work, I rub it into my shoulders, and it helps.”

“As long as it’s THC-free. I don’t wanna flag a drug test.”

“I’ll double-check, but I think that’s what I have.”

He takes the steps slowly, but with his hand on the rail, he doesn’t have any problems.

I unlock the door and flip on the light.

“My stuff’s in my bedroom.” I point toward the hall, which is dumb since Maverick’s been here a million times.

“This place is eerie and sad now that it’s empty.

My sister took all of the furniture. That’s why I needed to stay somewhere else as soon as Amara moved to Amarillo. ”

“I wouldn’t want you to be by yourself. Especially now that you have Leo.”

When I turn on the light in my room, Maverick lets out a curse as I gasp. “Oh my God.”

Blood roars in my ears as my gaze darts around the room. The gifts I received for my baby shower are lying in filthy heaps on the floor, shredded. I spot the beautiful embroidered blanket my mom made Leo, sliced to ribbons.

Panic builds as I reach for the closet door, ripping it open.

It could be a murder scene, but instead of coagulated blood, it’s bright red paint dripping across every item of clothing. Even my shoes are full of the thick latex.

“What the fuck?” Maverick growls as we take in the mess.

“Why would anyone do this?” I cover my mouth.

A strong arm wraps around my shoulder, and I press my face to Maverick’s chest. “It’ll be okay, Bay. We’ll figure out who did this.”

“I can’t afford to replace Leo’s things. Those were gifts from my baby shower.” That asshole even took the Pack ’N Play out of the box and shredded the netting. It’s useless now.

“I got you. Don’t worry about that.” He holds me until I calm down. “Let’s call Reynolds so he can make a police report.” Because that’s so effective.

Twenty minutes later, the sheriff pulls up. When I open the front door, he tips his hat at me. “You havin’ more problems, Baylee?”

“More problems?” Maverick turns to me. “What else has happened?”

I sigh. “Someone threw a rock through the salon window last summer. Probably just dumb kids out joyriding.” I mean, that’s what I figured since the police never came up with any leads.

The sheriff hums as he smooths down his mustache. “I’d agree with you, except didn’t that rock call you something nasty? And don’t forget, your tires got slashed.”

“What the fuck?” Maverick’s face is thunderous. “Why didn’t you say anything or let me know?”

Hmm. I wonder why. “Why didn’t you return my calls after you landed in the hospital? I left you five thousand messages,” I shoot back. We glare at each other, and then I poke him in his pec. “Pot meet kettle.”

“It’s kettle meet pot.” He chuckles, then grabs me in a headlock and gives me a noogie. “Always such a little pain in my ass.”

Shocked I can laugh right now, I shove him off and turn to find the sheriff staring at us with a smirk. “Okay, kids. Show me what happened.”

That wipes the smile off my face. When I show him my bedroom, he whistles. “Son of a gun. Someone went to town here.”

“The paint’s still wet, so this has to be recent.”

He takes out his phone and snaps several photos. He must notice the shredded wrapping paper because he turns to me with sympathy in his eyes. “Are these from your baby shower?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I sure am sorry, Baylee.” He gives me a gentle hug with one arm. “Let me call this in and see if anyone reported suspicious behavior on your street in the last day or two.”

While he does that, I call my landlord, Mr. Ulrich, and explain that we got vandalized. When I hang up, I’m even more depressed than before. “So much for getting our deposit back.”

When the sheriff’s done, he tells me he’ll be in touch, and I return to my bedroom.

Instead of loading my things to take back to Maverick’s, I stuff trash bags full of destroyed baby gifts and try not to cry as I drag them to the street for garbage pickup.

I manage to salvage a few outfits for Leo while Maverick helps me clear out my closet.

Once we’re done, there’s still red paint all over the floor and a little on the walls. “I don’t have anything to clean this.”

“You’ll need paint thinner, but that will pull off the finish from the floor. Let’s call it a day.” He rubs the back of his neck with a wince. “Maybe I can talk to your landlord tomorrow and ask what he wants us to do.”

“It’s my problem, Maverick. You’ve done more than enough to help.”

He gives me a look. “Do you have appointments all day tomorrow?”

“Yes,” I say hesitantly.

“Are you also taking care of an infant?”

“Yeah.”

“And aren’t you bringing some asshole football player lunch too? Seems like you might have your hands full.”

I give him a weary smile and admit defeat. “If you don’t mind calling him, that would be great.”

After we pick up Leo, we head back to the condo. My son’s pretty fussy. “I’m going to feed him, so just ignore me and my boob.”

He laughs and mumbles something under his breath I don’t catch. When we get home, I get settled on the couch and cover Leo with a light, cotton blanket to feed him.

“Bay, want some pizza?” Mav calls out from the kitchen.

“Pepperoni, black olives, and mushrooms?”

“Is there any other way to order it?”

“Nope. Because that’s the perfect pizza.”

“Damn straight.”

When Leo’s done eating, I tuck myself away and burp him. The pizza arrives, and Mav places it on the coffee table and hands me a paper plate.

“That was fast,” I say.

He motions to Leo. “Give me the baby so you can eat.”

I’m too tired to argue with him. I hand off my kid and serve us both a few slices. He cradles Leo with one arm while he munches on dinner with the other.

“You’re pretty good with him.”

He smiles. “I know.”

“Are you sure holding him won’t hurt your shoulder?”

“He weighs, what, ten pounds?”

“Fourteen.”

“I’ll be fine.” He smiles down at Leo before he takes another bite of food.

I try to ignore the flutters that take flight in my belly. Maverick being stupidly sweet is not a new phenomenon, but watching him care for my son ramps that to a whole new level.

Leo feels huge in my arms, but cradled against Maverick’s chest, he’s tiny. And wow, those are some nice muscles. I swallow as he adjusts his grip, making his arm flex.

Girl, get a grip .

I grab the remote. “Want me to put something on TV? Maybe ESPN?”

His expression flattens. “Nah. Maybe pick a movie.”

I feel like there’s something he’s not saying, and I resist the urge to pry. “Will Kira care that I’m staying here?” I don’t want to be the reason they have problems.

“Nope.” That’s all he says.

Okay, then. She must be pretty chill because there’s no way I’d be cool with my boyfriend living with one of his female friends. And I don’t care if people call that toxic. I call it smart.

Because all kinds of intimate things happen when you live together.

My friend Abby fell in love with her employer, a single dad named Nick, when she was working as his daughter’s nanny.

It happens. She even told me they had a “towel incident” where she bumped into him in the middle of the night while only wearing a towel.

Not that I’m going to fall for Maverick again, or let intimate things happen.

I guess I already did run into him while wearing a towel, but that’s because I had mommy brain and forgot my clothes. I won’t let it happen again.

I let out a sigh as I glance at the man sitting next to me, cradling my son, who’s nestled comfortably in his arms. Kira’s a lucky woman.