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Mitchell flashes me a glare and then clears his throat. “A year ago, we got a nine-one-one call.”

My watch starts beeping and Ainsley and Mitchell both stop to look at me. I wave my hand that I’m fine.

“To my apartment, to be exact,” I add when they both just continue to watch me and not speak.

“Maverick had been pulling all-nighters, working and playing poker, trying to get his grandfather’s business back up and running,” Mitchell explains.

“He had developed the heart condition and didn’t know how to control it, so he began drinking and smoking more.

It dulled the effects of the fast rhythm until one day it didn’t. ”

Ainsley gasps and makes a move like she wants to come to me but stops herself .

Bostic continues, keeping his gaze on me, his eyes flicking to my watch occasionally. “I was the first one on the scene.”

I remember the night when I answered the door, sweating and terrified.

I wouldn’t let anyone else in. I knew I needed help, but I didn’t want anyone to find out and call my grandfather.

He was in the rehab hospital, learning to walk again after the stroke.

My brother was a junior, running the house and spending his evenings at the rehab center, annoying the old man.

They did not need another thing to worry about.

I was supposed to be working hard and getting my degree, not being found in my apartment drunk and having a heart attack.

“After a little coaxing, Maverick allowed me inside and I put him on the monitors. After a lot of drunk arguing, he finally agreed to do some breathing exercises.”

I was such an ass that night. Even if I was scared, I would have rather died than gone to the hospital.

Ainsley interrupts, “You taught him how to convert the rhythm.”

Bostic nods. “He refused to go to the ER, though.”

Ainsley looks at me as if she could beat my ass.

I shrug. She should know this about me. “It was a year ago,” I add.

Is she going to be pissed off at me forever?

“So, when his rhythm converted and he refused to go to the ER, I made him something to eat and then I left.”

I narrow my eyes. “But he came back,” I tell her, filling in the missing information. “Just like he did with you. Your ‘Boss’ over here is a nosy bastard.”

I chance a look at Mitchell, who only grins at me.

“He talked me into going to the ER and getting checked out,” I add.

He also swore he wouldn’t tell anyone. “Then he drove me home and I felt obligated to return the favor. So I offered him a game of poker, which he lost epically.” I point at him.

“I did learn something, though,” I admit. “His tells.”

I offer the man who’s been like a father to me this past year a grin.

“As time went on and we began playing poker regularly, I noticed he would always bring a case of beer and a pack of cigarettes. But he never drank or smoked. Ever.” I shake my head and smile.

“I had the worst time figuring out the purpose behind it. One night, about six games in, I finally asked him why and he said, ‘Everyone has a vice. I’ve found that I don’t need to drink or smoke to feel the comforts of its effect. There's power in restraint.’”

I flash Boss an exasperated look. “I had no idea what that meant until the day I was out on my balcony, and the neighbors below me were fighting. It was an exceptionally stressful day and all I needed was a minute of quiet and here they were in a screaming fight. The beer was doing nothing to calm me down, so I poured it out. Coincidentally, it hit my fussing neighbors and they screamed, moving their fight inside. It was the first time I smiled all day.”

Ainsley grins and my chest feels lighter.

“I realized what he meant after that. I could take matters into my own hands. I didn’t need beer or nicotine to calm me, I could do that in other ways.

Me keeping those two things around is a reminder that I am not dependent on anything but myself.

I, too, have power in my restraint.” I shrug.

“And it throws off the poker players when I leave a bottle sitting full on the table or a cigarette unsmoked. They are so busy trying to figure out if that means I have a good hand or a bad one that they give away their own tells.”

Greatest thing Bostic ever taught me, except for how to convert my rhythm obviously.

“Anyway, I cleaned up after all that and took better care of myself thanks to Mitchell over here, who seriously needs a woman to occupy all his hero time.”

I don’t mean it. Mitchell has been a really great friend to me. I don’t think I would have made it this past year without his guidance.

Ainsley throws her arms around Bostic. “I knew you were a superhero!”

He barks out a hearty sounding laugh. “Not quite. But I’ve taken solace in helping kids like you over the years. ”

I can see Ainsley’s shoulders shaking as she clings to Bostic for dear life. “Thank you for helping me,” she mumbles.

Fury courses through me. “What about me?” I ask her. “Don’t I get a thank you?”

Those dark tresses swing like a whip. “No. You don’t!”

That's it. I’m done. Ainsley James will hear me out if I have to force her. I did not break all my rules for nothing.

I take a menacing step toward her and Bostic. “Why not?”

“You lied,” she snaps, still holding on to Bostic like a life raft.

My watch starts beeping again and her eyes go wide as she strains to see the numbers.

Fuck it. If she must be stubborn. . .

I fall to the ground and clutch my heart.

A car door slams and Bostic yells out for someone to grab the AED, but it’s Ainsley who reaches me first, which is exactly what I hoped.

“Breathe with me,” she barks all authoritatively, dropping to her knees and slipping her hands under my head. Grimacing, I try turning my head away from her. “Stop being so stubborn, Maverick, and breathe with me!” she scolds.

Ha! Me stubborn. That’s rich.

When she’s bent over me, vulnerable and unprepared, I wrap my arms around her and roll, pinning her beneath me.

“Ahh,” she screams, smacking softly at my arms. “You’re an asshole! You tricked me.”

I can’t deny it. I did what I had to do.

“You wouldn’t listen to me any other way,” I tell her, hearing Bostic swear and call off the firefighters behind him.

“I’m sorry,” I say earnestly. “I should have told you about Bostic and his fucking favor, but I didn’t know we would become friends.

” It was a shock to me too. “I thought I would let you stay a couple nights and then you’d be gone.

” But then she had to ask me to look into her eyes and see if I saw two shits or a fuck.

“I didn’t know I would fall in love with you. ”

Her face softens as she takes my head in her hands. My watch beeps and she tips her chin so I will show it to her.

I huff like it really annoys me, but I show her.

My rhythm is still fast. Which I think we can all agree is her fault.

“Breathe with me,” she whispers softly.

“Promise you’ll stay and hear me out?” I’m not opposed to dying on top of her.

She tilts her chin and agrees. “Breathe with me and I’ll listen to you.”

I roll my eyes. “Fine.”

I take a few deep breaths in rhythm with hers until my watch stops hollering. “Happy?”

She nods, looking less like Angry Ainsley and more like Maverick’s Ainsley.

“Mike, the guy I know,” I begin, “found you a place to rent last week.”

She sucks in a breath and I hold her tighter, not giving two shits that we’re lying out in the parking lot of the fire station with Sebastian, who is probably filming this whole shitshow.

“I found myself making excuses as to why the place wasn’t right for you.” Here goes nothing. “But the truth is, Ains, it wasn’t right for you because I wouldn’t be with you. I like living with you.” I correct myself. “I love living with you.”

I test moving one of my hands up her arm. “I love buying toothpaste once a month because you use all mine. I love waking up to you in my bed and burning macaroni and cheese on the stove.”

A tear rolls down her cheek. I swipe it away and replace it with my hand. “I love watching your stupid walrus show.”

That gets a laugh out of her. “They are sea lions, don’t act like you don’t know the difference.”

My heart aches at the teary strain in her voice. “You were the best thing to ever happen to me,” I admit. “I don’t care that you love Lawrence more than me, I’ll settle for being second best in your life. ”

Her grin rivals the largest pot I’ve ever won at poker. “How do you know I love you?”

I shrug one shoulder and grin. “Sebastian recorded it when you screamed it at me earlier.”

“He did not!”

I let my other hand go and caress her face with both hands. “You’re right, he didn’t, but he probably is now. We’re probably making him millions.”

Her eyes go wide and she tries pulling up, but I don’t let her. “I’m willing to owe you a favor for as long as it takes for you to believe that I love you.”

“Really?” She knows I would never willingly owe someone an open favor.

“Really,” I promise.

She leans closer. “You promise to never keep things from me again?”

I nod. “I promise.”

And then I yank her body up to mine and seal it with a kiss.