Page 29 of Pit Stop

“Whoever needed college? Waste of money, if you ask me,” she says, and then throws a rag onto the counter and moves toward us. I can see the resemblance now, in the shape of her nose and the set of her eyes.

And maybe even a little in the gruff way she gives him a hug.

“Why don’t you two sit down over here, and I’ll get your order in a minute. Gotta take care of other customers. You’re not the only ones here.”

She leaves, and Maverick runs a hand across his face.

“I seriously cannot believe you brought me here to see your mom and didn’t tell me.”

He peers over at me. “Thought it made sense at the time. Wanted to rip the Band-Aid off.”

“Gods, Mav,” I say with a small laugh as he leads me to a seat at the counter and hands me a menu. “A warning would have been nice.”

“Yeah, I realized it was a shit idea after I stepped inside. But fuck, she’s my mom.”

“I didn’t even know you had a mom around here. I know nothing about you, I realize.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t see her often. She wasn’t very good at being one, and I only see her when I feel like it’s been a while.”

“And it’s been a while?”

He nods and then points to the menu. “Go on. Pick what you want to eat. My mom isn’t patient.”

I peer down and pick the first thing I see, a cheeseburger with fries, and then turn back to face him.

“Okay. Done. Now I want to know everything.”

“Doesn’t really seem relevant.”

“What does that mean?”

“That pretty soon you won’t need to know anything about me.”

Pain shoots through me, and I’m unsure if it’s him or me feeling that. But I don’t have time to evaluate it. His mom is back and barking at us.

“What do you want to eat? Gotta tell Carl so he can get started on it. I assume you both don’t wanna stay here for ages.”

Maverick stares at her for a long moment and then tells her what we both want. She scribbles it down on a pad of paper, rips it off, and places it on the counter behind her. A beefy man grabs it, and I can hear the murmur of his curse words.

He obviously doesn’t like his job. Neither does Maverick’s mom, it seems. But then again, maybe this is the only place that will employ her. She doesn’t seem that easy to work with. And I can’t ever imagine her in customer service.

“So, tell me how you two met. Isn’t that what parents are supposed to ask?”

“Yeah, Mom. It is.”

I push my glasses up my nose as Maverick sighs. “Skye is Forest’s brother.”

“Oh yeah, I remember Forest. Little punk. You two don’t look alike, I can tell you that much.”

“Yeah, I look like my mom,” I say, and Maverick’s mom eyes me.

“Probably for the best. Maverick always did like ’em pretty.”

I feel my cheeks flush as Maverick purses his lips.

“Anyway, there’s not much to tell. We dated for a while and then decided to mate.”

Well, that’s a lie, but I don’t call him on it. There’s a reason he didn’t say that he knotted me in a glory hole and then bit me all over during a heat, which resulted in our accidental bonding. I bet he doesn’t want her to know that.

“I never knew you dated anyone.” His mom turns her gaze toward me. “Maverick was a bit of a man-whore. Went through men and women at an alarming rate. I couldn’t keep up. Surprised he settled for someone like you.”

My hands clench on my thighs as I bite my tongue, hard. Gods, his mom is so fucking rude.

“I didn’t settle,” Maverick growls. “If anything, Skye settled for me. He could do so much better.”

“Well, isn’t that nice? But kid, omegas don’t have a choice. They have to find someone or they die. It’s how it works. You tell your brother about this?”

“No. I haven’t talked to him.”

“Should give him a call. He’d wanna hear about this from you.”

“Maybe.”

Before she can say anything else, the bell dings behind her, and she sighs, grabbing plates of food and walking toward a table on the opposite side of the diner.

“Shit. Sorry about her. This was a bad idea. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

I feel the frustration swirling through him, and I reach out, touching his arm gently. “We don’t have to stay.”

“Yeah. Probably best if we left.”

But our food comes out just then, and we don’t get a chance to leave. His mom glowers at us, almost as if she heard us making plans to escape, the plates of food set down before us with a clatter.

“Know you wanna run off. You always do that. But before you go, did you know James got moved again?”

I don’t know who James is, but the way she speaks of him, I’m assuming this is Maverick’s brother.

“Where to?” Maverick asks as I take a bite of my burger. And for all the grouchiness behind the counter, the food is pretty damn good.

“To Fenton.”

“Shit. That’s max security.”

“I know. He stabbed a guy in his cell.”

“Shit, Mom.”

“Yeah, but blood’s blood. So, call him. He wants to catch up.”

Maverick doesn’t say anything to that, just ends up answering some more questions from his mom while I remain silent. That is, until she leans into him again, making rude comments. Like she can’t help herself. Like just being near him draws it out of her.

I can feel his irritation with each spoken word, can feel how upset it’s making him.

I get why he doesn’t speak to her, why he’s kept her a secret.

“So, you still working at that shitty garage? You know I never did like those boys you hung out with, but it seems you still associate with them. Seems my opinions don’t matter.”

Maverick doesn’t reply, just stares down at his half-eaten food.

“You know, Skylar, I always thought he’d do something with his life, but here he is, working on fucking cars. You know he sold one in high school and didn’t even ask much for it? Basically gave it away for free. Coulda used that money for rent.”

Maverick still says nothing, but I can feel the irritation seeping from him, the hurt.

“You still living in that trailer? The one Joe gave you? You ever fix it up?”

“Nope.”

“Still as shitty as it was then, hm?” she scoffs and then meets my stare. “A college grad going for someone like my son. I think you could have done better?—”

That’s fucking it. I cut her off with a slash of my tongue.

“I think I’ve done just fine with your son .

” I spit those last two words out. “He’s generous and kind, and he treats me well.

Not to mention he’s hot as fuck and a hard worker.

He takes care of me, which is more than I think you ever did for him.

I couldn’t care less if he lives in a trailer or works in a garage.

I could do far worse than someone like him.

And honestly, the way you speak about him is disgusting.

I’m losing my appetite, Mav. I wanna go. ”

His mom glowers at me, her cheeks slightly flushed, surprise on her face. She didn’t expect me to talk back, but honestly, what did she expect? She’s treating my mate like trash.

I fumble around in my wallet and pull out a few bills, tossing them on the counter.

“Keep the change. I don’t want to wait for it anyway.”

I stand up and grab Maverick’s hand, pulling him toward the exit. He’s silent and part of me wonders if I overstepped, but godsdamnit. He was just sitting there and letting her shit all over him. I hated it, and I won’t stand for it. Maybe his next mate will, but not me.

“I’m not sorry about any of that,” I say as I shove the helmet on my head and meet his stare. I clip it under my chin and put my hands on my hips. “She was rude and I couldn’t stand it.”

He blinks down at me, his hand moving toward the back of my neck. He squeezes it gently, pulling me toward him. His lips land on mine, a soft kiss that grows more fevered. I groan into him and hold on to his shoulders to keep myself standing.

I can feel several emotions swirling through me, tightening around my chest. Relief, possession, and something else I can’t quite make out. But it makes my heart pitter-patter all the same.

When he finally pulls away, my lips chasing his, he brushes a thumb across my cheek.

“No one’s ever stood up for me before.”

“No one?” I ask, breathless.

“No one but you.”