Page 35 of Want You Back (Second Chance Ranch #1)

Chapter 35

Colt

“Are you sure there’s no news?” Hannah asked like she hadn’t just watched me check my phone and Maverick’s before starting dinner. I’d insisted on babysitting Maverick’s phone while he napped, but it had been an easy assignment, unlike my own stack of messages.

“I’m sure.” I stirred the ground beef I was browning in a large skillet. “Do you think you and Willow could make garlic bread while I work on the spaghetti here?”

I was working with what I’d found in the freezer and pantry here at the ranch—ground beef, tomato sauce, pasta, and frozen bread, which I’d earmarked for turning into garlic bread.

“Okay.” Hannah retrieved butter and parmesan cheese from the fridge, but she didn’t look particularly enthusiastic about the task. “I’m not sure I’m hungry.”

“You need to eat.” I sounded like my mother or Aunt Georgia, but it was true. “We’re all going to need a lot of strength for the days ahead. Helping your mom get better is like running a long race, not a quick sprint.”

“Yeah.” Hannah slapped the stick of butter on the counter. “I hate this.” She immediately winced, picking the butter back up, cheeks going bright pink. “Sorry?—”

“Don’t be sorry.” I kept to my gentlest voice. “It absolutely does suck, and for you most of all.”

“It’s okay to be mad.” Willow wandered over from the TV. “That’s what Dad tells me. You don’t have to pretend everything is okay when it’s not.”

“Good advice.” A freshly showered Maverick in a T-shirt and shorts appeared at the far side of the kitchen, near the hallway that led to the downstairs guest suite where he’d been sleeping.

“Uncle Maverick!” Hannah set down the butter again in favor of giving Maverick a hug. “You’re awake.”

“Finally.” He yawned big. “Any news?”

After hugging Hannah, he wandered over to where I had both our phones lined up on the island.

“She’s stable last I checked, but feel free to call before dinner is ready.”

“I’ll do that.” Maverick pocketed his phone before coming up beside me at the stove. “Smells great.”

“You can tell Adler that the food is almost ready.” I gestured toward the stairs. “He came down once for a drink of water but went right back upstairs to sleep.”

“He’s a champion sleeper.” Maverick gave a tired laugh. I knew that feeling well, the sort of exhaustion that even a long nap couldn’t cure. “I’ll go call the hospital and then check on Adler.”

“The hospital says I can hopefully bring Hannah in tomorrow for a short visit,” Maverick said as he returned a short time later, followed by Adler.

“That’s great news.” Hannah seemed brightened by Maverick’s presence as much as by the positive report.

The good mood carried through dinner in the newly transformed dining room. The whole downstairs seemed to have a lively, welcoming energy it had previously lacked. The five of us made fast work of clean up. Before the girls could head back to the TV, I gathered up my phone and keys.

“We should probably get going.”

“No. Stay. Please.” Hannah did the same wail and puppy dog face I knew well from Willow. “I want Willow to sleep over.”

“Yeah, can I?” Willow popped up behind Hannah in what was clearly a carefully orchestrated dual attack.

“I shouldn’t leave you here.” I gave Willow a stern look. “What if Maverick needs to go back to the hospital in a hurry?”

“You could stay too.” Hannah was the one to speak, but Willow nodded along with each word.

“That’s not a terrible idea.” Maverick shrugged, voice deceptively casual. “You should stay too.”

“Yeah, let’s make it a sleepover party.” Adler’s eyes sparkled with all the enthusiasm Maverick was working to hide. At least one of us was enjoying himself. “I might even bake cookies.”

“We can watch the next episodes of that show.” Willow’s tone was not unlike the one I might use to coax a stray dog. “And make popcorn.”

“Please.” Hannah was actually more persuasive than Willow because she was the one who needed all the distraction, and if it meant a chance to get more food into her, so much the better.

“Okay.” I gave in, which wasn’t particularly difficult since I also liked the idea of sticking around for Maverick. “Let me tell my mom where we are so she doesn’t worry that our lights are off.”

Her reply to my message resulted in a promise to look at her sprinkler system for the garden tomorrow. But that was a problem for tomorrow me. In the short term, I had a night with Maverick on the horizon, and I wasn’t going to waste it. We sat through several episodes of the high school band show the girls were obsessed with, Maverick and I discreetly holding hands like a pair of high schoolers ourselves. Adler, of course, knew all the gossip on the show’s young stars, which he shared while making oatmeal cookies. The hours quickly passed until the girls went to Hannah’s room to find pajamas for Willow to borrow.

Maverick fetched a camping cot and sleeping bag so Willow could sleep in Hannah’s room. Once the girls were settled, we said goodnight to them and Adler before retiring to Maverick’s room.

“Are we sure this isn’t weird?” I asked as Maverick shut his door behind us. No one had asked where I was sleeping, and part of me felt like I should make an awkward bed on the couch rather than share Maverick’s.

“It’s weird, but good weird.” He laced his arms around my neck. “The girls are okay with it. Heck, it was their idea for you to stay. And Adler thinks it’s hilarious that they essentially orchestrated a date night for us.”

“Adler is a decent guy,” I allowed.

“I knew he’d grow on you.” Maverick beamed before tugging at my shirt. “Come on, you’re not going to sleep in your clothes.”

“I suppose not.” I flicked the lock on the doorknob. “What’d you have in mind, cowboy?”

Neither of us had mentioned our earlier talk from before Maverick’s nap, but there’d been a new energy between us ever since, like a boat finding its anchor or a house sealed against a coming storm. Solid. Settled in a way things hadn’t been before. Maverick sincerely wanted to make a go of ranching, and I was done standing in the way of what we both wanted—a chance at long-term for us as well. My brain continued to glitch on the word forever, but a future was the one thing Maverick and I had never had before.

“Locked door. Girls on the other side of the house.” Maverick stepped back to start stripping his own shirt and shorts off. “If you’re taking requests, I want you in me, but I’m open to other ideas.”

“That one’s not bad.” I faked indifference in part so he wouldn’t feel pressured to expend too much energy. He still looked plenty exhausted, with deep lines around his eyes and mouth. “You sure you’re up for sex?”

“I’m sure.” He gave me a quick kiss while resuming undressing me. “After the past few days of rollercoaster emotions, I need the escape, honestly.”

“Then let me give it to you.” Once we were both naked, I pushed him gently onto the queen-sized bed in the center of the room. The white bedding and walls gave the space an almost beachy vibe. I loomed over Maverick, grinning down at him.

“Sure you don’t want me on top?” He stroked my biceps.

“Nope.” As fun as his little show had been last time, I was driven by a deeper need to take care of Maverick tonight. I winked at him. “I think I’ve got this.”

“Good.” He stretched in a clear bid to earn a kiss, which I happily provided. One kiss slid into ten, a slow and leisurely making out. I personally could have kissed hours longer, but Maverick rocked against me with each kiss until, finally, he pulled away to rummage in his nightstand for a box of condoms and some lube. “Since I’m staying, I want to get updated test results so we can skip the condoms. Want all of you in me.”

“I’d like that.” I plucked the bottle of lube from his hand. “Gonna let me play a little, or are you too impatient?”

“Both.” He chuckled. “I’ll let you play, even if the wait kills me.”

“Can’t have that.” I gave him another kiss before moving to kneel between his thighs. Maverick helpfully pulled his legs up and back. “Well, aren’t you flexible?”

“I lived in LA enough years to add yoga and Pilates to my running workouts.”

“I like it. Maybe you can keep up your bendy practices here.” Talking about Maverick staying and making plans was getting easier. I wanted this future where we ditched the condoms, Maverick did yoga on the ranch, and we had this every damn night.

I slicked my fingers so I could tease his rim. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was doing, but an earnest desire to make Maverick feel amazing seemed like a good start. Indeed, he moaned from the first glancing contact. I rubbed little circles.

“Tell me if there’s anything I’m not doing?—”

“In me. Now.” He reached down and grabbed my wrist.

“Speed demon,” I scolded fondly. After Maverick and I had fucked the first time, I’d experimented on my own while jerking off, learning that steady pressure was key to penetration. I used that knowledge to slowly press a finger inside Mav, but he wasn’t done grabbing my wrist, pulling me deeper with a low, keening sound. “Suppose that’s one way to ensure I find your spot.”

“More lube and a second finger,” he ordered.

“I should teach you some patience.” I leisurely fucked him with a single finger as I reached for the lube with my other hand. I was surprised by how much I liked playing like this. Doing it to myself had felt vaguely clinical, but doing it to Mav made my dick pulse with the memory of how good it felt to be inside him.

“Later.” He made a legit growling noise, and as I got serious about adding the second finger, the growl faded into a long moan. Taking the evidence that I was on the right track, I worked him a bit more, trying out more pressure versus speed. Maverick, however, got bored long before I did. “Colt. Now. Please.”

I withdrew my fingers to take care of the condom. I didn’t trust Mr. Bossy not to throw the package at me. I added a generous amount of lube. Lining my cock up with his rim, I quickly discovered that gripping the base of my cock made penetration a lot more feasible.

“Yes.” Maverick’s satisfied groan as I pushed in made any lingering awkwardness at the newness of this disappear. This pleased him, which only made me that much harder, made me want to do it that much more. I wanted to coax every quiet moan and little gasp from his throat. I was also trying to go slow, but Maverick hooked his legs around me in a nifty trick and drew me all the way inside.

“Oh.” I let out a moan of my own. Maverick on top had been fantastic, but this angle seemed even better, hotter, tighter, and I could lean in and kiss him as well, like an amped-up version of the grinding I loved so much. I found a gentle rhythm of thrusts in time with our kissing. “I could do this all night.”

“Me too.” Maverick’s smirk was the first clue he intended to test that resolve, a warning before he tightened his inner muscles with each upstroke. Felt like he was trying to suck my cock back in.

“Holy hell, that’s hot,” I managed to gasp.

“Thought you might like that. More.” Maverick arched his back beneath me. Between that and his inner squeezing, I was as deep as I could go, yet Maverick seemed to want more. All of me, and I wanted to give him that. I thrust harder, adjusting my angle slightly. Maverick’s head tipped back, eyes closing. “Oh, that. Gonna make me come.”

“Hands-free?” As soon as he said it, I wanted his orgasm more than oxygen. He came without a hand on him when we rubbed off together, but the thought of him coming from my cock was somehow that much hotter. My thrusts sped up even before my brain gave permission, something primal driving me.

“Uh-huh.” Maverick did more of his squeezing tricks. “You too.”

“You first,” I grunted, fucking him faster and harder, enough that the bed shook. We were sweaty and breathless, and hell if I was ever stopping.

“Oh, I love you.” Maverick shuddered, and thank God, his warm come spilled between us because no way was I holding back now.

“Yes.” That was as much reply as I could muster because I was coming and coming hard, giant waves crashing into me, blurring my vision and making my whole body tense. The climax stole my breath for several long seconds. As the waves started to recede, I peppered his face with kisses. “Love you too.”

“That was amazing.” Maverick sounded all dreamy and about twenty seconds from sleep as I untangled us. I quickly dashed to his attached bath to throw away the condom and grab a towel.

“What you needed?” I asked as I tried to clean him up, not that Maverick seemed overly concerned about the mess.

“God, yes.” He cuddled in, head on my chest, idly stroking the tat on my pec. “What’s this one for?”

“You.”

“What? Seriously?” He raised his head to narrow his eyes at me.

“Yeah. After you left, I was kind of a mess, barely making it through my community college classes.” My face heated. “Got to talking to Grayson one night, and he was going on about ink as therapy. Said it calmed his head better than anything else. I figured, what the hell? Asked for the name of his artist. Whiskey might have been involved.”

“It’s a comet?” He traced the star, which rode on fanciful plumes of ink.

“You were my star, the thing that made everything else okay. And then you were gone, onto bigger and better things.”

“I’m so sorry.” Maverick’s eyes turned liquid and hot as he blinked several times. “God. So sorry. I didn’t think enough about how my leaving would affect you.”

“You were a kid.” I rubbed his back, hoping he wouldn’t cry because I might too.

“Young and self-centered isn’t a great excuse for hurting my best friend and the guy I loved.” Maverick shook his head.

“But like a comet, you found your way back into my orbit. Maybe part of me knew.” I kissed his temple.

“Maybe.” He exhaled hard. “I’m still sorry for all the wasted years.”

“Not wasted,” I said sternly. “You needed to go. Could you have handled leaving better? Maybe. But you did need to go. We both needed to grow up. You needed to discover who you were out from under your dad’s thumb. And I got Willow, and I can’t regret that.”

“True.” He stretched to brush a kiss across my lips. “Perhaps this is how it was meant to work out.”

“Yeah.” My brain churned. I continued to have trouble believing this would work out in the end, that our comet wouldn’t turn meteor and crash to Earth. But Maverick didn’t need my doubts.

“We’re going to make it this time.” He glared like he’d sensed my doubts anyway. “I’m not giving up on us.”

“Me either.” That was an easy promise. “I love you.”

“Love you too.” His face softened again as he lowered his head back to my chest. His breathing became deeper, more regular as he drifted off, and I could only hope he never came to regret his promises.