The Artist (The Game Changers #2) (11 page)

“Definitely, but for the record, Maddox would rather die than feel me up.”

“He doesn’t know what he’s missing,” Maverick said with a quick kiss. I wanted to say Maddox did know what he was missing, because he tried kissing me once. The kiss occurred mere seconds before he told me he was gay, but I didn’t think that would help this situation. Besides, it wasn’t my finest moment. No girl wants a guy to tell her he’s gay right after she kisses him. That was an ego deflator, for sure.

“You’re such a sweet-talker,” I teased instead.

“Only telling the truth, Duchess. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.” He gently tapped my head and added, “And all this to go with that beauty, it’s almost too much.” He was too much. How dare he say such wonderful things to me! How was a girl supposed to resist?

“You are making it hard to resist you, Maverick.”

“Good.” He looked down at me tenderly and held my face in his hands. “You know, when I first met you, I thought you’d be entitled and difficult, but—”

“Oh, I am,” I interrupted.

He pressed his fingers to my lips to quiet me. “No. You’re smart and funny, and I feel like the luckiest son of a bitch that you would even consider spending time with me…” He kissed me gently on my neck then continued, “Share my bed,” kiss, “laugh with me,” another kiss. “The best part is you have no idea, and I can see the disbelief all over your face, but that’s okay. I wouldn’t mind spending every day showing you how lucky I feel to have you in my life.”

My heart was exploding. I was sure it was about to beat out of my chest. My body was hyperaware of all the places he was touching me, and when he kissed me, I was sure that was what melting felt like. After a moment, he pulled away, and I immediately felt the loss of his lips.

A frown crossed Maverick’s lips when he whispered, “I have to get back to work.”

“Too bad.”

“I’d rather take you upstairs, but Landon and Rachel both called out tonight. Saturdays are too busy to be down a bartender and a waitress.”

“I understand. Go do your thing. I’m going to go listen to your brother hit on me some more.”

Maverick growled. “I’ll kill the bastard.”

I laughed and started to walk back to the bar. “No, you won’t. He’s your favorite.”

He pulled me back against his chest and kissed me like I was water and he was a man dying of thirst. “No, you’re my favorite. He’s the thorn in my side I can’t live without.” I had to get my breathing back under control as he led me down the hallway back to the bar. “Be good, Duchess. No more rubbing on other men, gay or straight.” He gave me one last kiss before slipping behind the bar.

“Does Hank count?” I joked, referring to his dog. He just shook his head with a smile on his face and went about taking orders from the thirsty patrons surrounding the bar like we hadn’t just had the most romantic moment of my life.

Back at the table, Ana had seemed to drink her weight in alcohol while I was gone. Of the handful of times we had hung out, this was the second time I had seen her get completely sloshed. Having never been too interested in alcohol, drinking to the point of oblivion on a weekly basis didn’t appeal to me. Hailey wasn’t much better, either. She was up dancing around Brock, who remained in his chair with his eyes firmly planted on his girlfriend. Jack was laughing and hooting at her interesting dance moves.

“Wow. How long have I been gone?” I asked once I had returned to my seat and fully assessed the situation.

“Katherine! I’m so glad you’re back!” Ana shouted drunkenly. “Wait! Did you go bang Adam? I will be so jelly if you did. Corbin never bangs me at work,” she pouted. “I tried to get him to take me in the bathroom once. I’ve never had sex in a bathroom. Is that what you did?”

“Umm…no. I ran into a friend of mine then talked to Adam for a bit in his office.”

“Yeah. Talked,” Jack said with a waggle of the eyebrows.

“You had desk sex! I want desk sex!” Ana shouted.

I laughed at her outrage. “Oh, my. What’s gotten into her?”

“Horny while drunk,” Brock said flatly. “Happens every time.” He shook his head and rolled his eyes then turned back to watch Hailey’s dancing with a slight grin on his face.

“Someone should get Corbin. He should get to take advantage of his wife like this before she falls asleep,” Hailey slurred as she shimmied then dropped her rear to the floor and slowly stood back up.

“Brock should take advantage of you,” Jack told her pointedly.

She waved him off and kept grinding her hips against Brock’s lap. “Pssh. I’m not drunk.”

I felt like I was intruding. Jack must have felt something similar because he looked away when she started seductively stroking Brock’s chest. “Okay,” Jack muttered sarcastically.

Finally, Brock had enough of the lap dance. Either that or he realized that Jack and I were not enjoying the show as much as he was. “Sit down, babe, before you hurt yourself,” he said as he pulled Hailey into his lap where she happily snuggled up to him.

“Shots!” Jack shouted suddenly, causing me to jump and Ana to clap wildly. “We have something to celebrate!”

“Yeah!” Hailey agreed.

“What?” I asked.

Jack looked at me like I was crazy. “You, girl. Adam said you got a big job.”

“Oh, it’s no big deal.”

“Yes, it is. Come on, Hailey. Let’s go get shots!”

“I wanna go!” Ana shouted. The three of them left the table, so Brock and I remained. He sipped his beer while I twirled the stem of my champagne that I had ignored and was now warm.

I was a little jealous of how close they all were. I never had a group like this. I never felt like I could be wild and crazy. It must be nice to feel that safe and free. “They’re really great, you know,” I told Brock honestly.

“Yeah, they seem to really like you, as well.”

“But you aren’t so sure?” I said his unspoken words aloud.

He hid the slight lift of his lip by sipping his beer. “You’re cool. I just don’t want Adam to get screwed over. I’ve never seen him like this before.” A slight raise of my eyebrow was enough to encourage him to continue. “Don’t get me wrong. I think you’re in this, but if you don’t feel the same way about him, get out now. The guy doesn’t need any more shit in his life.”

“What does that mean?” I asked but never got the answer because Jack and the girls came back with a tray of shots.

“We got lemon drops! Hailey can’t handle hard liquor,” Ana announced in her typical excited, drunken shout.

Jack passed one out to everyone. “Brock, you have to take the girly shot. We’re celebrating our newest friend, Katherine. May her job be awesome, and may she finally realize she’s with the wrong Vaughn.”

“No!” Hailey gave Jack a little shove. “May her job be awesome and time with Adam be forever long.”

“Yeah. That one,” Ana piped in.

“Fine, but next time you’re buying your own shots,” Jack said dryly. We clanked glasses and downed our shots together. As it turned out, lemon drops were delicious. I could see why they drank so many. “Another!” Jack shouted as he slammed his glass down.

“Dude, slow down,” Brock admonished with more emotion than I had ever heard from him. His forehead was wrinkled in concern, but his eyes looked angry and quite intimidating. It was a far cry from the bland expression he usually wore.

“Quit being such a bore, babe.” Hailey ran her fingers through Brock’s short hair in an attempt to get his attention back on her.

“No, he’s right, Hailey,” Ana slurred. “Jack isn’t supposed to drink so much.”

Jack looked annoyed with his friends and slightly embarrassed, if I wasn’t mistaken. Of course, I wanted to ask what was going on, but it wasn’t my business. Instead, I did my best to diffuse the tension that had settled over the table. “Yeah, I need water. I can’t keep up with you guys. Anyone want some?”

“No, let’s dance!” Ana called out, grabbed Hailey’s and my hands, and led us to the dance floor, leaving Brock and Jack at the table to hash out their issues.

After spending the rest of the night on the dance floor, I made my way up to Maverick’s loft after last call. I wanted to wait up for him, but the alcohol caught up with me before Maverick made it upstairs. When Maverick found me, I was snuggled with Hank on the huge sectional. Maverick kissed my cheek, waking me with a quiet laugh as he lifted me from the couch.

“What am I going to do with you two?” he asked as he carried me into his room.

I wanted my body to wake up, so I could have some time with Maverick. I had spent all night with his friends when I would have much rather danced with him. “I’m awake. I can walk.” I spoke the words, but my body didn’t exactly cooperate considering my eyes remained closed and limbs stayed limp.

He kissed my lips gently. “No, Duchess, you’re going back to sleep in my bed.”

“I’m in my clothes.”

He laughed quietly. “I think I can take care of that.”

And he did. He took care of my clothes and me before we both fell asleep snuggled in a heap of limbs and sheets. There was no hanky panky that night, but falling asleep tangled with Maverick without it was in no way disappointing. I reveled in the feeling of his arms around me and fell asleep more soundly than I ever did alone in my own bed.

Chapter Fifteen

Maverick’s phone ringing woke me just as the sun was trying to make its appearance. I wasn’t sure what the noise was until the ringing stopped and started again.

“Maverick.” I shook the warm body that was still wrapped around me. “Maverick, your phone.”

“Hmm…” The ringing stopped then started again.

“Adam!”

He sat up quickly. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Your phone. Someone keeps calling over and over.”

Maverick rolled over and grabbed his phone from the nightstand with a frown. “Mom?” he answered. I could hear his mother’s frantic voice coming through the phone until Maverick jumped out of bed and pulled on his jeans. I would have enjoyed the show if it weren’t for the panicked look on his face. “What? When?” He paused as he listened to his mother. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Tell him I’m on my way.” He hung up and threw a t-shirt over his head.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, still sitting in the bed with the sheet pulled over my body, feeling both incredibly awkward and worried.

“My brother. He’s in the hospital.”

“What?” Now I was the one jumping out of the bed frantically dressing while Maverick was sliding his feet into his boots. “He didn’t drink that much,” I told him. “Brock and Ana made him stop.”

“It isn’t that. I gotta go.”

“I’ll come with you.” I threw my clothes on from the night before and ran my fingers through my messy hair, trying to pull it into a ponytail.

“No.” He was still moving quickly, grabbing his phone, wallet, and keys from the various surfaces where he had dropped them a few hours before. “Go back to bed,” he told me almost absently while he patted his pockets.

“Adam! Your brother is in the hospital. I’m coming with you.”

“Yeah. Okay. Okay,” he agreed once he saw how serious I was. We walked quickly to the car, me carrying my shoes and sweater, him clenching his jaw in an effort to keep it together. His normally chiseled jaw looked breakable with how tense he was. I could see the worry and fear take over his face, and I would have done anything to take it away. Unfortunately, I had no idea what was going on and didn’t know what to say. I wanted to ask questions or say the right thing, but I didn’t know what that was. Something told me to keep quiet, so that was what I did.

Once we arrived at the hospital, Maverick pulled into the parking garage. “Just go. I’ll park and come find you.” He agreed and stopped the car at the entrance before running into the hospital, leaving his door wide open. My calm, cool Maverick was not in a good place.

Finally, I made it to the waiting room where the volunteer at the desk sent me. Maverick was huddled next to an older woman with his same dark hair and eyes. Where Maverick had his arms crossed like he was trying to keep his emotions wrapped up inside of him, the woman, who I assumed was his mother, had one hand in her mouth where she nervously chewed her fingernails. I approached cautiously, wishing this wasn’t how I was meeting his mother for the first time.

I handed Maverick his keys and turned to his mother. “Hi, I’m Katherine. Adam’s…” I didn’t know what to call myself in this particular situation. He had never called me his girlfriend, and now wasn’t the time to be labeling what we were. “A friend of Adam’s.”

“Katherine,” she said kindly and took my hand. “Adam and Jack have told me so much about you.”

“Oh.” I was surprised. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Vaughn. I wish it were under better circumstances.”

“Me too, dear. Please, call me Marie. Thank you for being here for Adam. He worries, you know. It’ll be good to have you here this time.”

“This time?” The words fell out of my mouth before I could stop them.

“Adam hasn’t told you?” She looked over at Adam with a confused expression that I matched as I turned to face him. I looked up at my Maverick who was silently staring out the window. His head fell forward as he let a deep breath out.

Mrs. Vaughn gently squeezed her son’s shoulder. “I’m going to get some coffee. You two should talk.” She walked away, leaving Maverick and me alone in the quiet waiting room. It was then that I realized the hospital volunteer had sent me to an empty waiting room, not a bustling emergency waiting room. The chairs and loveseats were nicer than the average waiting area. I noticed a glass birdcage with finches tucked in one corner, and an expensive water feature on the opposite wall next to the doors to the hospital. It didn’t make sense until I looked up to see the sign that read “Oncology,” and I suddenly knew this wasn’t Maverick’s first time in this waiting area.

I gently placed my hand on Maverick’s back and tucked myself close to him. “Maverick,” I whispered, “is your brother sick?” His head continued to hang, but his now tightly squeezed eyes told me what I needed to know. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He let out a deep breath and spoke so quietly I had to lean closer to hear. “We don’t know anything. They’re running tests. His last scan came back clear, but he’s been having symptoms again. He had an appointment with his doctor next week. He doesn’t like to admit when he doesn’t feel well, so there’s no telling how long he’s had this going on.”

“Again?”

“Katherine, my brother had brain cancer as a kid.”

“And you think…they think…” I couldn’t even say it. I didn’t want to be the one to say it.

He swallowed hard. “We think it’s relapsed.”

“Oh, Adam.” He turned in my arms and squeezed me tightly. He was seeking comfort from me, another thing I wasn’t sure had ever happened before. “It’ll be okay. Maybe it isn’t what you think.”

He let out a deep breath against my neck where his face was buried. “We’ll see. I don’t think my family could take it. This already took my dad. I don’t know how much more Mom can take.”

I held onto him and kept whispering, “It’ll be okay,” over and over until he loosened his grip on me. He sat on one of the loveseats and pulled me down next to him. His mom came back in the room and sat in one of the cushioned chairs. Then we waited and waited. Maverick gripped my hand and rubbed his thumb methodically across the top. Even when my hand fell asleep, I didn’t let go. I needed to do something, provide some comfort somehow. “Do you want me to call anyone?” I asked Maverick.

“Nah. I texted Brock and Corbin. They’ll come up when we know something. They know the drill.” The idea of going through this once was hard enough, but “knowing the drill” seemed so much worse.

We had been there for a few hours when a nurse came out. “Mrs. Vaughn. The test results are back. Dr. Wexler asked me to come get you and Adam.”

Marie nodded, and she and Maverick both stood to follow her. Maverick looked back at me with fear.

“It’ll be okay,” I told him.

“You’ll wait?”

“Of course. I’ll be right here.” He nodded and followed his mom and the nurse through the double doors.

As soon as the metal slammed, I was pacing the waiting room. Water feature to finches, I made my way back and forth across the room. When I tired of that path, I started reading all the signs in the room. One said to be considerate of others and limit time spent on the courtesy phone. Another said cell phone use was not permitted past the double doors. A third one informed me that smoking was not permitted. When my eyes fell on the sign thanking the donors who paid for the oncology wing of the hospital, I froze. I couldn’t help but read through the names. Fifth from the top it read, “Mr. and Mrs. Richard Peters.” I almost laughed. Of course my parents had donated to this wing of the hospital.

I turned and went back to my pacing. It was emotionally safer than reading the signs. I couldn’t imagine what Maverick was feeling, knowing his brother possibly had a life-threatening illness. How could I? I didn’t have any siblings, and I certainly didn’t have the same connection with my family that he did. Maddox was possibly the closest thing I had to a brother. It would slay me if he were the one behind those doors being tested for a cancer.

Just as I made my way back toward the elevators, the left one pinged and opened. My pacing stopped, and I was face-to-face with the worried eyes of Brock, Corbin, and Hailey.

“We couldn’t wait any longer,” Corbin said as he greeted me with a hug. “Heard anything yet?”

“No. They went back to speak with the doctor a little while ago. Where’s Ana?”

“Working a shift in pediatrics. She’s already been up to see him, but they didn’t know anything yet. She said he didn’t look good. The seizure was bad. They’re keeping a close watch on him while running all these tests.”

Brock sunk into a chair and dropped his elbows to his knees. “I knew something was off. I can’t believe we just dropped him off last night.”

“Babe, I told you, this wasn’t because of last night. Ana said he’s been having symptoms for weeks. He didn’t want anyone to know,” Hailey said as she rubbed Brock’s back.

“Yeah, man. If you’re to blame, we all are. We all knew something was off.”

“Adam asked me to watch out for him. Me!” Brock snapped as he pointed at himself.

“Okay, I don’t really know all the details, but I know Adam doesn’t blame anyone for this. If anything, he feels responsible, but I don’t think this is the place or time to talk about this,” I said as calmly as possible, even though we were all feeling anything but calm at this point.

Hailey sat down next to Brock and took his hand. “Katherine’s right. We still don’t know for sure that anything is actually wrong.”

None of us believed what Hailey said. Something was definitely wrong judging by how Adam and his mom reacted. There was nothing we could do, though. We were confined to the lobby that was full of emotional land mines, overstuffed chairs, and finches. Stupid ass finches.