Maverick blew out a long breath. “Fuck, Alexa. You’re killing me.”
“Why?” Her eyes cut up to his.
“Because I’m terrified that you’re going to give him another shot.” He braced his hands on the doorframe and hung his head for a moment. “And this isn’t about what we just did. It’s about what he did to you last night. For starters.”
She pulled her gaze away from the fascinating movement of the tattoos over his muscles. “I’m not. No matter what he says.”
Blue eyes flashed to hers.
“I may not know a lot yet, but I know that,” she said. “I won’t go back to him.” It was a promise. A vow. To herself more than anyone else. But to Maverick, too. Because even though he’d said what they’d done could just be fucking—and it had been some mind-blowing fucking at that—it had felt like so much more. What she should do with that just then, she didn’t know. But it didn’t mean nothing, either.
The third message played, the tone much more conciliatory. “Babe, please tell me where you are. I know I lost my temper. Things are just really stressed right now. Come home. Let’s talk this out. Like you said.”
She wasn’t sure how to read the tone, but what she could see was that every one of his messages was filled with commands. Tell me, call me, come home. And she also heard all the things he didn’t say, too. No apology. No declaration of love. Or was she reading too much into it? God, after years of misreading Grant’s words and intentions, she wasn’t sure whether to trust her reactions.
Alexa sighed and dropped her forehead into her hand. “This whole thing is so crazy,” she said almost to herself. “How is this my life?” Her fingers moved over the cell’s screen to play the next.
“Goddamnit, Alexa. I’m calling the police. Come home.” That one had the angriest tone of all.
“Great. You do that, I’ll be happy to tell them you physically threw me out of the house,” she whispered to herself. Although, if he called Davis, that guy wouldn’t give two craps that Grant had hurt her. Maverick was right. Officer Davis was a total lackey. “Last one.”
“Alexa, I love you. I’m . . . I’m sorry about last night. It won’t ever happen again. Just let me know you’re okay, babe. I need you so much.”
She blew out a breath and dropped the phone onto the bed beside her.
Maverick crossed the room and sat next to her. “You okay?”
“Wanna know the sad thing?”
“Yeah,” Maverick said, clearly trying like hell to keep his voice even.
“I’m not sure I know how to read those messages.” She finally met his gaze. “I’m not sure I trust my own judgment about them.”
Emotions rolled over Maverick’s expression, and she watched him rein them in. “Okay. What do you think they might mean? What are you hearing?”
She swallowed hard and ducked her chin. “Well. I think he wants me back. But he didn’t apologize or even say he loved me until the last message, so I think he’s trying to tell me what I want to hear rather than what he really means. I think he wants to control me.” She blinked up at him.
Mav tilted his head, and his hair fell across his eyes. “Sounds to me like you know more than you’re giving yourself credit for, Al.” He gave her a pointed stare, and she nodded. “Slater had two ways to play reaching out to you—attacking you and lashing out in anger, or appeasing you and luring you back in with what seems like worry and concern and remorse. What happened when you went back to him after the last fight?”
“He apologized. Said he hadn’t meant for things to get so out of control. Said it would never happen again.” She shook her head. “But it did.”
“Yeah, it fucking did,” he said, his voice like gravel. “Last night you said there are all kinds of things you’re not supposed to say or do or he’ll get mad. So, that means he likes to control you, yeah?”
“Yeah,” she whispered, looking away.
“Fuck,” he gritted out, huffing an angry breath. Mav grasped her chin and made her look at him again. “Well, he can’t control you as easily if you’re not living under his roof, so his first objective is to get you back home. No doubt he didn’t expect you to leave, so he has to be on his best behavior now. Don’t think for a second he doesn’t know exactly what he’s doing. Don’t believe for even an instant he isn’t calculating the best way to get what he wants. That’s what guys like Slater do, Alexa. That’s what he’s been doing to you.” He touched two fingers to her forehead. “Trust yourself in here.” To her heart. “And in here.” To her stomach. “And in here. You know.”