He huffs, and I hear a chair shift, clueing me in that he just sat down.
“Have you talked to her at all?” he asks.
I fucking wish. “I’ve called. And texted. And called. I’ve sent her flowers. And called. I’ve emailed her. And called. I’ve tweeted her. I’ve even hit her up on Facebook. Nothing. She won’t speak to me.”
“Well, there’s an obvious way to see her. You know where she lives. Just show up.”
That fucking crazy dick ruined that option for me.
I turn back over to face him, barely able to hold myself together at this point.
“After everything Pete put her through, I can’t do that. I don’t want her ever putting me in the same category as that psycho.”
Maverick shakes his head, glancing through the sliding glass doors that lead out to my deck.
“Man, you and Pete are not in the same category.” His eyes come back to mine. “Tria loves you. She doesn’t want to give you up. It’s killing Rain, you know. She’s blaming herself for this.”
“She shouldn’t,” I grumble. “I fucked this all up on my own.”
“Actually,” a feminine voice says, causing us both to jump, “there’s a lot of people in on this fuck-up.”
Rain is moving toward us, her eyes as sad as her slow walk of defeat. I never even heard her come in. Maverick must have left the door unlocked.
Maverick tightens his lips while standing, and he goes to press a kiss to her forehead before waving to me.
“I’ll leave you two to talk.”
Rain walks closer as Maverick heads out, and she comes to sit down across from me, looking as crestfallen as me.
“Rain,” I say hoarsely, instantly choking on all the guilt I didn’t feel before Tria.
Sitting up, I meet her sad gaze, and shift uncomfortably.
“Sorry to just show up, but you wouldn’t take my calls. Tria and I talked. She wanted me to come.”
Hope fills me, and I sit up straighter, leaning forward with eager attention.
“She wanted you to come see me? Can I go to her?”
A tear falls from her eye, and she stands to come sit by me, her breath leaving in a sigh.
“I think you should go. She loves you, but she thinks you’re in love with me. She’s been overlooked for so long, that she refuses to believe someone finally wants her over me.”
I swallow the knot in my throat. She knew I saw her before I fucked up.
“That’s m
y fault. I handled everything wrong. Is she okay?”
Rain’s eyes drop to the unruly facial hair I’ve unintentionally grown over the past several days.
“She looks about as great as you—minus the bad beard.”
I try to smile, but it doesn’t work.
“Do you hate me?” I ask softly.
I don’t want to smooth things over with Rain before I fix this shit with Tria. But Tria sent her here.