Maverick tilted his head. “I can see the town gossips have been hard at work. Who’ve you been talking to?”
Ella bit her lip. “I might have run into Molly Baker and Judi Devereaux at the coffee shop a few weeks ago.”
Maverick groaned. Because, while he was aware of the stories the ladies liked to swap about him, those two seemed to enjoy building his reputation the most. “Don’t believe everything you hear.”
“Edith said the same thing.”
Maverick was grateful to the older woman for that. Regardless, there was just so much work she could do, because Maverickhadput more than his fair share of notches in the bedpost.
He tried to think of a way to change the subject, hating the thought that his playboy ways might come back to bite him with Ella.
Unfortunately, before he could come up with anything, she struck first. “I’ll admit, I’m curious about one thing they said, something that didn’t feel right…even though I’ve heard it a few more times since.”
Maverick braced himself. Because, while Judi and Molly tended to exaggerate, they didn’t embellishthatmuch. “Oh yeah?”
“They used the phraseone-and-done.”
It was clear from her furrowed brows that she knew what that meant, but she couldn’t make it fit with what she’d known about him when they were together.
“Yeah. I’ve heard that phrase a lot too,” he said reluctantly. “I haven’t had much luck in the romance department,” he said, not bothering to admit he hadn’t been looking very hard because it was all too clear now that, for him, there was only one woman.
Her.
“Oh. So…” Ella stopped, shaking her head. “Never mind. None of this is my business. I shouldn’t have brought up the subject at all.”
“Finish what you were going to say,” he prodded, aware that this fresh start he was hoping for couldn’t truly start at square one. Keeping the past in the past was easier said than done.
“No, really. I?—”
Maverick was tired of playing this surface-y acquaintance game they’d fallen into. If he wanted to learn what she’d been doing the past fifteen years, he was going to have to offer the same. “Ask me, El. Ask me anything and I’ll tell you.”
She blinked several times, taken aback by his sincerity.
They might be starting fresh, but he wasn’t the type of guy who could ever hang out on square one for long. At least not with her.
Because now that he thought about it, he’d actually spent the last fifteen years sitting on square one, unwilling to step off of it with anyone else.
Ella was purposely avoiding all talk about the breakup letter, but that didn’t mean the rest of their past relationship didn’t exist, that they hadn’t forged a powerful bond that meant they were a lot more than mere acquaintances. They may have only had eight months together, but in his mind, he’d been as close to her as his own family back then.
And now that he was finished lying to himself, he could admit that he wanted to get back there again. Desperately.
But first, he needed to start pulling a few bricks down from this wall between them.
“I thought maybe you and Roni were…” Ella flushed, backtracking. “Seriously, Maverick. Let’s just?—”
“Hell no,” he interjected, because he definitely wanted to set her straight on this subject. “Roni and I are nothing. And her name shouldn’t have ever been linked with my name at all, but I was a stupid asshole who got way too drunk at my brother’s wedding a few months ago. I passed out before we did morethan make out, but even that was too much.” He grimaced. “Roni hasn’t changed all that much since high school.”
Ella gave him an understanding look. “Still the mean girl?”
He lifted one shoulder. “It’s been tamped down a bit over the years, so she’s notquiteas bad. But she’s still a few cards short of a deck and shallow as hell. The beer, bourbon, wine, and vodka goggles were strong that night.”
“Ouch.” Ella punctuated that by rubbing her head, feigning a headache. “Wait. You only made out? Because Roni told Molly and Judi—” She stopped speaking abruptly.
Maverick closed his eyes, sighing, because apparently Roni Gray with her lies, had built him an even bigger mountain to climb with Ella. “I didn’t have sex with Roni. We were drunk and started making out. I’ve felt like shit about it ever since because…I know what a bitch she was to you in high school. I’m really sorry if me kissing her hurt you. Ordinarily, I give her a very, VERY wide berth, but that night was…” Maverick shrugged. “Rough for me.”
“Rough why?”
Leave it to Ella to ask the hard questions. “I’ve been operating under some delusions the last fifteen years.” He didn’t say more than that, but he’d been specific about the timeframe on purpose.