Page 30 of Speechless
I raised my hands. “I learned a long time ago not to try and coax someone to get a tattoo. That always ends badly.” I turned to find Amanda and Noah talking in his hushed tones. “Hey guys,” I said, tapping him on the shoulder. “I have some friends I want you to meet, if you two can tear yourselves away from each other for a minute.”
At least Amanda had the grace to blush. “Sorry,” she said, smiling at Marisa and Sierra.
“This is Sierra Turner, Trey’s wife. And Marisa Spencer, Luc’s wife. My best friend, Amanda, and Maverick’s brother, Noah.”
Marisa’s eyes widened before she gave Noah a hug. “Oh, my gosh. I’ve heard so much about you from Mav. It’s great to finally meet you.”
“You too, Marisa.” He shook hands with Sierra before Amanda shook both of their hands and exchanged pleasantries as well.
“I can’t believe I haven’t met you ladies in the shop,” Amanda said. “It seems like every time you come in, I miss you. And those handsome husbands of yours.” Amanda fanned her face before smiling at Sierra. “Not gonna lie, I’m a huge Trey Turner fan. I’d probably wet my pants if I met him face-to-face.”
Sierra laughed. “You wouldn’t be the first one, honey. You guys should all come to a little get-together we’re having tomorrow night for Trey’s birthday. It’ll be after the show, at a nearby hotel.”
“Ohmigod, seriously?” Amanda asked, gripping Sierra’s arm. “We’d love to! Thank you so much!”
Sierra laughed. “Good, we’ll see you then. If we don’t see you before. I should head backstage and check in with my hubby. See you guys later.”
“Nice meeting you,” Noah called after her.
She smiled and waved before making her way through the crowd.
Marisa sighed. “I’d love to hang out with you guys all night, but duty calls.” She grabbed my hand, winking at me. “I’m so glad you’ll be sticking around for the party tomorrow night. Mav will be stoked.”
“I’m, uh, not sure that’s a good idea.” I gave Amanda a filthy look for putting me in this position, but she was so wrapped up in Mav’s brother she didn’t even notice.
“Oh, come on,” Marisa said. “It’ll be fun.”
“I’m sure it will, but—”
“Codie.” She grabbed my hand, tugging me forward so we had a little privacy. “You’ve got to know that man is crazy about you. And I know I don’t have to tell you; he deserves a break. He’s working so hard to get it together and—”
“You know that starting a new relationship is frowned upon in the first year of sobriety, right?” I blurted out. “I mean, AA doesn’t have any hard and fast rules against it, but it’s not recommended. There’s so much other stuff to work through that relationships are just a distraction.”
“Yeah, but—”
“If you’re Mav’s friend, you’ll encourage him to stay single for at least a year and focus on his sobriety.” Of course, that meant he couldn’t date anyone else either, which wouldn’t break my heart.
Marisa smiled and I knew she had my number. “You’re scared.”
“Pardon me?” I prided myself on being fearless, but she wasn’t wrong. My feelings for Mav scared the crap out of me, given how hard I’d worked to put him behind me while building inner strength and independence.
“I get it, Codie.” She curled her hand around my forearm. “My feelings for Luc scared me too. I mean, I’d had a crush on him forever. He was my brother’s best friend. But I knew he was a longshot when it came to forever, and that’s what I wanted with him… forever.”
“Well, you obviously got your happy ending.” And I was happy for them. They were both great people, and seeing how much they loved each other helped restore my faith in committed relationships.
“We did, but not without a lot of pain and heartache.” Her eyes were downcast when she said, “We tore each to shreds, honestly.”
“Hmm, I know what that’s like.”
“Yeah, you do. But we rose from the ashes and are better and stronger than we were before. Maybe you and Mav can too.”
“I don’t think—”
“Do you really believe you guys ran into each other by chance, after all of those years living in the same city and never seeing each other after your breakup?”
I’d been careful to avoid him. Most bars, festivals, and honkytonks announced when he was playing, so I stayed clear, not wanting an awkward encounter. Or worse, to have a complete meltdown in front of him.
“The fact that he walked into my AA meeting was—”
