From Mountains to Lone Stars

Maverick giggled against my chest as I stroked a hand through her bright purple hair. Her entire body was so cold. She never could stay warm; it was actually a little crazy.

"Why are you always so cold, Mav?" I asked, placing a kiss into her hair. I just realized how much I had missed this woman.

"I have no soul, Matt. When you don't have a soul, you are always cold." She snuggled closer into my chest. "I missed you."

I smiled. "I missed you too. How was your break?"

"It was nice. My dad and I had a nice conversation about cancer," she said and pulled me into her room.

We had both been back early from break, coming from the other side of the country. Maverick had convinced me to help her finish unpacking. Of course, I just wanted to spend time with her, so I had agreed. Her room was a disaster, boxes everywhere. Damn, she had a lot of shit.

"Jesus, Mav. Why do you have so much shit?" I paused as her last sentence hit my brain. "Why did you talk to your father about cancer?"

Maverick handed me a box and started to work on another one. "Most of this is clothes. Mom made me take all of my stuff with me from home. My dad had colon cancer a few years ago. I wanted to know if he's scared it will come back."

I set the box down and walked over to Maverick, pulling her against my chest. "Are you afraid your cancer will come back?"

Maverick nodded. I had never thought about how nervous she must be about it. The last few years had been one health scare after another for her. Mav just wanted to live her life, but she was now worried about cancer coming back. As resilient as this woman was, she had to have a breaking point.

"I just don't want to live my life afraid of it coming back. I don't want to play the what if game." She hugged me tightly and then moved away to fix her room.

"What are the what ifs you are thinking about?" I opened the box and started to unwrap her trinkets. I'm sure these went on her desk.

"What if it comes back? What if I can't ever play sports again? What if the pain comes back? What if I never get over this?"

"That's a dangerous game, Maverick." I handed her scissors. "I know it's hard to not play what if, but you can't do that."

She shot me a look, her eyebrow cocked. "Don't you ever play the what if game? You're a graduate student looking to make it big with your metal band... don't the what ifs ever eat at your brain." Maverick took out a pair of high heels from her box. I was momentarily distracted as I pictured her in those heels, her legs wrapped around my waist. She would be wearing nothing but those velvet, purple heels.

I shook my head, trying to will away my boner. "Of course I do, but it's different. Mav, if you play a what if game with your health, you are never going to feel okay." I watched as she took out another pair of heels. These were six inches tall and bright blue. They looked like something a stripper would wear.

"I know you're right, Matt. I just can't get my head around it. I'm twenty-one years old and had fucking cancer." Maverick pulled out another pair of heels. How many of these did she have?

"I know, Mav. But you're okay. They're gonna make sure of that." I walked over to her and took the heels from her hands. "How many pairs of high heels do you have, exactly?"

Maverick chuckled and pressed a light kiss to my mouth. "Are you distracted?"

"I can't stop picturing you in them. You'd be less of a shrimp with them on."

Mav hit my chest. "Shut up and finish helping me."

I laughed. "Yes, ma'am."

Notes

A cute little addition. I promise, things are about to heat up.