Status Updates From Behind the Camera (Love thr...

Maverick-You’re making a lot of excuses for why you shouldn’t be with her. Forget the league—you have 10 more years in you, tops. Forget June—she’ll be old enough to understand emotions soon. Forget about ethics & rules & all of that shit. At the end of the day, Dallas, what’s going to make you happy?
Dallas-I can’t⁠
M-You can. You think about others too damn much. What do you want?
D-I want her.

Dallas tells Maverick & Reid about his feelings for Maven. He’s looking for their advice.

Dallas- It hits me, then, as I think about someone else taking Maven’s spot one day down the road.
She’s irreplaceable.
Not just as a nanny or someone behind the camera at football games, but as the woman I want by my side until the end of time.
I’m totally and completely head over heels for her, and I need to figure out a way to fucking have her once and for all.

“You’re wrong, you know.” Maven untangles herself and looks up at me. “June’s not the only one who likes you for more than your career. I do too. And whatever woman you end up with one day will as well. You’re the kindest, most gentle man I’ve ever met, and if you lost football tomorrow, I’d still think the same thing.”

Maven to Dallas

Dallas tells Maven about June’s mother.

“Last year we were princesses—Mav & Reid dressed up & came with us, too.”
“Stop. All 3 of you wore princess dresses?”
“Is there any other way to do it?” I pull out my phone & toss it to her. “Password is 5863. There’s a whole album for Halloween.”
“Oh my god. You’re wearing a wig. That is a serious commitment.”
“You can’t walk around in a sparkly dress & not wear a wig, Maven.”

There’s no way to come back from watching someone I live with get off on FaceTime, is there?
I think we just dug ourselves into a hole, and I don’t know how to climb out of it.
I’m not sure I even want to.

Dallas thinking about Maven
What’s next for them?

Jealousy runs through me.
I know I’m not allowed to be pissed that she’s had a life before me—I have a daughter with someone else for fuck’s sake. But knowing other guys have seen her like this makes me want to mark her and claim her as mine. It makes me want to throw my entire rulebook out the window and step away from the moral high ground.

Dallas about Maven
Struggling with their relationship
What to do?

“This is okay, right? You’re not touching me. You’re just looking.”
“You found a loophole,” he murmurs, full of praise, and I blush at the attention. “You like me looking at you, don’t you?”
“Yes,” I admit, and I play with the thin strap of my top. “It makes me feel wanted.”
“I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone else, Mae. In another world, you’d already be mine.”

“Full disclosure: I’ve never been with a woman while she used one,” Dallas says, and his cheeks are red. “But I imagine it would be sexy. I’d get to watch her get off on her terms. I could see the things she likes and learn from her. I mean, yeah, she’s the one in control, but think about when she asks to be fucked with it. Who gives a shit about power?”

Toy talk

“And red?” he asks, and I swallow. “The one I shoved in my suitcase has a lot of red tabs in it.”
“Um. Those are things I find hot. Scenes I’d like to try or think I’d enjoy,” I say shakily.
“Oh.” He leans forward in his chair and stares at me through the phone.

It would be undeniably sexy, the chemistry between us reaching scalding levels. But something tells me it would be tender, too. A light-hearted joke when I trace the lines of his muscles. A bashful smile as he hold himself over me, apologizing if he’s a little out of practice.
It would be us.

Maven thinking about sex with Dallas

“…We’ve had these moments together. They’re not big or grand or anything other people would swoon over, but they’re special. He wears my necklace under his jersey, Isa. And the other day, I went to the soccer field for the first time since my injury, and he asked what I needed. How he could help. Then he kicked a ball around with me for an hour.”

Maven to Isabella about Dallas

“Are you going to stare at my ass again?”
His mouth twitches, and one dimple pops on his cheek. “It would be criminal not to.”
“I’m all for law abiding citizens.” I wiggle out of his hold and turn around, looking at him over my shoulder. His eyes are fixed on my hips, and there’s no shame in his appreciation of my body.

Dallas likes Maven’s outfit

His compliment warms my skin. It lands in the center of my chest and stays there, making a home for itself next to all the other nice things Dallas tells me. All the words of affirmation he has been whispering in my ear when I need them most.
You can do it.
I’m so proud of you.

Maven about Dallas