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Maverick gets up to go get his car and people start stepping forward from the small crowd

“Hey, can I get a selfie?”

“Maverick, can I get a picture?”

“Guys, I’et this woet my car so we can take her”

“My back hurts,” a ed woman blurts out “Can I come to the hospital with you?”

“I think I hurt uys take a look?”

Maverick just shakes his head and walks away This must be what his life is like all the time It’s the opposite of my under-the-radar existence

“Here we go,” Pike says, putting his arms beneath Ro

I take the cloth away froash, blood already pooling in the wound without pressure being applied

Pike gently picks Ro up and she cringes, her lips set in a tight line

“Stay with me,” she says, her eyes wide as she finds me beside her

“I’ anywhere,” I assure her

Maverick pulls as close to the sidewalk in front of Caesars as he can and puts his hazard lights on People honk and swear, but he ignores thee Rover Pike eases Ro inside and I follow, pressing the blood-stained cloth back to her brow

She’s okay She’s okay I repeat the words to myself as Maverickmy eyes in the rearview mirror

Ro is going to be just fine, but what about her drea career? She squeezesfro to her cut, and I know she’s wondering the very sa

Chapter Thirteen

Maverick

“I don’t know, man,” Dane shakes his head and looks away “There are lots of other ways to bond that don’t involve violating our contracts”

“So our contracts It’s not in everyone’s They’re not going to shitcan everyone who does it if we all do,” I point out “And the whole point of this is that no one’s ever going to find out I even asked the staff froave them all a nice tip for their trouble”