Paging Doctor Asshole

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"Don't look so scared, Polito," Maverick said as we drove in his car to an unknown destination. "It's not like I'm going to kill you or anything."

A man could wish.

Geez, that's depressing.

"I'm not scared. I just don't like surprises," I said as I took note of every tree we passed, ever fire hydrant, and every blade of grass. He wasn't about to abandon me out in the middle of nowhere and I not know where I am. "Why can't you just tell me where we're going?"

Maverick shrugged his shoulder so I took my eyes away from the passing landmarks and looked at him. He looked really handsome outside of his work clothes, being honest but I didn't expect for his superhero pajama fetish to extend to his everyday clothes. He wore a pair of tight fitting jeans, a pair of black and white sneakers, and his shirt... his shirt had a scene from an old Doctor Strange comic book. I almost commented on it when he came from the room in it but he hadn't said anything about my shirt so I found it only fair.

Nerd.

"Surprises are fun," Maverick finally said and I snorted in disbelief. "I mean, I didn't know Will was moving back here and he surprised me a week ago with it. I loved it."

Well, your brother is a brain dominatrix. Of course you loved it. I'm still shaking in my boots.

"Why did he move back?" I asked just to make conversation. We had already been driving for thirty minutes, I had to do something other than stare at the passing trees.

Maverick shrugged his shoulder again. "Honestly? I have no idea. He just said he found something here that he lost and he wanted to get it back... I don't even know what it could be, you know?"

"Maybe it's you," I offered.

"Ha! No!" He said with a dry laugh. "Will loves me but not enough to love from California. I was the little brother that ruined his parent's relationship."

Yeah...

"Well, Are you happy he's back?" I asked not even understanding why I was making small talk. I don't like small talk. It's annoying, it takes too much work, and it always ends in awkward silence. But, I wanted to know more about Maverick. Finding out he has a brother was a reality check in a way— I really have no idea who he is when he's not slapping me around and he said he wasn't doing that anymore so...

Small talk it is.

"I love Will. He would come visit every summer when I was a kid. We are basically the same age but he always treated me like I was ten years younger than him," he said with a snort. "He stopped coming around though when i turned fifteen. He finally could choose if he saw dad... so he stopped coming."

That confused me. "Why does he hate your dad so much?" I asked curiously. "You practically worship the ground Jaxon walks on but Will... he obviously hates him."

That made Maverick pause. I could see his silver eyes scatter around the street in front of him and he bit into his lip. It was almost like he was trying to find the right words to explain it. "Our dad... he loves us, but— Will is like a reminder to him on how he was not perfect once. Will knows that. They have a mutual hate for one another."

"So... Jaxon hates Will?"

"And Will hates dad."

"But, that makes no sense. He's the one that fucked up," I said angrily. "He cheated and made you. It has nothing to do with Will."

"My dad likes to be perfect," was all he said before we pulled into a parking lot. I looked up and tilted my head to the side at the name "Music for the Soul". Maverick parked and turned in his seat to look at me. "I know why my dad and Will don't get along. I understand it. I've lived with it my whole life, which is why I know when you say my dad signed up for the drug dealing, I know you're lying. My dad wouldn't want to be imperfect again."