Page 64 of The Overdue Kiss

Dazzlin’, I think, the popular school term catching me off guard. I sound like one of my teenagers with a crush.

“Aaand sent.” She tucks her phone into her back pocket with a grin. “You’re officially stuck with me.”

“Good.”

“Des,” Thor calls out, and I turn to the four pairs of eyes awaiting introductions.

I place my hand on Maya’s back and guide her to the table. When she shifts closer to me, I allow my palm to flatten completely, enjoying the warmth of our connection. To say it feels right would be cliché, but it doesn’t make it any less true.

“Maya, this is some of my biker ‘gang’ as you’ve been calling it. This is Roxy, her husband Chris, Cai, and Thor.”

“Hi. It’s nice to put some faces to the names.” Her eyes stop on Chris. “You seem familiar. Have we met?”

“You might have seen his ugly mug on the front page of the ColoradoBiz,” Cai says, but I can hear the pride woven into the words.

“Ugly is not the term I would use,” Roxy says, winking at Chris.

“Is that so, Rox?” he says, leaning over to whisper in her ear.

Normally, this banter would have me pulling out my phone to tune them out, but instead I find myself glancing down at the top of Maya’s head with a tug of longing.

“Sit and join us. Des rarely fills us in on what happens up in the mountains.”

“Oh, um,” she says, twisting her fingers. She turns to look at me in question. “Is that okay if we stay?”

I’m lost in the doe-brown eyes again. “Whatever you want to do.”

Thor pulls out the chair next to him, gesturing to it. Maya gives me one last glance before moving around the table to take the spot across from me.

“I’m not really that hungry. We went to celebrate the opening of my tío José’s new restaurant, so I’ve been nibbling on chips and salsa all day.” She pauses for a moment before asking, “Is Holt not coming? I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“You’ve met Holt? I knew he was holding back the other day,” Thor mutters.

“No, he had to leave town for a week or two,” Chris adds over Thor’s grumbles.

“¡Ay! He said he’d help install the new thermostat in the library. I could probably call an electrician, but it might eat into my budget.”

“I can do it,” I say before someone else can volunteer.

“Really? That would be such a big help.” Maya pulls out her phone and types a quick note.

I shift in my chair at the unabashed scrutiny from the other side of the table. So I don’t know that much about electronics... it’s nothing a little internet searching can’t figure out.

Cai asks, “So, Maya, besides playing Madden, what do you do? Are you a new teacher at the school?”

“No, actually I’m an Outreach Librarian in Golden. I’m working on a project in Rocosa for a bit.”

“A librarian, you say? How interesting,” Roxy says with a smirk in my direction. “How did you two meet?”

“What she means to say is, ‘How did you get Des to notice you?’” Cai laughs.

“It probably helped that I was waving a flare at him,” Maya says.

They all erupt into laughter, including myself. She fills them in on how a heroic biker came to her rescue, gesturing wildly with her hands and captivating the others in her animated story. I’ve heard this a few times, heck I was there when it happened, but I could listen to it a million times the way Maya tells it.

She’s adorable. No, she’s more than that. She’s gorgeous, witty, and charismatic once she conquers her nerves. I marvel at the mere minutes it’s taken her to fit in comfortably with my friends.

Everyone is hanging on her every word, including myself, and I jump when the waitress taps my shoulder to hand me the check. When Chris isn’t there, it’s easier for me to do the math for everyone, but since he is, he snatches it from my hand and slaps a fancy black Visa card on top.

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