Page 43 of Brandishing Balance
Marcos was hovering outside the ensuite bathroom door, while Maya was inside doing her business. I heard her opening and closing drawers and cabinets, likely taking in everything of hers that we had already moved in—as in everything from her mother’s house, just like how we’d grabbed everything of Luke’s and put it in his room just down the hall.
In the week that she had been in the hospital, Jason had not only gotten the floors and carpeting done, he’d also arranged our moves. Marcos hadn’t had much from his small one-bedroom apartment, and Jason had been living at the clubhouse for years.
I on the other hand, had a whole two-bedroom condo to pack up. Jason had arranged not only movers but also people to pack up all of my shit. I’d never been more grateful for how strategic and focused my brother could be, because I had not been in the right mind to think of all of that while Maya had been lying unconscious in the hospital.
Jason hung up the phone as the bathroom door opened and Maya stepped out, looking pale, but she’d brushed her hair and pulled it up into a ponytail. “Pizza will be here in thirty minutes.”
Maya nodded and then yawned, covering her face. “Show me the house,” she murmured. She started walking toward the door before anyone could say anything.
Jason followed after her and I let him. It was his project; he deserved the credit for all of his hard work.
Jason
Sitting at the kitchen table, eating pizza like we had so many times before, I couldn’t keep my eyes off Maya. Even as pale as she was, she was utterly beautiful. She chewed her food and looked around the remodeled space in awe, like she was trying to see every inch of it.
“You said you all moved in?” Maya asked after she swallowed her bite.
“Yeah. I only had my one-bedroom apartment, so it made sense,” Marcos said.
I noticed how he conveniently left off the part about doing so because they needed the space for Luke. “I’ve been staying at the clubhouse since we moved out of here last time.” I shrugged.
Maya frowned and her eyes narrowed on the table in front of her. She didn’t say anything, but I could see it on her face. She didn’t seem to like that. Ignoring me, Maya turned to Nico and waited for him to speak up.
“I still have my condo, but everything is here now. I’ll probably rent out my place and use it as an income property,” Nico said.
“Where’s Luke?” She finally asked, glancing around the kitchen again, like he would appear out of thin air.
“He’s at your mother’s still. We thought we’d give you the night to settle in and he would come home tomorrow,” Marcos said.
Maya frowned again. “Did my mother really have an issue with me going back there?”
“No, Darlin’,” I said, immediately. I hated seeing her hurting so badly, and I knew the strained relationship with her mother was a trigger point. “She didn’t have any issues with you going home with her. She expected you to, but… well—”
“We wanted you here,” Nico cut me off. “We wanted you home, and didn’t want to wait. So we underhandedly asked your mother to help us. I’m sorry, Little Dreamer. It was a low blow and we shouldn’t have done it. We know how much it bothers you that things with your mother aren’t always that great.”
“It really hurt to think she was kicking me out after everything.” Maya’s voice was so soft, so dejectedly broken, my heart ripped to shreds in my chest.Wedid that to her. It was our dumb idea that hurt her and caused her pain.
“I’m sorry, Maya. That was my idea,” Marcos said.
“It was all of us. I’m sorry too,” I added.
Nico sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m really sorry, Little Dreamer.”
Maya looked so fucking lost as her eyes jumped between each of us. “I don’t know—I can’t fucking do this.”
Pain flared in my chest. I couldn’t blame her though—I really couldn’t—but it still fucking hurt. “Can’t do what, Darlin’?” I asked, my voice gravely.
“I don’t know how to trust you guys again. I don’t know to do this—” she waved a hand around her, gesturing at the house at large, “all of this again.”
I swallowed thickly and nodded slowly. I’d expected this, I could work with this, hopefully. “We get that, Maya. We know. We don’t expect you to just jump into anything. We have a truce, remember?” I asked.
She nodded slowly, swallowing.
“Just trust us enough to take care of you, ok?” I pressed. “The bedroom is yours, just like before. Kara gifted us the bed, but we all still have our old bedrooms—except Nic who took Kara’s old room downstairs, so Luke could be upstairs.”
“How can I trust you, when you don’t ask my consent?” She leveled her stare on me.
I swallowed and seemed at a loss for words.
