3. Step Up
Chapter 3
Step Up
Bull
“M ason, please don’t be late. I agreed to have the gathering at my place, and I could use a little help moving some things out of the way to make room for the folding table,” I hear Kailyn say.
“Babe, relax. I’m off all day Saturday, and then I’ll be at your beck and call,” Phoenix teases. He does an exaggerated bow in the doorway of her office.
A couple of days ago, Phoenix came into the boardroom and invited everyone to come over for a party on Saturday. And when he mentioned it was for a new friend of Gertie and Kailyn, I knew he was talking about Maya.
I’ve been looking for a reason to see Maya again. I haven’t been able to get her out of my mind since that night. I’m not some lonely guy looking to get laid. All I have to do is walk into a bar, and I’ve got that covered. I’m not bragging. It is what it is. Women seem to be attracted to a big man like me, and I’m no virgin. I enjoy their company, but I never lie to them. They all know that I’m in for a good time, but have no intention of making it more than that.
Our new venture with Storm Enterprises is my main focus. Rebel, Wire, Phoenix, Falcon, and I have invested everything we have to make this work. We’ll be glad when Archer is done with his final tour and comes home to join us, but for now, the rest of us are holding down the fort.
Rebel is coming out of Falcon’s office and hears Kailyn as well.
“I’ll be there early,” he says. “I want to meet this pretty new neighbor of yours.” Rebel gives a flirty wink. I know he’s kidding, but I don’t like it. Actually, I want to punch him in the nose.
“Yeah, well, get in line,” Phoenix replies. “So far, the guy on the second floor, Collin from the gym down the street, and the owner of the coffee shop are all vying for Maya’s attention, and she’s ignored their asses.” He laughs.
“She’s full of herself?” Rebel asks, surprised.
Kailyn laughs. “Maya, stuck up? You couldn’t be more wrong. She’s not playing hard to get. She doesn’t even see that they’re interested in her. Maya doesn’t know how beautiful she is.”
“Beautiful, huh?” Rebel says with a salacious grin.
“Cut it out,” I snap. “She’s a nice girl and doesn’t need you to fuck her up.”
“Maybe I’m looking for a nice girl,” he counters.
“Since when?”
“What’s with you, man? You got a thing for this chick?” Rebel asks. I can’t blame him. He’s just being his joker self, and if it were anyone else, I wouldn’t give a shit. But he’s talking about Maya.
Without responding, I turn away from the three of them and stomp down the hall back to my office. Only, I’m not alone. Kailyn follows me, closing my door behind her.
“Bull?”
I walk around my desk and plant my ass in my seat. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
She steps closer until she’s standing in front of me. “Fine. You don’t have to talk, just listen. Maya is a sweet girl. I like her, and Gertie adores her. That says something right there. I wasn’t around the night you met Maya, but I have it on good authority that there were sparks.” I move to stand and speak, but she holds up a hand to stop me. “Let me finish.” She pauses and waits for me to sit down. “I’m going to tell you something that would get me kicked out of the sisterhood, but because I love you like my own brother, I’m going to let you in on a secret.” I blink and wait for it. “She likes you.”
My jaw clenches, and I haven’t got a clue how to respond. When I find my voice, I ask, “How do you know that?”
“When we were over, Gertie mentioned your name, and I saw Maya’s expression. I know that look, Bull. I know it because I’ve noticed it on myself.”
“She’s too young,” I mumble. She looks fresh out of high school, with her big, wide, blue, innocent eyes and creamy-white complexion.
“She’s twenty-seven years old. She may be from a small town, and she may be a little naive, but she understands attraction.” Kailyn raises her brow and hitches a hip, crossing her arms over her chest. “Let me put this to you another way. How are you going to feel if Rebel, Wire, or any other man, for that matter, makes a move? Could you deal with knowing she’s out with another guy?”
I want to throw up at the thought of anyone touching Maya. It must show clearly on my face, because Kailyn walks behind my desk and puts a hand on my shoulder.
“Exactly. Tomorrow holds no guarantees. I believe in planning a future, but let’s not forget to live today. If you like her, and I mean really like her, do something about it. Maya is sweet and sensitive, but she craves adventure. I think that girl is a super surprise in a little package.” Kailyn giggles.
I turn my head to see Kailyn’s smile. “Phoenix is a lucky man.” Their road to happiness hasn’t been an easy one. I didn’t make it any easier on them by giving Phoenix a hard time for falling in love with Cory’s wife. I had it in my head that he was disrespecting one of our own. I was an idiot. Anyone can see the love they have for one another is real. It doesn’t mean we don’t think or talk about Cory, but he was the kind of man who would want Kailyn and Phoenix to be happy.
“We both are,” she says. “Think about what I said. Please.”
I give her a slanted grin. “I promise.” I see her relax, and she lets out the heavy breath she was holding.
“You’re one of my favorite people. I want you to find that person who does for you what Phoenix does for me,” she confesses softly.
I’m left in stunned silence as she leaves my office. I’ve been alone for most of my life. The only people I call family are the men in this building and Kailyn. I’m not even sure I’m capable of loving a good woman the way she should be.
Yet, from the moment I saw Maya struggling in the hallway, I knew she was different. I’ve had to stop myself from going back to the apartment in the hope of running into her. But a knife twisted in my gut when Phoenix mentioned the guys who’ve been snooping around Maya.
I guess I’m going to a party Saturday night.
* * *
Saturday evening…
I can hear Rebel’s roar of laughter as Falcon and I get off the elevator. It’s still early, and people aren’t expected for another hour. Falcon got caught on a call, and I stayed behind to finish up the paperwork from the last job we did. A final report is due, and I’ve been procrastinating. It’s a bad habit I’ve got when it comes to paperwork, but it’s the one part of the job I hate.
To be honest, it was good to have the distraction to keep me from an even bigger distraction. And here she is now. Maya steps out of her apartment looking so beautiful that I want to take her back inside and turn this into a party for two.
Her long blonde hair is pulled back into a sleek ponytail. Her makeup highlights her big blue eyes and full pink lips. Maya’s wearing a pair of skinny jeans with a powder-blue sweater and brown tanned-leather ankle boots. She’s a cross between the girl next door and a sexy angel that has me questioning my sanity. Sweet, angelic women aren’t the type I’m usually attracted to. She’s too busy locking her door to notice us.
I have no business getting involved with an angel, but I’m done fighting the pull.
“Hey, Maya.” She startles and puts a hand to her heart. “You’ve got to pay more attention to your surroundings. You’re not in Kansas anymore,” I tease. It bugs me that she’s far too nonchalant with her safety.
“Hi, Bull. It’s good to see you again.” Maya glances at Falcon. “Hello.”
“This is Falcon. He works with Phoenix and me. Falcon is the guy who started Storm, and we all agreed that he should take the lead.”
Falcon extends his hand for Maya to shake. “I’ve heard great things, Maya.”
“Nice to meet you too,” she replies shyly. “I guess we should join the others. I promised Gertie I would walk over with her.”
“Go ahead, Falcon. I’m sure Gertie has trays she needs to be carried over,” I tell him.
“Sounds good.” Falcon turns the corner, and I walk with Maya to Gertie’s door. “Did you have a good week?” I ask.
“I really did,” she exclaims. “I checked out the local shops and had time to finish my unpacking. And, of course, I called my ma. She spent the first fifteen minutes trying to talk me into coming home. Then my brother gave me a lecture about safety in a city that nearly scared me out of my mind. I think it was his way of getting me home. I held out, though.” She giggles.
“They care about you. That’s a good thing, babe.”
“I know they do,” she says as she knocks on Gertie’s door. Gertie promptly opens to see the two of us standing together.
“Oh good, you brought Bull along with you. Be a doll and grab the two sandwich trays on my table,” Gertie says to me.
“I got it.” I collect the trays with one hand, then take the keys from Gertie and lock the door before handing the keys back. “Hang on to Maya,” I order Gertie. Gertie’s much better than when I first met her, but she hasn’t completely recovered and has a tendency to lose her balance. The chemo really knocked her on her ass. Gertie thinks she’s superwoman and that worries me, but I see Maya linking Gertie’s arm in hers.
“Lead the way,” she tells Gertie.
* * *
I’ve been watching from the corner of the room, and I’m not happy. It started with Rebel flirting with Maya. I nearly pulled him outside to have it out with him. When he saw my expression, he knew I was upset. In an angry tone, he said, “Man the fuck up or quit looking like you’re out for blood.”
There wasn’t time to get a word in before he stepped away. He didn’t go back to Maya and instead mingled with the rest of the guests. I was appeased, but only momentarily. For the next several hours, no fewer than three men approach my girl, and all of them with the intention of getting into her pants.
Wire comes over and hands me a beer. “Looks like you need one,” he says. He follows my gaze to a blond-haired, skinny nothing who looks like he just got out of high school and is nearly drooling over Maya. “You know, she doesn’t see it,” he says.
“See what?” My focus never wavers from the scene.
“Maya doesn’t see that these guys are hitting on her. And when Rebel told her that she was beautiful, she looked like a deer in the headlights.”
I grunt and force myself to tear my gaze away from her. “She’s too nice for a guy like me.” I know I’m trying to convince myself, and I also know I’m losing the fucking battle.
“You want a bitch in your life?” Wire asks sarcastically.
“I can handle a bitch. Not sure if I can do nice,” I murmur.
“You’d rather coed boy give it a shot?” He points to the other guy who’s been sniffing around Maya. “Or should lawyer dude with the fancy car and overinflated ego give her a go?” I clench my fist tighter around the neck of the beer. “Christ, brother. You’re going to snap that thing in half,” he comments. I loosen my grip and take a deep breath. “The Bull I know goes after what he wants. Get on that, will you? Because you’ve been impossible to be around.”
When Wire moves over to sit and chat with Gertie, my eyes are drawn back to Maya, who I catch staring at me. Her cheeks turn a bright pink, like a kid who’s been caught with her fingers in the cookie jar. Jesus, one look and I can feel my dick react. I feel like I’m sixteen and haven’t figured out how to ask the prettiest girl to the dance.
I don’t have any finesse. Never gave a shit and always took the stance that either you like me or you don’t. But that hint of a smile and the small wave of her hand makes me want to steal her away and kiss her until we’re both breathless.
“Step up, man,” I hear Falcon say beside me. “That’s all the encouragement you’re going to get, and not because she’s playing games. It’s all she knows how to do. You got a girl who’s into you, and you can’t even see it.”
“I see it.”
“And?”
“What if I fuck this up?”
“Won’t know until you try.”
“I’m not a good man,” I remind him.
“None of us are. We’re just men.”
“You know what I mean,” I grumble.
“We’ve all killed. It was kill or be killed. It haunts us, but we did what we had to do to survive. Now we’re doing something else. Are we trying to right our wrongs? Maybe. But in the end, we were soldiers, and we were fighting for freedom and country. If you’re still holding onto that, then you should be talking to Marshall,” Falcon says.
Marshall is the counselor Falcon insisted we all see after we left the military to help us to ground ourselves in civilian life. He’s honest and tells it like it is, and he’s been a game changer for me.
Falcon might be right. I haven’t touched base with Marshall in a while, and whenever we talk, I feel lighter.
“I repeat, step up. Now’s your chance.” Falcon indicates lawyer dude refilling Maya’s wineglass.