Chapter 20 Maya
Maya
The chicken marsala was divine.
Nate’s Fifty Years of Black Love and Excellence slideshow was beautiful.
Trying to line dance with her cousins was fun.
But Maya needed a fucking break from the festivities…
…and from avoiding Theo.
Not that he hadn’t tried his damnedest to talk to her. She had to admire his commitment to cornering her during the Wobble, but she’d managed to slip away when Aunt Inez yanked him into a spin.
Now, she slipped out of the crowd under the guise of grabbing more champagne, but really she just needed air. The weight of Theo’s words still pressed under her skin, catching every time she replayed them.
She hated that her first instinct wasn’t anger… it was hurt. Especially when he was secretly reading her words in that deep, breathy voice he claimed to avoid…
Maya was halfway to the terrace when her mother spotted her.
Nadine stood near the open French doors, elegant as ever in a deep emerald gown, the kind of color that made her brown skin glow. Her sew-in was a perfect blend of silver and black, pressed and styled into soft waves that hung over one shoulder.
She smiled warmly when Maya approached her.
“Needed some air?” Nadine asked.
“Something like that.” Maya slipped out on to the terrace. “Happy anniversary, Mom.”
She tipped her glass toward her. “Fifty years. Can you believe it?”
“Honestly? No. Not in a bad way, it’s just…” Maya gestured vaguely toward the ballroom, where her father was probably retelling the story of their first date for the hundredth time. “That’s rare. And you still like each other.”
“We love each other,” Nadine corrected gently. “And we work at it. Every single day. Love is easy, Maya, especially at the beginning. It’s the choosing each other, over and over, when life gets messy… that’s the real work.”
Maya swallowed, watching the way the light from the ballroom caught in her mother’s diamond earrings. “What’s the secret?”
Nadine smiled like she’d been waiting for her to ask. “Two things: forgiveness, and knowing when to close the door on the world so it’s just the two of you again.”
The words landed somewhere deep, stirring up thoughts Maya didn’t want to examine too closely. Not yet.
“Thank you for coming tonight,” her mother said.
“Of course, I wasn’t going to miss this for anything.”
But even as she spoke the words, they felt false.
The truth was, she hadn’t done the best job keeping up with family affairs lately.
“You’ve been quiet in the chat,” her mother said, almost like she’d plucked the thought right from her head.
Maya winced. “I know. I’ve been buried in deadlines.”
Nadine gave her a teasing smile. “The new book must be a knockout, huh? The girls at book club are already buzzing about Yvette’s story.”
Maya burst into laughter, the image hitting her all at once: her elegant, dignified mother sitting in a circle of women, reading the steamier parts of Sweat out loud over glasses of pinot.
“Oh my God, Mom. Please tell me you skip certain chapters.”
“Absolutely not,” Nadine said, chin lifted with mock offense. “Me and the girls read everything and talk about everything. You think I don’t already know what grown folks get up to?”
Maya shook her head, still laughing. “I mean, you’ve got fifty years of experience…”
“I know that’s right.”
Embarrassing as it was, something warm bloomed in Maya’s chest. It was one thing for strangers to devour her work. But knowing her mom wasn’t just proud, but openly championing it? That was a different kind of balm entirely, something she didn’t realize she’d been craving until this very moment.
Before she could say anything else, an out-of-breath voice cut in from behind.
“There you are.”
She turned, and there he was—Theo, looking like he’d been running mental laps for hours. His jacket was unbuttoned, he’d lost his tie, and his easy confidence was nowhere to be found.
“Miss Nadine, the photographer’s looking for you,” he said, voice polite but rushed. He nervously raked his hand through his hair as he glanced at Maya. “He wants a few more shots with you and George before he wraps for the evening.”
Nadine’s eyes lit up. “Well, then, I’d better go find him. Maya, I’ll see you inside.”
And just like that, her mother was gone, her emerald dress sweeping back toward the ballroom.
Maya crossed her arms, watching Theo fidget his way onto the dark terrace. “That’s a suspiciously convenient errand.”
He gave a weak shrug. “Might be. But I needed to talk to you.”
She lifted a brow. “Out here?”
“You weren’t very receptive in the middle of the Wobble,” he said, managing a grimace that was half–self-deprecation, half–please-don’t-walk-away.
“How was dancing with Aunt Inez?” Maya asked, biting back a grin as she wandered deeper into the shadows.
Theo shot her a look as he followed her. “Exhausting.”
She tilted her head. “You looked like you were having fun.”
“That was survival,” he said dryly. “Your aunt has more stamina than most Olympic athletes. Pretty sure I’m still dizzy.”
Her smile tugged wider. “Oof, sounds like a hostage situation.”
Theo sighed. “It nearly was, but I was eventually able to spin away to get over here.”
“To me?” she asked, feigning innocence.
“To apologize,” he said low enough that the words landed heavy.
Maya remained silent. She just watched him, one brow arched, letting the quiet stretch until he shifted his weight like it might ground him.
He cleared his throat. “I… should’ve never said what I said earlier. You didn’t deserve that.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “I don’t know if you realize this, but I’m not quite as charming outside of my sound booth. In real life, I kind of flounder when I’m put on the spot.”
She looked away to hide her smile. “Oh, you’re plenty charming, Teddy.”
“I mean it,” he said. “I froze. I thought I was protecting our secret, but it came out like I was trashing you. And that’s the last thing I’d ever want.”
She pressed her lips together and let his words hang in the air.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly.
Her heart was still prickled from earlier, but her mother's voice still lingered in her head.
Forgiveness.
Finally, she met his eyes. “Don’t do it again.”
His mouth curved, slow and grateful. “I won’t.” And for a moment it was quiet, just the distant hum of music through French doors.
“You know,” he murmured, “if I’d known the only way to get you alone tonight was to screw up in public, I’d have made my mistake hours ago.”
Maya arched a brow. “That’s your big takeaway? Public humiliation as seduction?”
“Not humiliation,” he said, leaning just enough for her to catch the warmth of him. “Motivation.”
“You could just ask, you know,” she said, trying to sound unaffected. “I would have snuck away during dessert.”
“No, you wouldn’t,” he said, matter-of-fact. “You were enjoying that cake.”
“It was chocolate.”
“Well, I am asking now,” he murmured. His voice had dropped into the low register that always seemed to slip under her skin. “For a moment alone.”
Before she could answer, his gaze flicked past her shoulder toward the open doorway to the ballroom. She followed his line of sight, scanning for Nate or anyone else who might wander out. Nothing. Just laughter from inside, muffled by the music.
When her eyes met his again, there was a silent question there. A reckless one.
“You’re impossible,” she whispered, taking him by the hand.
Just to be safe, she dragged him to a shadowy edge of the terrace. Past the patio tables and closer to the creeping ivy and stone walls, where the air felt cooler and the fairy lights thinned to faint glimmers on the ground.
“Mm. And yet…” he chuckled, half-running to catch up with her.
The first brush of his mouth was light, like he’d let her pull away if she wanted to.
She didn’t. Her fingers curled in the lapel of his jacket, and the kiss deepened, warm and steady, the kind that made her forget where they were until the sound of a distant champagne cork made them part just enough to breathe.
Theo’s grin was slow, satisfied. “Thank you for that.”
She blinked at him. “You’re… thanking me?”
“For letting me kiss you,” he said, leaning just enough that his breath skimmed her cheek. “I didn’t want to leave here without you knowing that I need you.”
Her pulse jumped. “I can’t stop thinking about you,” she admitted.
“Then don’t stop,” he murmured, guiding her backward until the cool stone met her spine. Out of view from the party, the shadows wrapped around them like a co-conspirator. “Let it get worse. Let it ruin you a little.”
“There’s that charm…”
He dipped his head, just enough that his lips hovered a breath from hers. “Tell me to behave myself,” he said.
“Fuck no,” she muttered. “You think you’re getting off that lucky?”
That broke something in him. His mouth claimed hers again, hungry and unapologetic, while his hand slid to her hip, tugging her against him. The other wandered lower, fingers brushing the back of her thigh before taking a fistful of her skirts.
“Theo—”
“Shh.” He kissed her, slower this time. His fingers slid under her dress until they grazed the soft heat of her through lace. He found the edge of her panties, dragging the fabric aside with a patience that made her knees weaken.
Inside, the bass from the party thudded faintly, the sound of voices spilled over the music. But out here, her little gasp was loud enough to make him grin against her mouth.
“You’re already wet,” he murmured. “I haven’t even touched you yet.”
“You’re literally touching me right now,” she whispered, clutching his jacket.
His chuckled. “Lord knows it’s not the way I want to.”
With one hand anchoring her dress, he lifted the other to his mouth. Maya watched, breath hitching, as he slid two fingers past his lips, sucking them slowly before dragging them back out—glistening and deliberate. Then he brought them down between her thighs.
They slipped through her folds, hot and wet, parting her. She tried to stay still, to hold herself together, focusing on the sweep of his dark lashes, the curve of his mouth, the tight swallow that bobbed in his throat.
But her hips jerked from his touch.
Theo’s mouth brushed her jaw. “Don’t give us away.”
A voice called from somewhere inside. They both stilled, eyes darting toward pale light spilling onto the terrace. The voice drifted away.
Theo’s smile was pure sin. “Coast is clear.”
And then his fingers sank into her, filling her with a slow, deep stroke that made her head fall back against the stone. He set a pace meant to torture, curling just right, thumb dragging over her clit until her thighs trembled around him.
She bit her lip hard enough to hurt, fighting the urge to moan.
“Look at me,” he said, breathless now himself. “I want to watch you come. Here. With them all just a few feet away.”
Her eyes locked with his, heart pounding from playing this stupid and reckless game….
And then she was gone, pulsing around him as she came in quick, shuddering waves.
Theo caught her mouth in a kiss that swallowed her sounds, working her through her orgasm until her hands finally loosened from his jacket.
When he pulled back, his lips were wet, his grin slow and wicked. “Told you I didn’t want to leave here without you knowing.”
Maya knew…
She also understood that their fooling around was well outside the pretenses of “loosening up” before a recording.
They didn’t have an excuse for this light fingering.
She sucked in a shaky breath as Theo’s fingers slid free, the absence almost as dizzying as the way he’d filled her. Her legs still felt unsteady, like the ground beneath the terrace had shifted.
“Jesus,” she muttered, adjusting her dress with a couple tugs.
Theo, of course, looked maddeningly composed. Just a hint of smugness lingering in the curve of his mouth as he wiped his hand discreetly against the inside of his jacket.
Maya straightened her spine, willing her pulse to even out. She was fine. Cool. Collected. Not the kind of woman who got fingered at her parents’ anniversary party.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she told him, even though she couldn’t quite meet his eyes yet.
“Like what?” he asked, innocently.
“Like you just won something.”
“I did."
She gave him a flat look, but it was mostly for show. Inside, her brain was scrambling to gather the pieces of her composure, to shove this reckless, delicious moment into some corner where it wouldn’t show on her face when she went back inside.
“Fine,” she said finally, lifting her chin. “But if anyone asks why I’m flushed, I’m blaming the line dance.”
Theo’s grin widened. “Your secret is safe with me.”