Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
MAYA
I nibbled on my thumbnail as I stared down at my phone. Texas and I had been messaging, and sometimes calling, each other since I’d left. I liked talking with him. But I couldn’t help but wonder if he minded that it was his friend’s sister taking up his time, and if I annoyed him with the randomness of our conversations.
But he messaged you first.
He had.
I glanced up when Swan approached with our cocktails. Smiling, I reached up and took the drink she’d held out.
“Thanks. What’s this one called?” We’d been trying different ones each night.
“Manhattan.” She sat on the lounge chair next to me at the pool’s edge.
We both took a sip. My nose screwed up, and I peered at Swan to see she’d had the same reaction. We laughed.
“Not my favourite,” Swan said.
“Mine neither.” Yet we wouldn’t waste it. It wasn’t the first drink we’d manage to finish when we didn’t like it. “I know I’ve said it before, but thank you for allowing me to tag along on your time away.”
“Maya, no offense to my family, but I’d rather have your company than theirs on a trip. There’s also the fact that the thought of going alone was overwhelming. If anything, you’re doing me a favour by coming. You know I love spending time with you.”
“Same.” Even with the three-year age difference, Swan and I had always gotten along. My phone chimed and I glanced down at my lap, seeing there was a new message from Texas.
See, he messaged you.
Swan hummed. “Just pointing it out, but you smile every time he texts.”
I scoffed. “I do not.”
“You do. It’s sweet and good to see you two finally talking.”
“Honestly, I wished I’d never let my crush get in the way. We’d have been friends from the start if I hadn’t.” At least I hoped so. I also wished Cody had gotten one of his other friends to be my first kiss. Then maybe I wouldn’t have turned into an obsessed fool who thought love could come from a first kiss. I wouldn’t have become annoyed and frustrated with Texas when he didn’t see me as anything but his friend’s sister.
“Do you still like him?” Swan asked.
Yes was my instant thought. How could I not? The more I got to know him, the more there was to like.
I glanced off over the pool. “Yeah, but now I know my feelings aren’t, and never will be, reciprocated, and I’m… well, most of the time I’m okay with that. I like the friendship we’ve built.”
Looking back at Swan, I saw that her lips had thinned.
“What?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Swan, I know you, and you’re holding back about something. Is all this talk making you think of Lockland?” She’d been heartbroken when her best friend, who was now a singing superstar, had left town to further his career. However, he left before she even realised how deep her feelings went for him. How much she’d loved him. When she’d worked out what Lockland meant to her, she still said nothing, even when in the first couple of years they kept in contact. Not that she’d admit it, but she stayed silent because she didn’t want to be the person who could come between him and stardom. I expected she was afraid of being rejected.
She picked at some lint on her shorts. “No, it’s not that.”
“Then what?”
She bit her bottom lip, glanced at me, and then away. “I’m not sure if I should say anything.”
Sitting up, I planted my feet on the ground and placed my drink down. “Oh, now you have to tell me.”
She copied my position, and my stomach dipped when she took my hands in hers. “Does Texas mean a lot to you?”
Another dip to my belly, like it was on its own trip over a bumpy road.
Did Texas mean a lot to me?
Wait, why was she asking in the first place?
Her hands tightened around mine. “Maya?”
Right, Texas.
Glancing at the ground, I thought of him, and like always lately, it brought a smile to my face.
I wouldn’t lie. It was time to admit, even to myself, that my crush grew wings and had taken off in flight.
Did Texas mean a lot to me? Yes, he definitely did. I wasn’t sure if I could live with only a friendship, but I really wanted to try. I wanted to keep Texas around. I’d definitely messed up when I’d dodged him instead of getting to know him.
“Yeah, he does.”
A slow, soft smile grew on Swan’s lips. “Good.”
A small laugh left me. “Why?”
“Don’t you think it’s strange that since what happened to you, Texas has been dropping by your house all the time?”
I pulled back, a little surprised we were talking about this. “Well, I mean, he’s new to living in Ballarat. With Dad being president, of course he’ll want to see him. Also, Cody’s always busy with Channa. And with Ruin in Melbourne, he’s not really close to the other brothers his age yet. I guess he’s after someone new to hang out with.”
She smirked. “I can see you’ve already thought about it.”
I snorted. “Of course I have.”
“Okay then, think about this; he doesn’t need friends his own age because when you’re in the club, all the brothers are his friends and family. He’s close with all of them, no matter the age. Does he even see Talon when he’s over?”
I had to think about it for a moment. “Dad’s busy. He’s not always around.”
“Yet Texas knows when you’re at home.”
“He… asks.” I hadn’t pondered on that fact, not wanting to grab hold of how sweet his visiting was. Now that it was voiced and pretty much spelled out for me, could it be true? Did I dare imagine his visits were just for me? Just to see me.
“Maya.” Her hands tightened around mine once again. “Dad was there that night.”
I stilled. “I… I know.” I remembered looking out over the group. My gaze had even flicked over Texas. But why was she bringing this up now?
“I overheard him talking to Mum about something that he saw.”
“What?” I whispered.
“The way Texas reacted.”
“Sorry?” I asked quickly, wanting to understand, wanting her to get to the point.
“Maya.” Her tone was soft and knowing. “Texas lost it. Dad had never seen him like that. At the scene, he wanted to get to you. Wanted to help you. He shut down when… when everyone thought they lost you.”
An invisible force wrapped around my chest and pressed. “What?” I breathed.
Swan nodded. “He’d been on his knees when Dad got him to his feet and on his ride to follow to the hospital. But when they were there, he… Texas didn’t go inside. Dad said he could see how scared he was about the news, even knowing you were already breathing. Dad thinks he was worried something else would happen.”
I could feel Swan’s gaze on me, her hands on mine, but as I stared at the ground, all that was in my mind were her words and the pictures it conjured.
But then she continued softly, “Dad said Texas was in a state of anguish. Texas had gone to call Dodge, but Dad heard him choke on the words. He took the phone from Texas and told Dodge what happened. Maya, do you understand where I’m going with telling you this?”
It couldn’t be true.
Not after all this time.
No. He still saw me as his friend’s sister.
It couldn’t. But….
“Maya?”
A shiver raked over my body, and I lifted my head to meet her gaze with my watery one. “That I mean something to him.”
“You do.”
But what did I do with this information? Could I actually allow it to sink in? What happened if I did and it was wrong? I didn’t know, but I couldn’t stop thinking about every single word and all the possibilities.
Later that night, I sat in an armchair in the corner of my room, watching the TV mounted on the wall. I wondered if Swan was still awake in her room, but then again, she probably didn’t have Texas on her mind. I gripped the armrests on the chair, willing my brain to stop ticking over with the knowledge of Texas liking me.
Texas.
A man I’d always been attracted to.
I ran my hands up and down the armrests and glanced down at the left one, noticing I’d placed the clean towel there. I bit my bottom lip when the sudden erotic thought entered. My heart pounded behind my ribs. My pussy clenched and belly tingled as my arousal spiked.
Scraping my top teeth over my bottom lip, I stood up.
Was I really going to do this?
The room suddenly heated more as I slipped my sleep shorts down my legs. I kept my panties on when I straddled the armrest over the towel. With one foot on the floor and the other on the cushion of the chair, I tightened my thighs as I lifted my tee up to pull it over my head. I threw it towards the bed before I glided my hands over my breasts and rocked down over the chair.
A gasp escaped me. What would Texas think if he could see me now?
Resting one hand to the back of the chair, I pinched my nipple with the other and shifted forward more to press my clit into the fabric. Rocking back and forth, my hips stuttered a little when desire tingled through my groin and belly.
Would Texas like to watch as I got off?
Would he be turned on?
Would he touch himself?
“Oh God,” I moaned from the thought of him watching and wanking. I slapped my other hand to the back of the chair, sliding my pussy back and forth over the hardness. It rubbed in the right place, and I could feel how wet it was making me. My panties would be drenched by the time I was done.
What would Texas do if I handed him my soaked underwear? Would he smell them? Taste them? Wish it was me he licked instead?
My back arched, my head dropped back, and I opened my mouth in a silent moan as my orgasm crashed through me. Panting, a laugh escaped me as I wondered what it actually would be like if I did have Texas with me. All I could think was that it’d be out of this world.