I nodded, saving my voice.
Both men looked so out of place and neither one seemed to know what to do. Not like Nico, who had been talking almost nonstop the last hour, carefully avoiding the topic at hand. I didn’t want to think about the elephant in the room, and the last thing I wanted to do was talk about it.
Thankfully a moment later, Darla walked into the room with my Jello. Who would have thought I’d get excited over the thought of Jello? Darla walked right through the tension in the room with a smile on her face. “Here you are honey. Let’s see how this goes, and if you’re still up in a couple hours, we’ll do another shake. Otherwise in the morning you can have soft foods.”
I nodded gratefully and took the container of orange Jello and the spoon from her.
“Now boys, take a seat, you’re kinda in the way.” Darla winked at them.
Snapping out of their stupor, both Marcos and Jason startled at her words and headed for the other two chairs besides her bed. Both of them looked like your standard hard as fuck, typical plastic hospital chairs. Not like the recliner that Nico had claimed for himself.
Darla left the room and silence once again descended on us. Marcos and Jason were still staring at me unblinkingly and itwas beginning to unnerve me. “Stop,” I mumbled the best I could with my sore throat. Nico had explained it was because of the breathing tube, but it still sucked. I vaguely remembered waking up with that still in.
“How are you?” Jason asked, then winced as if he realized what he asked.
“I’m…alive,” I murmured the words the best I could.
Jason’s eyes closed for a moment before he opened them. He nodded solemnly.
“But we’re not talking about that right now,” Nico jumped in. “We have all the time in the world for depressing shit. We’re talking about this dumb movie and whatever dumb shit happened at the clubhouse. I’m sure Nickle or Phoenix got up to something in the short time you were there.”
Marcos chuckled and nodded. “Nickle and Phoenix were doing burlap sack races…naked.”
My mouth dropped open and Nico burst out laughing. “Yes! Not that anyone in their right fucking minds wants to see that, but yes!”
I started laughing and dug into my Jello with a smile on my face, ignoring the two idiots that were staring at me in awe.
Maya
After the movie ended, I yawned and started to drift in and out, but I didn’t want to fall asleep just yet. I was basking in thepresence of my boys and didn’t want it to end. There was rustling to my left and I looked over in time to see Nico reach across me and hand Jason a book. “What? No.” Jason tried to push Nico and the book away, but I perked up.
“Please?” I asked, my voice soft.
Jason startled and looked over at me. His gray eyes were a storm that peered into my soul. He looked so raw and unsure of himself. It was different. I couldn’t ever recall a time when Jason wasn’t sure of himself.
“Please?” I asked again, my voice a little stronger this time.
He sighed softly, but grabbed the book from Nico. He leaned forward in the chair, so he was resting his elbows on his widespread knees, and opened the book at where the bookmark was shoved in. It was then that I realized it was my favorite Why Choose novel, about a girl that found her fated mates after a war tore them apart.
Jason’s voice a smooth honey that sent shivers down my spine as he immediately picked up from where he left off. I fucking missed his voice. I fucking missedhim. All of them.
Jason
I never felt so uneasy or out of place as I did in that moment. Marcos and Nico were watching me expectantly as I started to read the book. I tried to ignore them and was just getting into the story when I glanced up. Maya was watching me through liddedlashes, her head turned toward me as she hung on to my every word.
My heart exploded in my chest at the sight of her amber eyes watching me with such devotion. I kept reading, glancing up at her once in a while, catching her gaze until her eyes slid closed. I paused, wondering if she had fallen asleep.
“Keep…go…ing,” she murmured.
I continued, knowing my words were helping her drift off to sleep.
I didn’t know how long I read for, but when Nico let out a quiet snore, I looked up. Nico was sound asleep in the recliner next to Maya, and Marcos had left the room completely, probably to the attached bedroom suite that we had been using for the last six days.
When I turned back to Maya, I found her eyes open again, watching me silently. “Hey,” I murmured.
She gave me a faint smile, just her lips tipping up in the corners.
“Maya…shit,” I grumbled, unsure where to begin. I needed to apologize.
