Chapter 155 Five Days Until Goodbye
POV Adrian:
The drive back home is shit. Maya is all smiles, talking about how kind the guys were to her, and that one of them invited her to Celeste’s bar for some drinks. I clench my fists, imagining exactly which drink that bastard wants her to have. Sebastian and Dominic don’t seem bothered by what Maya said. Luca has a sour look on his face but says nothing. Mikhail is uncomfortable, but like Luca, he won’t say anything. The problem is me—I didn’t like seeing Maya talking to those men one bit, let alone that son of a bitch’s invitation.
She’s not going, fuck!
“You’re all so quiet. Did something happen? Did you get hurt, Dominic?” she asks, and my brother looks at her through the rearview mirror.
“No, everything’s fine.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Those falls were starting to worry me.”
“Is that why you went to talk to those guys?” I tried to avoid it, but I can’t pretend anymore that this shit didn’t piss me off.
“For that too, but the real reason is that I kept waiting for you to come over there and yell at me. I was hoping Dominic would grab me and throw me over his shoulder, like the cave brute he is, but it didn’t happen,” she says, and sadness crosses her face, though it disappears quickly.
“Maya, we don’t own you,” Dominic says, and I see her nodding up and down.
“Your parents are coming back in five days, right?” she changes the subject, and I mentally thank her. I don’t want to talk about who she goes out with or doesn’t.
“Yes,” I answer.
“So that means five days until you’re free of me,” she says with a smile and starts messing with her phone. But something tightens inside me, because I hadn’t stopped to think that my parents’ return would mean she’d be leaving.
I think I’m not the only one realizing this, because my brothers’ faces change at the same second, and they look at her. She keeps scrolling on her phone, too distracted to notice we’re staring at her, silently hoping those five days take a long time to pass.
We don’t want her to leave. Fuck.
(...)
POV Maya:
Five days until I leave!
I’m lying in my bed after having dinner with the brothers, thinking about how my departure is getting closer and closer. After saying it out loud, it’s finally starting to sink in.
Coming back from Mr. Darren’s farm was not what I expected. I truly thought the brothers would be the rough, closed-off men they had always seemed to be with me, but I made the biggest mistake of all.
I fooled myself.
I fooled myself into believing in something that only existed inside my own head.
After what I did to get their attention—something that had absolutely no effect—I came to the conclusion that if I stay, I’ll suffer more and more, waiting for something that will never happen.
I look at Louis, sleeping in his outrageous purple pajamas covered in glitter, and I make the decision to forget the cowboys.
I want to be their friend, but not now. Not when my heart races for every single one of them.
I pull Louis closer to me and hug him.
“It’ll be just the two of us against the world again,” I declare to the mutt, who doesn’t give me a single look of compassion, because he’s sleeping his beauty sleep.
I cover him with the blanket and get out of bed.
For the past two days, Louis has been sleeping with me again, and I still don’t know why. Ever since we came to spend these days at the farm, he had only been sleeping in Sebastian’s room.
But something happened that made him come back to sleep with me.
I asked Sebastian about it, and he just shrugged, saying he didn’t know what had gotten into Louis.
I leave the room and, on tiptoe, head to the second-floor balcony. These past few days, it’s been the only place that has calmed my heart.
I lean against the wooden railing and look up at the sky.
I love standing here, admiring the stars.
I’m going to miss the farm—and the peace it brings me.
“I knew you’d be here.”
I glance over my shoulder and see Luca.
He looks beautiful, wearing flannel pants, shirtless, with that serious expression I’ve grown so fond of.
He steps closer, and I stay where I am.
I turn my eyes back to the stars, where it feels safe.
“What an unexpected surprise,” I say, still staring at the sky. “I’m already here saying goodbye to the farm in advance.”
“You’re not moving away, Maya. You can come to the farm every day.”
I don’t look at him, because I don’t want him to see the answer written all over my face.
At least for a few months, I’m going to stay away from El Soledad.
It’s the only chance I have to make my heart forget the Moretti brothers.
If I stay, I know I’ll suffer.
“I love this view,” I say, changing the subject. “It’s so calm… and at the same time, so beautiful.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
I look at Luca, now sitting in an armchair, and I smile at him.
“My mother also loves being here.”
I turn my gaze back to the sky, and for several minutes we stay silent, simply watching the stars.
With every passing minute, my heart pounds faster in my chest.
I know what he wants.
But I don’t know if it’s a wise choice.
Every time I’ve played at being happy, I’ve gotten fucked over.
“What are you thinking about so much? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this quiet.”
I turn toward Luca and take a deep breath a few times.
My eyes roam over his body, stopping at his face.
I wet my lips with my tongue and make my decision.
I need to feel each brother one more time.
One last time.
If I can’t have them all together, then I’ll use my last nights to spend time with each one, saying goodbye to what we could have had if they had given me a chance.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Luca… I’m leaving in five days, and I want to use my last nights here to say goodbye to you… individually.”
“Say goodbye how?” he asks.
All I do is slowly slide the straps of my nightgown down my shoulders, letting the gathered fabric fall to my feet, leaving me naked in front of him.
I stand still, waiting, not knowing if he’ll accept this farewell.
But I don’t wait long.
Luca rises, wraps his large hand around my waist, and crashes his mouth against mine with that dominating way I’ve come to… love.