Maya (Book #3)

Chapter 56

He answered on the second ring.

 "Maya?" he asked, with urgency in his voice.

"Dominic," I breathed into the phone as tears began to fall. I stopped my run, falling onto a grassy hill beside me and curling up between rose bushes carelessly.

"Where are you?" he snarled, understanding the situation from the tone of my voice. I heard his car rev as if he had been waiting in it all this time.

"I-I'll send it- to you," I said between gasping breaths, as I sent him my location. I wished I could hide this emotion from him. He must be worried, and I didn't want him to be. I sobbed more as I realized I had sparked this negative emotion in him, and I heard him make a small sound like a whimper, which quieted me immediately. I had never heard him make a sound like that before. He wanted to reach me and protect me, and he was helpless. I understood the feeling.

I leaned back against the dewy grass and let myself feel the full weight of what I'd just experienced. My phone lit up with texts from Asher asking where I was, but I didn't bother answering them. I didn't know what I could possibly say as that monster sat with his family and played his role to perfection. He was a police officer and a friend of the family. Nobody would believe me over him.

A couple of minutes later, a car swerved to the side of the rode and its emergency lights began flashing as its driver exited the vehicle. Dominic ran over to my side and scooped me up into his arms, pressing me to his chest as he sat on the grass where I'd been sitting. My hands twisted his shirt in my grasp as I leaned onto him and continued crying without pause. He ended the call on our respective phones and whispered to me the words that I needed to hear.

"It's okay, sweetheart. You're safe, I'm here. You're not alone. It's not your fault. Whatever happened, it's not your fault," he whispered in a tumble of affectionate words.

I listened and tried to believe them as my body slowed to a calm and the crying gradually ended. I sniffled and self-consciously wiped snot from my face as he pulled me back to get a good look at me. Tendrils of hair brushed across my face with the breeze and stuck to my sweat and tears, partially obscuring my view of him.  I hated that I looked so weak in front of him. I wanted him to think the best of me.

His brown eyes scanned my somber face and puffy eyes and I wondered what he was thinking. His face portrayed no emotion beyond concern for my well-being, but he must be angry too. I made him drive like a maniac from wherever he was just so he could give me a ride. I was overreacting over nothing.

"Stop telling yourself lies," he begged, reading what I was feeling on my face. I ducked my head and tucked it against his shoulder once more, clinging to him tightly. 

"Sorry," I mumbled, not knowing what to say.

"Don't say sorry," he said. "Just know that you're strong and what you're feeling is normal. I've felt weak and hated myself before too."

 "No way," I muttered argumentatively, like a child. "You're the strongest person ever."

"I don't feel like it," he sighed, shoulders drooping. "Especially right now."

"Well, you are!" I said, showing him my eyes so he knew I meant it. He rolled his eyes with a smile and bumped my shoulder as I climbed off him. I sat on the grass beside him, jerking my body upward as I recognized how cold it was. I sat down again slowly, wishing I had opted for a hoodie and jeans tonight.

"Thank you," he replied as if he didn't believe me. "Hey why don't you take some of the compliments you give me and share them with yourself?" he asked as we sat in the grass, looking up at the stars.

"Hmm, no!" I said, playfully. He looked at me, feigning shock, and poked me in the side making my whole body jolt.

"No?" he asked, incredulous. He smirked at me, and I knew he was going to attack me with tickles if I didn't give in, so I hid my face and tried to cover my sides.

"No," I said like a question, with way less gusto.

"Oh, that's it!" he said, standing up and grabbing me under the arms. He flung me up over his shoulder and began to spin us in a circle, making me dizzy. My head hung down and swung back and forth as I tried to crawl back up his back and get off.

"Dominic! Stop!" I shrieked as he spun us in the opposite direction, making me struggle and nearly fall off.

"Admit that you're strong!" he said loudly, making me hope that nobody was in the vicinity watching me.

"Dom! What if someone sees me?" I fussed, trying to hit his back but getting no good angle. The more he spun the less I could even tell where his back was.

"Then you'd probably be really embarrassed, knowing you. And I'd say, oh don't worry, it's just my little baby sister. She's really embarrassed, so don't look. And then they'd laugh and watch even more, and it would be someone from your school and they'd tell everyone rumors about you-" he said, building his imaginary story and laughing when I squealed loudly at the mere thought of all that happening. I pounded my fists harder, making his laughter even louder. It boomed like thunder in the barren street, and someone was sure to notice soon.

"Ahh, okay, okay!" I shouted, out of breath. The blood was rushing to my head, and I was getting light-headed. "I'm strong like you, let me down!"

He stopped us immediately and pulled me back over his shoulder, lowering me to my feet. He leaned down and scrutinized my face with worry pulling his lips into a frown.

"Your face looks purple. Does it always look like that, and I just never noticed?" he asked, scratching his chin as if he genuinely believed that. I placed my hands on him and shoved ineffectually, making him laugh again. As much as I hated that he was constantly making fun of me, I did take some pride in making him laugh. His lips barely twitched into a smile or frown around others, and he didn't laugh for anybody as much as he laughed for me.

"Get in the car," he said firmly, throwing a nod towards the parked vehicle and gently pressing me forward with a hand on my shoulder. "Let's go home and you can tell me what happened. Remind me to get you a snack and a drink when we get there." We walked across the grass back onto the pavement and over to the road. I paused at the door, looking over the car and locking eyes with Dominic.

My face dropped at the memory of what had happened, and what Officer Walker had said. What if he hurt my family?

"I'm full already," I answered, changing the subject.

"Yes," Dominic replied knowledgeably. "But you were also just in shock and could really use a drink and a small snack, so you don't feel any worse when it passes."

I thought about that and then shrugged. It seemed like he knew what he was talking about, although he would never get me to speak. I hopped into the front seat, wishing I could sit in the back and just sleep. Something about what had happened before made me feel drained as if all the fight and energy had left my body.

I slumped into the front seat and propped my head upon my hand, letting my eyes close as the music started again softly.

"You're the best person ever, you know that?" I asked as I placed my head on my seatbelt and shook with the movement of the car. The hum of the engine calmed me further and I started to drift off almost immediately.

"You're sweet to say that, Maya. But there is nobody better than you," he replied, tapping his fingers on the wheel as a new song began.