Shifting, he pulled his phone from his front jeans pocket. Glancing down at the screen, he grimaced, and I caught sight of the name “Prez” before he lifted it to his ear. As he answered, he turned his head away, and my heart sank. Obviously, he didn’t want me to know what he was talking about, and that…hurt.
It shouldn’t. He had every right to his privacy. I was an interloper after all. But Max had been so kind and included me in so much already that it was wrenching to realize he didn’t trust me as much as I already trusted him.
When I got off his lap, his hand caught my hip and squeezed for a second before releasing me, continuing to keep his head turned away. I watched him for a few moments, noticing how tense his shoulders got the longer he stayed on the phone. Not wanting to add more stress to him, I started folding the clothes he’d so kindly bought for me and placed them in the corner of the room so they weren’t in the way.
Keeping busy left him out of my line of sight, so I was startled when his arms wrapped around me from behind, and I felt his lips touch my shoulder. I felt him inhale deeply before turning me to face him.
“I have to go take care of something for my dad,” he signed, his face tight, almost angry. “I don’t know how late I’ll be out.” Taking my hand, he pulled me over to the bed and pushed me down. Then he just turned and walked away.
I sat there, unsure of what to do. He hadn’t even said goodbye…
Just as my heart was squeezing painfully, Max reappeared with a smaller bag in his hand. Crouching down in front of me, he pulled out a rectangular box, and my mouth fell open. Opening the box, he lifted out a phone that looked just like his own, but instead of black, this one was a pretty baby blue.
“All that has been set up is my contact information. I’ll text you Nova’s number later.” He placed the phone in my hand, his eyes having lost some of the anger I’d seen right after he’d gotten off the phone.
“This…is…mine?” I signed, so shocked, all I could do was gaze from him to the phone and back again.
I’d never had a phone before. My parents had decided I was old enough on our trip to Belize, and they had said they would get me one as soon as we got home. But then the explosion happened. When I moved in with Aunt June and Uncle Tony, they hadn’t offered, and I wasn’t allowed out of my room except to go to school, so it wasn’t like I could ask.
Not that I would have. I hadn’t wanted to draw any kind of attention to myself from either of them. Even back then, I’d sensed something off with those two.
“Yes, treasure,” Max told me, his jaw clenching. “And don’t argue with me about it. I need to be able to contact you when I’m not with you. Not being able to check in on you this evening was pure hell. I’ve set the ring to the highest vibration, so you should be able to feel it when you get an alert. I’m not much of a texter, but if it means I have a way of communicating with you when we’re apart, then I’ll be the king of texting.”
The seriousness on his face made me smile. “You shouldn’t have done this,” I told him. He started to tell me not to argue again, but I quickly went on. “I love it. Thank you. I don’t know how to use it, but I will learn. For you.”
“You don’t know how…?” He spoke the words with a dark frown on his beautiful face before signing, “You’ve never had a phone before?”
Feeling my cheeks turning pink with embarrassment, I shook my head.
“Let me give you a quick lesson.” He showed me how to turn it off and on. Then how to send a text. He brought up his contact information and sent himself a message so that I could see how it worked.
Once I assured him I could do it myself now, he stood and brushed his lips over my brow. “I don’t know what time I will be back. If you need anything, text me.” I nodded and gave him a small smile as he grabbed his leather MC vest. His metallic-blue gaze lingered on me, before he clenched his jaw. “I will try to make this as quick as possible.”
“Go,” I urged. “I will be fine.”
Another gentle kiss to my forehead and he was gone. I sat there for a long time, just watching the door, wondering what he was going to do. He hadn’t been happy about leaving, and even though I had no idea what the phone call had been about, I’d noticed how tense he’d been during it. It was obvious he didn’t want to do whatever it was he needed to.
I wasn’t sure how long I just sat there, holding my phone and watching the doorway to the bedroom, hoping he would come back. The little device vibrated in my hand, hard, and I looked down to see a text from him.
MyMax was what he’d programmed his contact name as, and seeing it on the screen lifted my heart.
MyMax: This is going to take a few hours to clean up. Get comfortable, treasure. Sorry I won’t get to tuck you in tonight.
Clean up? I felt something ease deep inside me. When he’d turned away during his conversation, maybe it had been because he was frustrated he had to clean up some kind of huge mess. I could understand that. He’d worked all day and then gone shopping for me. He was probably exhausted.
Heart feeling lighter
