What if this is wrong? What if Daria gets attached, and then Max finds out? I should just tell him. Rip off the proverbial bandage.
The greedy part of me wants more time with him. “Did you tell Knight about your change of address?”
“Yeah. He knows Max, so it wasn’t a big deal. Though he offered me a room in one of their houses if I didn’t want to move there or stay here alone.”
What? No, Daria and I have been together since her mother gave her into my care. I sink down onto the bed. “Is that what you want? I don’t want you to feel obligated to leave your home or move in somewhere else. We’re family.” Max will just have to hear the word ‘no’ if Daria isn’t comfortable.
“At first, I thought I didn’t want to leave. But we can’t stay hidden here forever. And if living with the Vincentis doesn’t work for me, I’ll get an apartment or move into one of Knight’s empty places.”She shrugs.“We can’t stay here forever waiting for life to happen to everyone else, but not us.”
What? “We’re living. You have an amazing job writing. And I love working at the bakery.” What does she mean by we aren’t living?
“No, we’re passing time. Look at Dash. You have no plans for any future with him. Kids come into our lives for a short time, like we’re a stopgap, and they move on to their real family. Year after year, you ignored people who wanted to get to know you better. You have friends, yet no one really knows you but me. And men…you friend zoned them faster than they could blink until Max showed up. All of this might end up being a mess that doesn’t work out, but at least we’re moving forward. So yeah, I’m willing to try.”She reaches over and squeezes my hand.“Are you?”
My soul screams no. “I don’t know if I can trust this to be real.”
Daria nods.“Trust is earned.”
I say that to the kids all the time.
“Give him a chance to earn yours.”
“What about you? Are you going to ever give a guy a chance?” I’ve worried for a long time that her mother’s and my history tainted her desire for a relationship or kids.
“I have to find a man first.”
Like we aren’t surrounded by a million of them. “Knight?”
She shakes her head.“That man is hot, but he’s like a brother to me.”
“Friend zone.” I didn’t miss the little smirk that played across her face.
Is she right? Have I been thinking I’ve been living, but really hiding from life?
***
I live in a mansion. That’s hard to fathom. From living in a cage to living on the street, then living in a comfortable apartment, now to a mansion, my life keeps changing for the better…I hope. It’s easy to forget that all of this could disappear in a moment.
All it would take is a few words of truth.
Maybe I can keep my secret forever. What Max doesn’t know won’t hurt us.
“Hey there. How are you settling in?” Max says from the door to my new bedroom.
Do I tell him the truth? Or do I tell him what he wants to hear?
“That’s way too thoughtful of a look.” He walks over to where I’m standing by the bed and takes me in his arms. “What can I do to make this easier for you?”
Those words touch my heart more than any others could. “You just did it.”
Max pulls me in tighter to him. “Well then, I guess it doesn’t matter that I got a few things for you.”
“Huh?”
He kisses my temple and walks towards the door. “Be right back.”
That man is strange. Max comes back with laundry baskets stacked above his head.
“What’s all that?”
