“Yes.”
“Is this your first night here?”
“No.My second.”
“You slept here last night?”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“Jesus,” I mutter.
“I showered at the gym.I have a small change of clothes—”
“I can’t have you sleeping here.”
“I have nowhere else to go.”
She does.I’ll take care of it.I’ll take care of her.The strength of my conviction startles me, but convincing her is going to be tricky.
“My roommate is staying at her friend’s.”
“And you didn’t have anywhere to go,” I say, my voice tight with emotion.Maya is always displaced, always not where she’s meant to be.I feel helpless, and angry, because she only had to tell me, and I could have helped her.
Her eyes flash.“My mom lives out of state.I know the security codes on this floor, and it made sense.I didn’t want to inconvenience anyone.”
Anyone.Including me.Her words land like a punch, sharp and hard, knocking the air out of my lungs.My God.Maya sleeping here in Katherine’s office hurts me in more ways than I am prepared for because it tells me how little she expects from anyone.From me.“I wish you’d told me.”
She meets my gaze, hard and unflinching.“And what would you have done?”
I don’t answer, because I hear my brothers’ voices again.
You moved too fast.
You did it for her.
I shake my head.“This can’t continue.”
She shrugs, like it’s perfectly acceptable.“It’s just tonight and tomorrow.”
“No,” I say.“That’s not what I meant.You shouldn’t have to do this.Not here.Not like this.I can’t have you sleeping on a sofa.”
“You can’t control what I do, Zach.I’m fine.”
I stand there, watching her.Her expression softens just a fraction, like she realizes maybe I’m trying to help.That small change in her demeanor undoes me more than her anger did.“I’ve got a place you can stay.”
She stiffens.“I can’t stay with you.”
“I didn’t offer for you to stay with me.”
She scratches her neck, looking sheepish.
“I would offer for you to stay in my apartment, it’s big enough …”
“Of course you would.”
But sneaking her into my apartment, risking Jett and Dex seeing her and concocting their own stories is something I want to avoid.
“I’m sorry,” she says.“I didn’t mean to be so ungrateful.”
