Page 17 of Power Play

“I did.”

“Did Michael and Isla play with you? Were they nice?”

“Yes. Isla said I’m cute.” Maya smiles sheepishly, pressing her cheek to my chest.

“You are the cutest,” Ava says, grinning. “If Michael ever doesn’t want to play with you, tell me, and I’ll make sure he remembers that he was a kid once too.”

“Uncle Drake and Clay told me that too.”

I swallow my nerves. “They told you what?”

“They told me they would make Michael and Isla play with me.” Her cheeks redden. “Clay promised to play with me too.”

Ava puts her glass on the table and sets her elbows on her knees as she leans forward. “Tell me, sweetie, do you like Clay?”

“I do.” Maya blushes even more, holding Ava’s gaze. “He’s nice.”

Unwelcome tears veil my eyes, and I turn my head to look up at the sky so Maya doesn’t notice. Such a big heart my sweet little girl has. She always knows when I’m upset, even if I’m trying to hide it from her. She always knows when her mom is having a bad day. It warms my heart, but it also bugs me immensely. The last thing I want is for her to worry about me, but sometimes I fail, and later I feel like the biggest loser. It’s my job to worry about her needs and her happiness, and when the roles get reversed, it irritates me. That’s not how it should be.

I need to be strong for her.

She’s all I have.

Maya starts climbing off my lap, and I let her. I didn’t hear a thing Ava said; I was too deep in my own head, falling down my own personal rabbit hole.

“Where are you going?” I ask Maya.

Her brows knit together, and confusion colors her face. “I’ll go play with Michael. He and Isla are there.” She points her finger at the swings, where the kids are sitting.

“Okay, just be careful.” I lightly tug on one of her pigtails, and she takes off, running as fast as she can. Once Michael has helped her onto the swing between him and Isla, I focus on Ava.“Every morning, I start with a little wish for her to be happy. And every morning, I worry that I’m not doing enough.”

“Layla.” Ava covers my palm with hers. “You are the strongest, bravest girl I know. You are raising Maya alone, and she’s wonderful. You’re doing everything right.”

“I hope so,” I whisper.

With a deep breath, I put my head on Ava’s shoulder. Coasting my gaze around the backyard, I watch Angie, Nevaeh, and Bella sitting on sun loungers and talking. Their laughter reaches us and makes my skin warmer. I turn my head, noticing Colton with Meghan in his arms. He’s talking to Xander, who holds his son, Ian. Both men smile, not bothered at all by looking after their kids.

Why couldn’t Eli be like that? All he ever did whenever I asked him to look after Maya was give an annoyed huff, even if I needed only a few minutes so I could hop into the shower. Or when he was coming home at the crack of dawn after partying all night and was getting angry with me when Maya’s cries were disturbing his sleep.What kind of mother are you?he’d ask.Why is she always crying when I’m home?Don’t you know how to handle her?Derogatory comments, belittling me for anything I did wrong in his opinion. After Maya’s birth, things changed so drastically between us…I stopped recognizing him. And he stopped loving me.

I became a burden.

Maya became an inconvenience.

We became something he wanted to have nothing to do with, and so he left.

I bite my bottom lip hard and bring my attention back to the grill, where Drake is still talking to Roman and Clay. A pang pierces my heart, and I grind my teeth together. I can pretend as long as I want that this thought never crossed my mind. And I’d never say it aloud, even to Ava.

But there’s another question I find myself asking more and more since the moment I found out about Clay’s transfer to the Thunders.

What would it be like if she were his?

Chapter 7

Does It Mean…Layla Likes Me?

CLAY

6 years 8 months ago, December

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