Page 38 of Harbor (The Wanderers 3)

“Keanu found you too. He brought you here. We have all helped you heal physically. Maybe we could help you heal emotionally too.”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Dario. It’s a closed book from my past. I don’t want to reopen it. If you need more details than what you heard from my nightmares, ask Stuart. He can fill in the holes. Then you’ll understand why I can’t be with anyone. It’s not in the cards for me. I’m not interested in trying to make something work. Not with anyone.”

“Tell me one thing and then I’ll stop bugging you.”

She met his gaze, leery. “What?”

“Are you attracted to me? To Keanu? To Advic? Any of us? All of us? One of us?”

She closed her eyes. Her heart raced. “You know I am. It’s not enough.”

“It’s all I need to know right now though.”

She sighed. She hated him thinking there was hope.

“I heard there was a pretty heated kiss in here last night,” he teased.

She glanced at him. “How can you be so flippant about it? Doesn’t that annoy you?”

He shook his head. “Nope. I’m glad. I want to see you thriving, sweetheart, in all ways. If kissing Advic makes you feel alive, do it.”

Heat rushed up her cheeks. “I don’t think kissing is a problem. It felt good. It felt right. I’m sure I could kiss you or Keanu too. But the moment Advic touched me, I panicked. That’s not healthy. That’s fucked up. I don’t want to face what happens in my head when one of you touches me. It’s not fair to you, and it puts pressure on me.”

“None of us wants you to feel pressured, Maya. Never. We would happily spend every day with you moving at whatever pace you need if it meant seeing you smile and get stronger.”

She sighed. “You say that now, but I’m telling you you’re wasting your time. I could go months or years and never be able to get past the kissing stage. I can’t ask anyone to wait for me like that.”

“You aren’t asking. We’re offering. Because we care about you. We don’t take this lightly, sweetheart. We’ve never made an offer to any woman. We’ve never asked anyone to stay. You’re the first.”

“See, no matter what, I can’t stay, Dario. I’m a wanderer. It’s in my blood. I don’t stay anywhere. Not even with The Wanderers for more than a day or so. I get antsy. I have to move on.” Why couldn’t he see she was a lost cause?

“I get that. It’s your calling. But everyone needs a soft place to fall. People they can rely on at the end of the day.”

She shook her head. “My days don’t end. Sometimes I’m gone for weeks before I check in with The Wanderers.”

He slowly smiled. “You’re so stubborn.”

“Yep.”

“I can be just as stubborn,” he informed her.

“I see that.”

He reached for her face, cupped her cheek, his thumb sliding along her lip.

She parted her lips, her heart rate picking up at the intimate touch.

His thumb dragged back and forth, eliciting feelings she’d been arguing she wasn’t capable of. Her gaze went to his lips. She wanted to feel them on hers. She wanted him to kiss her the same way Advic had. She wanted to know if that same sensation she’d had with Advic would extend to Dario. What about Keanu?

As if her sanity and all her arguments had completely fled the room, she met his gaze. “Kiss me.”

He held her gaze for several seconds and then lowered his mouth to hers as he eased his thumb down to her chin.

She parted for him, ready to feel his lips against hers. Craving it. As irrational as that seemed.

Something inside her melted the moment his lips touched hers. That same thing had happened when Advic kissed her. It chipped away at her resolve. All her arguments were jammed into a corner, forgotten. All that existed was Dario’s mouth, his tongue sliding along her top lip, his breath mingling with hers, his hand on her cheek.

She was numb to anything but this kiss. Sucked into a vortex. A place she’d only been one other time. Last night with Advic. It felt good. Freeing. It chased all her negative thoughts away.

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