Wind Therapy - A.J. Downey Page 0,78

my heart filling to bursting for this rough and wild man in front of me.

Just like that, he held out the small rectangle of plastic to me and with it, everything my heart had ever desired. A home. My brother. A life away from the orchards of Eastern Washington and my corrupt grandmother. He held out everything I had ever wanted, and I took it, throwing my arms around him and kissing him soundly. My desire for him unmatched in that moment.

“Okay,” he said, laughing between fierce kisses. “Okay, I’ve got to go. Use the laptop on my desk, I’ll see you when I get home.”

“Okay,” I breathed and then, there I was standing in the room that would be my brother’s trying to decide what to do with it. There were endless possibilities but a lot of work yet to be done before I could get to them.

When Mav came through the kitchen door, it was to find me somewhat frazzled and exhausted, primer freckling my face and the bandana I used to cover my hair as I stirred some fresh made pico de gallo in a bowl at the cutting board.

“Smells good,” he said, shrugging out of his jacket and cut, hanging them on the back of one of the kitchen chairs at the counter. He slid up onto the same seat at the same time I slid some Juanita’s chips and the fresh pico across the counter at him.

“It’s gonna be a bit before the main course is ready,” I told him, checking its progress in the oven. “Thought you might want a snack when you got in.”

“Mm.” He crunched through one of the tortilla chips loaded with fresh vegetables. “Mm-hm!” He nodded appreciatively.

“Trying something American,” I said. “Figured you might be getting a little tired of Mexican every night.”

He chuckled, chewing slowly, and swallowing his bite before asking, “What have you got going on in there?”

“Just a chicken,” I said with a shrug. “Looked up a recipe online. Figured some baked chicken and a salad with some chips and salsa sounded light and healthy – well, all except maybe the chips part.”

Mav laughed and nodded. “Sounds good, babe. Sounds really good.”

“Awesome,” I said with a smile. I set out a couple of plates and moved around the kitchen getting various things ready for the bird to come out of the oven. The salad was already made and waiting. I’d done that along with the salsa.

“So, how much progress you make?” he asked, and I smiled and answered, “Not enough. I have the primer on the walls and ceiling – still trying to decide what to do with the rest. I haven’t spent any money yet.”

“I ain’t worried about it. You need help, you just holler.”

“I was thinking about painting it in his favorite soccer team’s colors. He loves fútbol, just like our dad.”

“Nice.” Maverick nodded.

“You seriously don’t care what I do to your house?” I asked and stared at him across the kitchen island.

“Our house,” he corrected with a shrug.

“You’re serious…”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

I rolled my eyes.

“Uh, you barely know me?”

“I know enough about you,” he said. “I know enough to know that you and me? We’re a good fit.”

I blushed at the intense look he gave me, the double entendre stark.

I cleared my throat and finished dinner without a word. Maverick kept checking his phone, but when I asked, wouldn’t tell me why. I shrugged it off. It was probably club business and I didn’t need to know.

“Leave them for later,” he said when I started the dishes after we’d finished our meal and I frowned.

“Abuela would have my ass if I left a sink full of dirty dishes after a meal,” I said with a dark laugh.

“Yeah, well, that bitch ain’t here to tell you what to do, now is she?” he asked, and I smiled and shook my head.

“No, but just because she is a bitch doesn’t mean all of her lessons were bad ones,” I countered.

“True enough,” he said with a nod and sighed.

“I’ll leave them for now,” I murmured, and he smiled at me, reaching out to cup my cheek, smoothing a thumb over my skin and the way he looked at me? It was as if I were a work of art.

I lived sometimes for the way he looked at me. Especially when it was like that.

“Let’s get you cleaned up, huh?” he murmured gently, and I bit my bottom lip to contain my smile.

“You just want to get me