Love on the Line (Beaumont Legacy #2)

33. Maya

Chapter thirty-three

Maya

S triding toward a group of reporters posted right outside of her house, Maya decided never to go for a walk again. As if her face hadn’t been plastered over the internet enough since she’d kissed Cooper publicly. She’d left the house half an hour ago, when it’d seemed the group had dissipated and found something more interesting to talk about.

Clearly, that hadn’t been true.

Maya remembered the first article she’d seen, arguably her least favorite of the bunch, which talked about Cooper’s long-term womanizing ways, speculating on whether his best friend’s sister was “another notch on his bedpost or the woman to finally tie him down.” She felt like she had the words tattooed on her forehead at this point .

She couldn’t deny she’d been worried the first time she’d seen some variation of that, but the twinge of fear dissipated quickly when Maya remembered all Cooper had done that he’d never done for anyone before her.

Still, having to deal with this when he was thousands of miles away left their conversations heavier and heavier. If they could even catch each other. Since she’d seen him a week ago, they’d missed each other’s calls almost daily until right before bed, when they were both exhausted from the day and could hardly talk.

At least she’d found joy giving lessons with the charity and to her other clients. And Maya had had a couple of game nights with Devi and her grandparents, which not only helped her feel more of a sense of community in LA, but also helped her get her mind off everything.

“Maya, can you tell us more about your relationship with Sabertooths tight end Cooper Hayes?” she was asked, as if anyone needed that introduction to know who Cooper was.

She kept her face neutral as she attempted to sidestep the group, noting a few who looked familiar. Probably because they’d been posted outside of her house for days, ever since she’d arrived back from Charleston.

One of them, a thin man with shoulder-length hair, sneered at her as he asked, “So you were given your role at On the Line because of your relationship, correct?”

Maya felt tears, maybe from anger, behind her eyes, and she finally walked up the concrete stairs to the house. This was exactly why she’d wanted to wait a while before they went public.

She didn’t regret giving Cooper the assurance he needed though. She ached when she thought of the look on his face after everyone had realized who he was, when he’d had to find a place for his hands that wasn’t on her. Maya couldn’t bring herself to be sorry she’d kissed him.

A tear fell as she locked the door, and like her brother had grown a sixth sense for when she was about to spiral or needed comfort, Landon texted her.

He’d been checking in frequently since the news spread of her relationship, knowing the exposure was new for her and offering for her to stay with him to ease the stress for a few days.

Landon

Doing okay? Still welcome to come stay here whenever you need a break.

Maya stared at the tips of a few strands of hair before wrapping them around her finger. She didn’t want to put Landon out, plus she had so much going on in LA.

Maya

Too many tennis responsibilities here, but thank you. I’m doing okay.

Landon

Got it. Camp starts soon so I won’t be able to come down much, but I’ll see you for your birthday at the end of the month.

Maya

Can’t wait!

She didn’t know what might happen with Cooper, especially now that June camp was getting started for him too, and she was glad for all the relationships she had with her family and friends near her.

Maya didn’t bother to move from the door before she tried Cooper. He’d called her this morning before she’d woken up. She’d called when she’d woken up, before her walk, but he’d been busy, his phone sending her to voicemail.

She didn’t know why she thought that would’ve changed within the hour. When his automated voicemail played, Maya sighed, dropping her head and tossing her phone a few feet away.

Maya missed him more than she could’ve ever imagined, and though she’d been keeping herself busy, she felt like Cooper was the one person she needed most right now with all that was going on.

Her phone buzzed on the floor, and she scooped it up, noting it was a call from Devi. “Hi! ”

“Hi. I’m like a minute from your house, and I’m whisking you away to a birthday party to distract you from the evil media. Bringing you a lehenga to wear since I think we’re about the same size. How long do you think you’ll need to get ready?”

Maya laughed, wiping the few rogue tears from her face. Devi had been her superhero the last few days. “I just need a shower and then I’ll be ready. Feel free to use the spare key. I’ll hop in the shower now.”

She ran upstairs, thankful she’d washed her hair yesterday after a short hitting session with Viola. Maya had gone to the center to work on additional transportation for On the Line, and since her wrist had been feeling better and Grayson had cleared her for light hitting, they’d decided to try it out.

Maya’s shower only lasted a few minutes, and when she came out, Devi was sitting on her bed, an outfit waiting for her.

“Hi! I’ll step out so you can put this on.” They hugged briefly, and then Maya pulled the top and skirt on. Luckily, her cousin was almost as tall as her, so it wasn’t too tight a fit. It was a vibrant blue with gold sequins dotting the short-sleeve blouse and striping down the long skirt. She didn’t know how to pin the near-sheer swatch of light-blue fabric, so she walked out of her bedroom. Devi’s face lit up.

“You look stunning! Do you need help with the dupatta?” She pointed to the fabric Maya was clutching.

“Please. I don’t know what I’m doing. ”

Her cousin smiled widely, already pulling a box of safety pins out of her small purse. “That’s okay. That’s why you have me.”

Devi pleated the fabric, tucked it into Maya’s skirt, pinned it, and then wrapped it around and pinned the other portion to her shoulder. As she did so, she said, “So our twin cousins Nani and Nana told you about, Aishwarya and Jaya, went home for the summer, which is why you haven’t seen them yet. They’re staying with a friend on campus for the next couple of days, so they’ll be at this party.”

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to come? I don’t want to crash someone’s party.”

Devi stepped back when she finished pinning the fabric. “It’s a really wealthy woman who invites almost every Indian in the city. Nobody will even know. I’ve only met her twice anyway.”

Maya nodded, and when she looked at herself in the long mirror in her room, she hardly recognized herself. The lehenga suited her better than she could’ve imagined.

“Ready?” Devi asked.

“Ready,” Maya answered, grabbing her keys and a small clutch, finger rubbing against the old, faded tennis racket keychain her mother had given her. She’d found it after looking through some of her old bins from high school. It felt right that a piece of her would be with Maya tonight while she learned about their culture with their family .

Her brothers weren’t quite ready to embrace a culture that’d been so separate from them all their lives. She’d talked to Colton about why he hadn’t answered when their grandparents had reached out, and he’d told her that he’d felt responsible for how their father had treated Nani and Nana. Even after talking through it with him, Maya couldn’t say she understood why he felt guilty, but he’d agreed that he’d think about working them back into his life over the next few months, and that was progress.

And now that she was on better terms with Landon, she wanted to help him and Colton mend their relationship. She wanted the three of them to enjoy their culture and family together. They needed more family, especially as their father continued to be pushed out of their lives.

It only took a few minutes to get to the hotel where the birthday party was being held. Maya watched groups of people around her age walk in, women dressed in lehengas and men dressed in something Devi called kediyu. Maya hadn’t even stepped foot in the ballroom and she was already learning so much.

Her finger ran over the keychain one more time before she put her keys into her clutch and walked arm in arm with her cousin into the noisy ballroom. At the front was a stage, DJ equipment mounted and a couple of beautiful women whispering to each other, a microphone in one of their hands. Vibrant tapestries of sequined curtains fell from a vaulted ceiling, the beat of the music reverberating around the large room .

They were a little late—which Devi claimed meant they were perfectly on time—so large clusters of colorfully adorned people already covered most of the floor. If Maya thought she had a lot of friends, this was on a whole other level.

Devi was already waving at a bunch of different people who had turned to look at them. Two women, only a year or two younger than Maya and Devi—who looked nearly identical save for their hairstyles and the outfits they’d chosen—approached them with big smiles.

“Maya, these are our cousins Jaya”—she indicated the one with shoulder-length hair—“and Aishwarya. They’re your mom’s brother’s children. This is Kavya Aunty’s daughter,” she continued the introduction. Maya couldn’t say she really remembered these cousins, but they both leaned in to hug her, and she felt welcomed even further into the family.

“Hi,” she said tentatively.

“How have you been?” the one with long hair, Aishwarya, asked.

Before Maya could respond, Jaya interjected, “Wait, Maya? You’re the one who plays tennis, right? Mom always talks about you. She loves watching you play.”

Where Maya’s smile might have once faltered, it stayed. “Yes, that’s me. I’ve been doing well, thank you for asking. This is my first time at an event like this, so I’m excited to be here.”

Aishwarya waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, we’ll introduce you to everyone! A lot of our friends from Crestview are here tonight, and anybody we don’t know, I guarantee you Devi does.”

Devi laughed. “It’s true, I probably do.”

Maya smiled through so many introductions, and though she considered herself deeply extroverted, even she was wiped after trying to remember every one of their names. When Devi saw her face, she threw her head back and laughed.

“Don’t worry. Nobody expects you to remember all these people’s names. It’s taken me months , and even still, I have to stand in the circle and listen in case they say a name I’ve forgotten.”

Maya laughed with her as they walked to the tables on the side of the room laden with one-bite Indian delicacies, none of which looked familiar to Maya. She followed Devi’s lead, enjoying every single one as her cousin named them. Dhokla, paneer tikka skewers, pani puri, gulab jamun. Each one made Maya want to throw as many of them in her clutch as she could and take them home with her.

They spent the next few hours mingling with Devi, Jaya, and Aishwarya’s friends and dancing in a big circle, her cousins identifying all the songs the DJ played and giving Maya the titles of the Bollywood movies they came from. As the night ended, the four of them said their goodbyes and walked out together.

After getting their numbers, Maya hugged the twins, who were heading back to campus for the evening, and promised to see them at the next event. As she got into Devi’s car, Maya marveled at how easily her cousins had embraced and welcomed her.

And how easily she’d forgotten about the shitshow that was awaiting her at home.

As if her cousin could read her mind, she asked, “Want to come over? I have at least ten Bollywood movies I think you’d like.”

Maya thought about Cooper, who’d texted her an apology for missing her call and promised he would call when he got home. She knew he’d understand if she were busy, and she didn’t want to miss out on experiences with others waiting for him.

“I have frozen margarita fixings too, if that entices you any further.”

“I’m in.”

“I knew that would clinch it.” Her cousin hummed a song that’d played at least three times at the party and pulled out of the parking lot.

Despite the tightness in Maya’s chest that’d developed over the last week of media terror and missing Cooper, she was excited.