Landon's Obsession: An Endless Series: Book 3 (Series 3) (8 page)

    
What the hell!

     “Jeez, mom, you make it sound like he’s going to attack
me.”

     Even though I was still pissed at Maya I appreciated
her defense of me.

     “No, I don’t think he would attack you, but he is a
very charismatic boy who is used to receiving the attentions of numerous
girls.” Rita said…RaKesha said, hell, I was going to stick with Rita since that
seemed to be the way she wanted it.

     “Mama, he seems fine. He hasn’t tried anything with
me.”

     “Maya, how many times have you been around him? You
know you’re supposed to be staying out of his way.” Rita exclaimed sounding
anxious.

     I frowned. Why didn’t Rita want her daughter around me?

     “I’ve told you how Mrs. McKay can be, and she specified
that she wanted you to make a concerted endeavor to not be in the same room as
him. When she agreed for you to come on and help me I don’t think she was
expecting you to be so pretty, and I could tell from her expression when she
saw you that she wasn’t pleased. She knows what her son is like and she didn’t
want him forming any kind of attachment to the staff.”

    
Again, what the hell!
My mother asked this?

     “But no matter how Mrs. McKay is, I actually agree with
her on this.”

    
Really
.

     “Mama, don’t worry. Landon is not interested in me, and
I’ve been staying out of his way, like you’ve asked me to.” Maya stated, in
what sounded like a soothing tone. “And even though he’s going to be home all
week, he’s going to be mostly immobile, so it shouldn’t be difficult to stay
out of his sight. The last thing I want is for you to get in trouble because of
me.”

     That’s why Maya had acted the way she had. She’d only
been following her mother’s directives, afraid
my
mother would fire hers
if she didn’t. I wouldn’t put it past my mother to do it either.

     “There is that.” Rita concurred. “You do understand why
I’m
worried about it, right Maya? I was extremely hesitant on letting
you help me here because of both the McKay boys. However, Christopher is
overseas, and Landon likes to be away from the home a lot, I didn’t think it
would be a problem for you to be here for only a few weeks. But now that he’s
stuck here for the next week I just want you to be cautious. I’ve known Landon
for six years; he’s a very handsome, charming young man.”

     Her positive observations somehow made me sound like
some kind of serial predator.

     “He reminds me a little of Tony.” Rita’s voice lowered
and sounded slightly pained.

     “I understand, mama.” Maya responded softly. “But not
every charismatic, handsome young man is like
that
man. I may have only
been around Landon for a short while, but he seems okay. ”

     Who was Tony; someone from Maya’s past, or her
mother’s?

     And damn, what was with Maya’s adjectives for me; first
I was ‘
fine’
, now I was ‘
okay’
. I liked that she was defending my
character, but I was feeling a little demoralized by some of her lackluster terms.

     “I don’t have anything against Landon personally, and
I’m not saying that he’s at all like Tony, but we are different from them, in
more than one way. I just want you to be careful.” Rita stated.

     “Mama, you know I don’t like stereotyping. I don’t
believe there is an us and a them; whether you’re talking about race or social
rank. Sure, I know that other people hold those types of views, but let’s not
be one of
those
people.”

     Her words had me straightening in revelation. Maya had
already shown me that she didn’t hold wealth as a barrier between people, and
now she was saying that she wasn’t going to let the fact that she was part
African American be an obstacle in her life either. I was impressed by her
outlook.       

     I pushed away from the wall I’d had been leaning
against, realizing I’d been listening maybe longer than I should have. I didn’t
regret my eavesdropping though because I’d learned some very interesting facts.

     The one thing that stuck out the most was that Maya had
pushed me away because of my mother and hers; it had nothing to do with us. And
while I was angry and irritated at all of them, to different degrees, I also
felt a little lighter.

     I’d already wanted Maya, but hearing how out of control
my mother was in her attempt to have complete control only increased my
resolution to move forward with a plan to hook-up with Maya.

∞                    ∞                   
∞

     It took me a day to figure out what to do. I wasn’t
going to go chasing after the girl. My conduct had been a little too close to that
already. I needed to get her to make an effort in my direction. I had sensed some
interest on her part before she’d pushed me away, and I would have to remind
her of it.   

     So that day I finished my sketch of the fire, adding
the details that had been in my head that night on the beach, the images that
weighed on my mind. Maya’s features blazing up from the inferno, her hair living
flames around her head. I’d sketched people before, but never a girl I knew,
and wanted. It was amazing the particulars I focused on that I never had
before; the tilt to her eyes, the plumpness of her lips, the slope of her nose,
the gentle roundness of her chin. She was a dream to draw.

     That night I made an extra effort in messing up my room
so it would need a good cleaning in the morning.  

     Wednesday, I tucked the sketch of fire half under my
pillow for Maya to find, and then headed down to the pool side cabana. A couple
hours later in the middle of sketching another picture I felt a tingle go down
my spine. Looking toward the house I observed Maya at one of the windows,
staring out at me.

     I wasn’t able to discern her expression from this far
away, but even from this distance our gazes connected somehow, and the tingles
along my spine heated, my body reacting to our small exchange.

     Maya had found the sketch, and now she was trying to
figure me out. However, a minute later she was gone, but I was pleased with the
result. She’d searched me out on her own.

     Thursday, I left another picture for Maya to find, this
one of water. The fountain by the pool inspired me, but instead of rising from
the flames, this time she rose from the water. I was the worst critic of my work,
thinking I could have done this or that better, but I had to admit that these
last two sketches where my best.

     I stayed inside today, hanging out in the Rec room
playing video games. Todd had texted to say he was going to stop by with maybe
two other people to check and see if I was still breathing. I was looking
forward to the company…and some distraction from my thoughts.

     “He’s alive!”

     Looking away from the black ops action on the screen I
watched as Todd, Hicks, and Derek strolled into the room.

     “I may be alive, but I’m dying of the fucking
monotony.” I drawled.

     Todd plopped his ass next to me on the sofa while Derek
and Hicks took the chairs on each side of it.

     “So, let’s see the war wound.” Todd waggled his grows
humorously.

     “Seriously.” I gave him a look that said we weren’t ten
any more. 

     “Hey, you acted like you were dying that night. I’m
expecting something colossal.” He smirked.

     Knowing he’d bug me until I did I lifted up my shirt
and tugged down my shorts.

     “What the hell are those? It looks like a couple bug
bites.” Todd laughed.

     “It’s the newest in less invasive surgery.” I informed
him grandly.

     “Those three small incisions have put you out of action?”
Hicks scoffed with a smirk.

     I considered Hicks a friend of a friend, Derek’s friend
actually; I never hung with him personally. He was tolerable, but there just
wasn’t a connection for us to be anything more.

     I gave him a ‘what the hell do you know about it’ look.
“Think of them as three small bullet holes in my gut. Does that give you more
perspective?” I mean, shit! It still hurt to stand up and sit down.

     Todd laughed. “Nothing like making a mountain out of
three mole hills.”

     “Where’s the sympathy?” I mumbled, going back to the
game.

     “If you wanted some of that you should have told us to
bring some girls over. They would have been all over you, simpering and cooing.
Oh Landon, you poor baby. Let me take care of you. Should I rub your feet
for you?
” Derek mocked in a high voice.

     “He’d probably want something besides his feet rubbed.”
Todd snorted.

     An image of Maya instantly popped into my head. She
could rub anything she wanted on me.

     I scowled at having my distraction of all thoughts Maya
interrupted, and at the added thought of females invading my home. “The last
thing I want is a gaggle of females surrounding me when I can’t move that
speedily. It’s too close to one of my nightmares.”

     Todd burst out laughing. “Some people would call that a
wet dream.”

     “Yeah, boo-fucking-hoo for you Landon.” Hicks looked,
and sounded like he was holding back a sneer. I ignored him. Hicks had always
shown a slight case of resentfulness around me. It just went to show that even
those who had money envied those who had more.

     Maya didn’t seem to envy me.

     And there I went again.

     “I’m looking for a couple hours of guy time. When you three
get sick of me you can go find those girls and make your own wet dreams come
true.” I grumbled, thumbing the buttons on my controller. “You asshats hungry?”

     For the next hour the four of us played
Call of Duty
on a ninety inch television screen. It was like a small television set for
each of us. Rita rolled us in some food on a pushcart, and I was unaccountably
pleased in this instant that she was hiding Maya away. I didn’t want the other
guys drooling over her.  

     “I need a piss break.” Hick suddenly announced.

     “Down the hall, on the right.” I directed since he’d
never been to the house before.

     We continued to play while he was gone, and after about
ten minutes I noted that he was taking a long-ass time. It wouldn’t have
bothered me any other time; I would have just assumed he was checking out the
house or having a hard time shitting. But Maya was somewhere in the house, and I
didn’t like the idea of Hicks running into her.

     “I’m taking my own piss break.” I declared.

     Moving as quickly as I could I headed toward the
lavatory I’d directed Hick’s to. He wasn’t there so I widened my search, hastening
from room to room, until I finally heard low voices coming from my closed
bedroom door. Twisting the knob I stepped into the room. The scene that met my
eyes had my muscles instantly tensing and my blood boiling. Hicks was holding
Maya’s wrist, a leering grin on his face, while she was attempting to jerk away
from his hold, her expression was both angry and anxious.

     “Come on, sugar, I’m packing way more than Landon,
and…”

     “Let her go.” I commanded in a hard tone, striding
forward. 

     Both their necks swiveled in my direction. Maya looked
relieved and gave one last jerk of her wrist, freeing herself from Hicks hold. Hicks’s
eyes narrowed and I could see him trying to think up an excuse.

     “Hey, Landon, if wasn’t what it looked like.” He said,
assuming some kind of innocent façade.

     That was the best excuse he could come up with? The
dickwad was definitely slow on his feet.

     “It looks like a couple things to me. First, you’re in
my room without my permission. That’s not something that sits well with me.” I
stopped in front of him, staring at him coldly. “Second, you had your hand on
something that doesn’t belong to you while in my room. That pisses me off.” I
gritted out angrily, giving him a hard shove. The muscles in my abdomen pulled painfully
but I ignored it. “Third, you had your hand on someone that didn’t want your
hand on them. That makes me see fucking red.”

     I followed his stumble backward with a solid clip to
his chin, sending him to the floor on his ass. Hicks was about five-eleven, and
moderately in shape, but I was six-one and had way more muscle mass from a
heavy lacrosse workout schedule. A schedule I partially adhered to in the off
season. Even handicapped from recent surgery I could kick his ass.   

     “What the hell, dude?!” Hicks yelled, scrambling
backwards, and then to his feet.

     “Oh, I’ll give you some hell.” I growled marching toward
him, ready to make him bleed, feeling angrier than I’d ever been before. I
couldn’t fucking believe he’d been manhandling Maya…I mean, the thought of any
guy taking advantage of a girl, or using force on her, was not something I was
down with…but Maya.

     A hand grabbed me from behind, holding onto my forearm.
“Landon.” I turned my angry gaze toward Maya’s soft voice. She was looking up
at me, her warm brown eyes anxious, her cheeks flushed. “You are supposed to be
taking it easy.”

     I stared at her a little nonplussed. She’d been nearly
attacked in my house but was worried about me overexerting myself. I heard
retreating footsteps telling me that Hicks was running for his life, but I kept
my gaze on Maya’s.

     “He deserves to have his ass kicked.” I stated furiously.

     Her face was taut with tension from whatever Hicks had
put her through, but she gave me a strained smiled. “Yeah, but maybe you can
wait until you’re fully recovered, or have some friends to back you up.”

     I shook my head at her forced humor. She shouldn’t have
had to go through that. This wasn’t the fucking Middle Ages where the nobles
had free pick of the servants. “Well, you know what. I do have some friends
here to back me up. Stay here.” Gently picking Maya’s hand off me I marched after
Hicks.