Trusting Myself To Love Again

Chapter 2

I head to the kitchen to start some breakfast while Max gets dressed. I'm fortunate that he loves food, and there are many different items. When Max entered the kitchen, I had made a veggie omelet with a side of turkey bacon and fruit. I looked up when he entered and said, "I made us breakfast. Would you like some OJ to drink?" 

He said, "Yes, and it smells amazing." Max dug into the omelet and let out a sound that sounded like a wounded animal. "This is so good; I had no idea you could cook like this," I said. "I love to cook, and why do you think your brother always ate dinner at my house?"

We sit silently for a few minutes, enjoying the food in front of us. Max stops eating, looks at me, and says, "I'm going to say this once, and I won't mention it again. I'm not sure what happened to you five years ago, but I have a good guess. I do know that my brother had to see a therapist to deal with everything after you left. He never told me the details, but one thing he said was he almost lost someone he loves like a sister, and it killed him that he was not home to save you."

I look at him, and I want to tell him but I can't yet. 

He can sense my struggle and says, "I'm here if you ever want to talk about it; if you choose not to, then know it does not change how I feel." He stands and kisses my forehead, takes the plates to the kitchen, and starts cleaning up.

I take a moment, take a deep breath, and try to steady my feelings. I hop up and walk to the kitchen, take my phone out, and take a photo. I looked at him and said, "I may need a backup plan to make a living, and this photo could be my ticket to becoming an influencer; the sexiest defensive end doing dishes could go for millions." 

Max looks at me with a smile that could melt the panties off an 80-year-old woman. I knew at that moment I was in BIG trouble with Mr. Blue Eyes. 

Thank goodness the doorbell rang because if we had waited a few minutes longer alone, we would have been naked. I opened the door and greeted Jeremy, Ashley, and his parents. I took time to hug everyone at the door. 

Charlotte is the last one to hug me. She hugs me tight and whispers in my ear, "Sweetie, I'm so glad you are here and looking so good." 

At that moment, I knew she knew what happened to me. I made a deal with myself that I would forget everything and have a great time this week.

Everyone walks into the kitchen, and the guys start giving Max shit about doing dishes; he says, "She cooked, and I cleaned up," and Jeremy goes, "I'm jealous you got to eat her cooking." 

I told him I would cook for everyone before I left because I had some incredible Italian recipes I'd learned since living in Italy. The guys went to head for the final fitting for their tuxes and did other guy things. We ladies started working on the To-do list that Ashley had left. 

It was a lot of fun spending time with Charlotte and Ashley today. We got the remaining items needed for the gift bags, picked up Jeremy's gift, and went to a final fitting for my maid-of-honor dress and Mother of the Groom dress.

After finishing the fitting, we decided it was time for a late lunch, so we went to Dukes to eat some seafood tacos and margaritas. We talked about my job and Charlotte's retirement, and Ashley told us about trying not to turn into a bridezilla. The conversation was just what I needed.

We were waiting on the ticket, and Charlotte said, "So Mia, how much do you like my Max?"

I look at her with a nervous smile and try to play it coy. I say, "He is great, and Jeremy is lucky to have him as a brother." 

Both ladies burst out laughing. Ashley replies, "She has it bad." 

I sit there smiling, and Charlotte says, "I'm going to say one thing, and I won't bring it up again. He has had feelings for you since you went to his college game. He was just scared to act on them because of Jeremy. He has decided to make his feelings known, so be prepared. If you don't feel anything, just be straight with him; just a little FYI, I would love to have you as a daughter also". 

With that, we all got up, walked out of the car, and headed to Max's house. 

On the journey home, I asked Charlotte if she had decorated Max's home, and she said yes. I told her I felt that she did because it had the same vibe I remember from her home when I visited and said how beautiful the house turned out. 

We get to Max's, and the boys come out to get all the wedding favors. Max has been gracious enough to turn a spare room into a wedding center since I'm uncomfortable at Jeremy and Ashley's. 

Everyone sits down in the living room to recap the day's activities. Max lost his keys while running from an overzealous fan, and it took the guys an hour to find them. 

Max's dad, Frank, can't stop laughing when he explains that his son was running from an older woman with his face printed on her shirt. He said Max took a photo with the lady and signed her sweater. While taking the picture, the lady grabbed his butt, and he tried to step away, and the lady grabbed his face and kissed him. The kiss was the last straw, and he took off jogging away from her, but unknown to him, she could move, and he had to start running.

By the time Frank told me all the details, everyone laughed hard. 

I interrupted and said, "See you, and those underwear ads are too much for women. " 

Max replied, "Have you been looking at my ads, Mia?" 

I replied, "I saw it in the airport on the ad bulletin." 

Max said, "Sure you did, but we can talk more about it later when we are alone." 

Everyone just looked at our banter and smiled. 

We ordered pizza and sat around making all the wedding favor bags. It was such a relaxing and fun evening with family. I felt like I was part of their family; I missed my family. 

They have visited a few times over the past five years. I understand they have their own families and work, and I chose to move across the world from them. Being here with the Knight family made me realize that I need to come back and visit Oklahoma to see my family. Around 9, everyone said their goodbyes after making a plan for tomorrow's festivities.

Once everyone had left, I went to sit on the sofa. Max came over and sat silently beside me for an eternity. In my most cheerful tone, I turned to him and said, "Today was a perfect day, and I forgot how good it feels to have loved ones around." 

He smiled and said, "I always enjoy any time I can spend with my family, and you are family in my eyes and theirs." "I'm very blessed to have all of you in my life, and I will do better to show it more." I reach out and squeeze his hand to show my feelings without having to say them. 

We sat on the sofa watching the moon shine over the ocean, and the peace I felt at that moment made me desire to have a husband and children of my own. I sat for a few minutes longer, took a deep breath, looked at Max, and said, "I'm ready to talk about the past if you still want to know." 

He looks at me and says, "I'm ready to hear about anything you want to tell me." I take a deep breath and start from the beginning.

I went into detail about not dating when I first moved to LA because I needed not to be distracted from my goals. After almost four years, I told him that a man who had done everything to pursue me for over a year had worn me down, and I agreed to go on a date with him. 

I explained that I decided to keep our relationship private because I worked in the Razor organization. He looked at me puzzled but said nothing. I continued telling him there were no red flags for two years, and I thought I had found the one, but I learned that was not the case.

I went over the orthopedic residency and how I wanted to celebrate, and instead, I found my boyfriend in bed with another woman. 

I let him know that I went to Jeremy and told him everything. We decided to travel to Alabama to watch him play in the national championship that weekend to get away from the drama surrounding my life.

Max takes a deep breath and says, "The first time I saw you standing next to my brother, I thought she was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, and I had no idea you were dealing with heartache at that time." 

In a low tone, I said, "Thank you, Max. To be honest, I thought you were the hottest guy I've ever seen, but I could not act on those feelings at that time".

I keep talking about the ex-boyfriend, all the texts, voicemails, and showing up at my place, and how I decided to stay with Jeremy for a little while until things calm down.

I talked about how Jeremy spoke to the ex at the facility and told him to stop contacting me because it was over. This confrontation only made things worse. 

I explained that the team had an upcoming out-of-town game, and I had come down with the nasty flu and didn't attend. I had decided to stay at Jeremy's on the sofa, watching TV and taking medicine to recover while he was gone.

I started to tremble and grab his hand for comfort as I continued talking about that faithful Saturday night. I said I had ordered some soup from Uber, and the doorbell rang, so I went to answer it. Said. I picked up the bag and was ready to shut it down when two men pushed into the house.

I steady my voice and go on with the recap of the worst night of my life. I tell Max that both men took turns hitting me over and over. I finally passed out from the pain; when I woke the following day, I could not see out of one eye at all, and the other was barely functioning. I tried to move and saw that my arms were tied to the headboard, and no one was in the room.

I lay there crying and praying someone would help me. One of the men came into the room and saw I was awake. He untied me and took me to the living room. I looked around and saw they had gone through all your brothers' things, looking for things to steal.

The taller man of the two stepped forward and punched me in the nose, and blood just gushed out. I fell to the floor, and the other started kicking me. 

The abuse continued all day off and on, and I was sure that I would die. I hear the guys speaking and saying that the team landed back in LA when the pretty boy texted and that they needed to leave before the big guy got home.

One of the guys bent down and said, "Next time, don't piss the wrong guy off," and then he kicked my stomach so hard that I started bleeding out my mouth, and I don't remember anything until Jeremy found me lying in a pool of blood.

 By this time, I'm crying hard, and it's hard to understand me. Max pulls me into his lap, holds me tight, and lets me cry. 

After a few minutes, I looked at him and finished explaining. I tell him that Jeremy calls 911 and I'm taken to the hospital. 

I feel Max holding me tighter as I explain that I had to have surgery due to a ruptured spleen, plus four broken ribs, a broken nose and wrist, a concussion, and many lacerations. I tell him that I'm in the hospital for over a week, recovering from my surgery and injuries.

I let him know that the security cameras picked up the license plate of one of the men, and he was arrested and gave up on the second man. Neither man would tell who hired them, but we all knew it was the ex. 

The police went to the organization and questioned the ex, but without any proof, they could not arrest him. The owner and head coach felt the ex was involved, so they did the only thing they could: transfer him to another team out of California.

I took a deep breath, packed everything up, and returned to Oklahoma to heal and feel safe. After a few months, I said the residency opportunity came up in Italy, and I took it and moved far, far away to start a new life. 

I can feel Max's emotions just from sitting in his lap. He took a big breath and asked me, " Who is the man?" 

I replied, "Nate Foster."

He looks at me and says, "he is dead." 

Max stands up, carries me to the main bedroom, pulls the cover back, and sits me down. He goes into his closet and brings out a T-shirt for me. "I will go in the bathroom to give you privacy to get ready for bed, and you will stay with me tonight." 

I wait for him to lock the door, and I quickly remove my clothes except for my panties, put them on my shirt, and crawl under the covers. Just then, the door opens, and Max walks in with no shirt on and just some pajama bottoms; I can't stop staring. He crawls into the bed and pulls me beside him; I curl up and look at him. 

After a few minutes, I reach up and place my lips on his, and suddenly, I feel a massive rush of desire course through me. I hear him moaning as we kiss more profoundly, and he suddenly pulls away and looks at me. 

He lets out one colossal sigh, and he says, "I want you so bad, but I will not do it tonight because it's been so emotional for both of us. " He adds, "When we do finally make love, it will be so special, and I don't want those tainted memories in our bed." 

I groan, but I understand where he is coming from. So I lay back down and snuggle with the man that makes my heart want to love again. Before long, we both fell asleep from the emotions we had felt that night.