Off Limits; My Best Friend’s Father. のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 31 - チャプター 40

MAYA’S POV.“Look, Maya. I need to explain what happened. Can you just give me the chance to call you and explain things?” Sebastian said with a pleading voice.“There’s nothing to explain.” I said, turning back severally to see if Luisa was staring at me.She was…The whole time.“Maya, please,”Sebastian pleaded but I ended the call.The moment the screen went dark. I turned towards Luisa who was still staring at me as she studied my face.I quickly walked back toward her and held out her phone.“Here.”She took it, but her eyes remained on me.“What did he say?”“Nothing.”Her eyebrows lifted.“Maya.”I forced a small smile.“He just wanted to apologize.”“That’s it?”I nodded.“Yeah.”She narrowed her eyes.“He sounded really urgent when he asked to speak to you earlier. And that was so damn weird,” She said.I shrugged, trying my best to look unaffected.“Well it wasn’t anything important.”The lie tasted bitter.Because I knew exactly why Sebastian had sounded that way.And the

MAYA’S POV.The moment I pushed my chair back, I knew I had made a mistake.Not because of anything Sebastian had said.Because of what his touch had done to me.My skin still felt warm where his foot had brushed against my leg beneath the table, and I hated how easily my body betrayed me around him.I carried my plate into the kitchen, placing it on the counter before gripping the edge of it with both hands.I closed my eyes, trying so hard to catch my breath.My lungs still felt like they couldn’t get enough air.What was wrong with me?I had spent the entire day telling myself that I needed to stay away from Sebastian. That whatever existed between us had to end before someone got hurt.And then one small touch beneath a dinner table was enough to leave me struggling to remember why I had made that promise in the first place.I swallowed hard.Then I heard footsteps behind me.“Maya,”My eyes flew open as I turned to see Sebastian standing in the doorway.My heart dropped straight

DANIEL’S POV.I had seen the way he looked at her.At the café.And again at the restaurant.There was something in his eyes every time he looked at Maya. Something I couldn’t quite explain.At first, I’d convinced myself I was imagining it.There was no way Maya could be interested in a man almost twice her age.Her best friend’s father.Maybe I was wrong.I hoped I was.Shit.What the fuck was wrong with me?Did I like her this much that I was starting to make things up in my head?Well, the truth was that I liked her more than I had expected to. And maybe that was making me see things that weren’t there.But I couldn’t shake the feeling.I would hate to be right.I would hate for his overprotectiveness to be something other than what it appeared to be.Lust.Because why else would a man want a girl his daughter’s age?Nahhhh.I rubbed a hand over my face.I was definitely doing too much and I needed to stop.I stared at Maya’s message again, at what she wrote.Maya:“What? No, why

DANIEL’S POV.I sat there for a while after Zaidyn left, staring at the untouched beer in front of me.His words wouldn’t leave my head.She might be our easiest way into Luisa’s circle.I hated that he had a point.I hated even more that I couldn’t stop thinking about Maya.Eventually, I reached for my phone.My thumb hovered over the screen for a few seconds before I opened Luisa’s contact.I stared at her name.This was stupid.I knew it was stupid.But I couldn’t exactly text her out of nowhere and just start a random conversation about why she wouldn’t give Zaidyn a chance. That would be ridiculous, especially after she’d rejected Zaidyn earlier.I needed an excuse.Any excuse…just to see how close I was to her and how well she trusted me.My eyes drifted back to the conversation I’d had with Maya earlier.Then an idea came to me.It wasn’t a good one…but it was the only one I had.I typed.‘Hey, it’s Daniel. Is Maya with you? I’ve been trying to reach her, but her number isn’t g

MAYA’S POV;(continued)“Tell me baby, what’s going on?”I opened my mouth to speak, but stopped myself.It would be a big mistake if I just blurted out what was going on.I would only make things worse by telling Sebastian that Luisa had just caught me in a lie. I didn’t even know what Luisa was thinking yet, and the last thing I wanted was to bring that fear into this moment.“There’s nothing wrong,” I said quietly. “It’s just getting late, and I need to go.”I pushed myself off the bed and reached for my clothes, trying to act as though everything was perfectly fine.I had barely managed to pick up my dress when I felt Sebastian’s fingers close gently around my wrist.I froze.When I turned around, he was staring at me with worry written all over his face.“Is it because of our age difference?” he asked.His voice was low, almost hesitant.His words made my heart squeeze.“No.” I shook my head immediately. “Oh my God, why would you think that?”I moved toward where he sat at the edg