Karma's Kiss

Chapter Sixteen: Digging

Maverick wanted to make her feel like she was special and made his own plans to take her out on her birthday. He invited her to play mini-golf with him, his sisters and their boyfriends, telling her he didn't want to be the fifth wheel and wanted her to meet them. He got her a cake, matching t-shirts for them to wear while they golfed, a necklace with an amber gemstone that matched her eyes and a teddy bear. His sisters came through when he explained the situation to them and got her new sheet music and strings for both her cello and the bow, things that had been deemed unnecessary expenses while her mom was sick.

Raven and Jynx had immediately fallen in love with Antonia, and to his surprise, considering it had taken months for him to become her friend, Antonia immediately connected with them. Watching her with his sisters, how much he loved her hit him like a lightning bolt. He brought her home, walked her to the door, and when she hugged him and thanked him for making her birthday so special, he looked into her eyes for a moment and then kissed her. From that night on, they were inseparable, and if she wasn't with him, she was with Raven and Jynx. She became a defacto member of his family and spent more time with the Silvas than with her own.

When he went away to university, Maverick had been committed to making things work with Antonia, but he also enjoyed being out from under his father's thumb for the first time and admitted to going a little crazy. He had a large group of friends that provided a distraction from how much he missed Antonia. He overdid it with them, which led to a gap in his relationship with her, but he kept telling himself it would be fixed when she moved to New York and they were living together—a young and dumb mistake.

Julia was in a bunch of his classes, and she introduced him to the friend group, but he never saw her as anything more than a friend. He wasn't interested in making connections with other women, and he made it clear. Waking up that morning to Antonia's text and Julia naked in his bed... he had never felt panic like that before.

When Antonia dumped him, he distanced himself from everyone and ended up failing that semester. Julia apologized profusely and was persistent in her attempts to make things right between them. She helped him get back on track and offered him a shoulder to cry on. He held out hope for a long time that Antonia would come back to him, but she stayed away, and he couldn't even get any information about her out of Raven and Jynx, both of whom were highly disappointed in him, as were his parents. Feeling like he needed the separation from his family and Salem, he stayed in NYC and started dating Julia.

Julia was extremely jealous and insecure about Antonia. Maverick had frequently referred to her as his soulmate and lamented that no one would know him the way she did while he was trying to move on from her. Julia particularly hated the relationship Antonia had with Raven and Jynx. She encouraged him to stay away and fueled his hurt and anger by telling him they were choosing Antonia's side over his and that he hadn't done anything wrong. It wasn't his fault Antonia had to give up her dreams, and he shouldn't have felt like he had to give his life to make her happy. She made him feel like she was the only person in his corner and isolated him from his family.

The incident at his father's funeral opened his eyes to Julia's manipulations, but he was still angry at how firmly Jynx and Raven were on Antonia's side. When Jynx had shown up at his apartment in NYC, he had been reluctant to let her in, but Jynx, being Jynx, she had brushed him aside and walked straight in to sit at his kitchen table.

"Sit." Jynx pointed to the chair across from her. Maverick rolled his eyes but did as she asked.

"You know, I could arrest you; you're breaking and entering."

"Stop, Mave. Raven and I aren't in the wrong here, and you know it." She glared at him. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Maverick put his head in his hands. "I was thinking my Fiancee shouldn't be made uncomfortable by my ex."