Page 36 of How We Loved

I shrug. “I have a boyfriend now.”

“Um, shouldn’t that be a good thing?”

I shake my head, remembering just how good it is and snapping out of the rabbit hole I was going down, thinking about how my plans with Ben might change because of it.

“Yes, you’re totally right. It’s amazing actually. He’s such a good guy. We had so much fun yesterday, hanging out. We literally did homework together, then made out in his truck.”

“Oh,” she singsongs. “Is he a good kisser?”

I drop my head back, holding the kitchen towel up to my chest with a blissful, gleeful expression. “God, yes. We got so hot and heavy so fast. It was making my head spin.”

She places her hand on my arm. “And you’re ready for hot and heavy so fast? I know you just barely met him.”

I nod my head. “I think I am. I really like the guy. He’s funny, caring. I love the way he surprised me at school.”

“I saw that. Ben sure wasn’t happy about it,” she jokes.

“Ben is just being grumpy that he doesn’t know him. He needs to change his outlook and stop being the almighty protector. Trevor seems like a good guy. He’ll see it eventually.”

“Is this really the first time a guy has come between you two?”

I stop and think about it. “It’s not like he’s coming between us. He’s dated a few girls, and I’ve dated a few guys, but that’s never changed the way we are with each other. Except the year he dated Michelle and I had to go in a solo costume for Halloween so he could match her. That made me mad.”

She chuckles under her breath. “Don’t you think it would have made Michelle mad if you and Ben had matched and she was the one left out, as his girlfriend?”

I shrug and move the cart down the aisle, remembering my dad saying the same thing that year when I whined to him about it. “Yeah, I guess. Trevor felt the same way.”

“How?”

“When he told me he couldn’t go tomorrow because he has to work, he got a little upset when I told him I’d go back to my idea of matching costumes with Ben.”

“I can see why he didn’t like that.”

I sigh. “Yeah. I guess this is just what happens now since I’m dating someone.”

“I’m so happy for you,” Natalie says genuinely, obviously trying to make me smile as I have an internal question lingering in my head.

I smile as I try not to think about what the future holds between Ben and me and just focus on the joy Trevor brings me right now.

I look at our carts. “We’d better move on to the rest of the house before we don’t have any more room to fit the things we need right now. We can come back for nonessential items later.”

“You’re so right.” She puts back the waffle maker she was looking at, and we head to the bathroom department.

With our carts so full that I can barely push mine, we walk to where they have Halloween costumes to see what I can find.

As I walk through the section, all I can think about is how right Trevor was with sexy costumes. Some of these are super revealing! I flip through some more until I find the absolute perfect costume, being Trevor’s girlfriend.

“OMG, this is it!” I pull it from the rack and show Natalie.

She giggles as she rushes toward me to check it out closer. “Love this!”

The rodeo cowgirl costume has the cutest brown chaps with a red bandana-printed top that ties in the front. When I find a cowboy hat to match, I about die in excitement as I place it on my head.

“It’s perfect!” I state with my head proudly held high in the cowboy hat.

“Trevor will love you in that.”

“Too bad he has to work.” I look at my reflection in the mirror. “I’ll represent him perfectly in this.”

---