Page 81 of How We Loved

“Fight me, you little fucker. Be a man and fight someone your own size.”

I smack him again, then reach back to do it again when I feel someone literally pick me up off of him. I turn to fight whoever is stopping me from destroying this guy and see it’s Eli.

“That’s good. You’ve done enough,” Eli says in his monotone but no-bullshit way.

I turn and see Trevor lying there, helpless, and take a deep breath before I yell out, “Where is his truck? I need to get my girl’s purse and jacket.”

A few people point me toward where it’s parked, and before I get there, a girl walks up to me timidly, handing me both items.

I reach for it. “Thank you. Stay away from that guy for your own good.”

She wraps her arms around herself and nods. “I will. And I’ll make sure my friends do too.”

I nod my appreciation and turn to head back to my truck with Eli and Dalton by my side.

We all hop in, and after I start the truck, I blast the music as I peel out of where I’m parked and head back to Trevor’s place to get her car. When she first went to visit him, I pinned her location, so I open my app to guide the way.

We ride in silence as the adrenaline starts to fade.

One song ends, and before the next one begins, Eli reaches up and turns it down. “Is your hand okay?”

I open and close it, and I can feel the pain in my knuckles, but it’s nothing ice won’t handle. “Yeah.”

I turn onto the road, then into his driveway.

Eli grabs Maya’s purse and hops out of the truck before I even ask. “I’ll drive it home.”

Dalton moves to sit in the front seat as I put the truck in reverse.

Once we’re back on the road and heading home, he asks, “You good?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

“Man, I can’t even imagine what I would do if someone touched Natalie like that. Maya was bad enough.”

“I was going to kill him,” I state matter-of-factly.

He lets out a sharp laugh. “I know. That’s why Eli grabbed you off of him. Want to talk about why you were going to kill him?”

“I know, all right? I fucking know. Are you happy now?”

He’s teased me for years about how I wouldn’t admit to myself that I loved Maya. Something I can’t hide anymore.

He sighs, and it’s not the gloating response I expected from him. “It’s nice that you’re finally admitting it. The bigger question is, what are you going to do about it?”

I press the gas pedal a little harder. “Not a fucking clue.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Maya

There was no way I could go back to Ben’s house—or my house for that matter—so Natalie drove us to Dalton’s apartment downtown. I’m a wreck, and the thought of having to face either of our parents, looking like this, was too much for me to deal with right now.

It still blows my mind that Dalton moved out of his parents’ home, but I guess I can’t blame him after the shit his dad pulled. This is my first time here since we went shopping to fill the place. I look around, realizing just how perfect it is for Dalton. No fancy bells or whistles. He doesn’t even have a dining room table, just some chairs at a kitchen bar that sits between the kitchen and the living room.

Natalie sets her purse down on the counter and opens the fridge, grabbing me a water and handing it to me.

“Thank you,” I say, barely able to raise my voice above a whisper.

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