Page 26 of How We Loved

When I pull up, there’s no sign of Trevor’s truck, but I’m not sure if that is a good thing or bad thing, so I decide to walk up to the door to see if she’s here.

Tim, Maya’s dad, opens the door. “Hey, Ben. Maya’s not home yet.”

My heart sinks when I hear she’s not here. “Oh. Okay. Have you heard from her?”

His lips tilt up slightly to the right as he says, “I have. She should be home at any minute.”

I nod, feeling better that she at least checked in with her father. “Okay, thanks.”

I wave and turn to head down their walkway that leads to where my truck is parked. Before I’m able to open the door, I hear a truck coming up their driveway, and soon, lights from dull headlights of a beat-up truck appear.

I turn and freeze like a statue, facing them, trying to hide my frustration from how I’ve felt the last few hours but also relieved she’s finally home. As Trevor puts the truck in park, Maya watches me cross my arms and stare at them.

They both exit the truck, and Maya looks directly at me. “Hi, Ben. What are you doing here?”

“I came to check on you. Make sure you made it home okay. You weren’t answering your phone,” I state clearly.

“I know,” she responds. “I turned the ringer off.” She holds up her phone, then looks at Trevor with a grin. “I didn’t want to be interrupted on our date.”

I roll my eyes, then start back to my truck. I know she’s safe, so I can go home. “Okay then. Good night, Trevor. Go home.”

“He’s coming in to meet my dad,” Maya says, stopping me in my tracks.

I step back toward the house, thinking if he’s going inside, then I should too.

She holds up her hand to stop me. “Night, Ben. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I look from her to Trevor, whose expression is as smug as ever. He definitely loves the fact that Maya just tried to put me in my place by telling me to go home. What he doesn’t know is, I respect her, and I’m not pissed off that she’s stopping me. I’m not going in out of respect for her wishes. There’s a big difference, and I’m okay with it.

I nod my head toward Maya, giving him no more attention. “See you tomorrow.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Maya

Another school day is done, and I walk to meet Ben so we can go home. When I turn the corner in our school hallway, I’m surprised to see him chillin’ on the couch, all by himself, staring at his phone.

He’s the kind of guy to always have someone around, especially girls. Though he isn’t dating anyone right now, I can write you a long list of girls who are currently trying to get on his good side. I always laugh as I sit back and watch the way they flirt. Sometimes, I swear he engages them just to feed his ego because I know if he were truly interested, he would have started dating one of them by now.

“All by your lonesome?” I ask as I slide in next to him to see what he’s looking at.

He’s quick to swipe up the social media page he was staring at before I got a chance to see what it was.

He grins in my direction. “Just waiting on you, Sunshine.”

I give him the cheesiest smile ever, making him laugh as I stand up, holding my arms out to my side, saying, “Here I am!”

Standing up, he laughs as he wraps his arm around me and leads us toward the school exit. “How do you do that?”

I look up at him. “Do what?”

“Always put the biggest smile on my face.”

I purse my lips, raise my eyebrows, and nod my head. “It’s a talent, for sure.”

He chuckles. “That it is.”

I hold his hand that’s wrapped around my shoulder, and we head out the exit toward the parking lot.

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