Page 95 of How We Loved

I reach my tipping point and finally lose it. “Why can’t I? She’s the one who pushed me away. Now I’m supposed to just go back to the way we were like all of that never happened?”

He puts up his hands in a surrender motion. “I get it. I saw what she was doing. But it’s Maya…” He leaves her name hanging in the air.

I drop my head to my chest. “That’s the problem. It’s Maya…”

There’s nothing else either of us could say, or even need to say. Her name is enough.

He places his hand on my shoulder. “Just be honest with her. Tell her how you feel.”

I inhale a deep breath. “There’s no point. She obviously doesn’t feel the same way.”

“Yeah, I call bullshit on that one,” he taunts.

I push him off of me. “It’s not bullshit. She wouldn’t have just thrown me away if it wasn’t true.”

He crosses his arms in front of his chest and raises his eyebrows. “Do you really need me to go over all of the years”—he drawls out—“that’s she’s waited for you to get your head out of your ass?”

I shake my head with a huff. “She was not waiting. We were just friends,” I say, my voice raising at the end.

He leans down to get to my level, placing his hands on his knees. “Friends don’t act the way you two do. Friends don’t sleep curled around each other. I don’t care that you guys don’t kiss or fuck or whatever. You two are so fucking connected at the soul level it’s like you were goddamn meant to be with one another. So what if she dated someone else? You both needed to see what life was like without each other.” He pauses and tilts his head to the side. “I see it worked on you. What makes you think it didn’t work on her?”

I drop my head back and let out a breath, closing my eyes then opening them up and staring up at the ceiling. “You’re right,” I finally admit.

“No shit. Now be a man, stop being a fucking pussy, and go get your girl.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Ben

It’s my eighteenth birthday, but I couldn’t care less. The last two days at school have been miserable. Every time I see Maya, I die a little inside. Now, she and her dad are on their way to my house to celebrate with me, like we’re one big, happy family.

When my mom told me they were coming over, she held up her hand to me before I could even get a word in to complain. She kept saying they are family, and this is how we celebrate our kids’ birthdays.

I’m chillin’ on the couch, watching a basketball game when they arrive. I don’t bother to get up. There’s no point. Obviously, they are here more for my mom than they are me, so why should I have to go out of my way to greet them?

“Happy birthday,” Tim says as he walks to where I’m sitting.

I’m not a total dick, so I stand up and give him a hug in greeting. “Thank you.”

He turns to the TV. “Who’s playing?”

“Kings and Celtics,” I respond as I sit down. “Just started.”

He sits next to me while I watch Maya through the reflection of the TV. She stands behind us without saying a word, then goes into the kitchen, where my mom is. My eyes linger on her and not the game until I can’t see her anymore.

Now that we’re alone, her dad turns to me. “Hey, I wanted to thank you for going to get Maya the way you did the other day.”

He glances down at my hand, where my cuts are finally healing, and it makes me wonder if he knows the whole story.

I don’t want to give anything away, as it’s not my story to tell, so I play it safe. “Of course.”

He must know because his expression gets more serious as he points to my hand. “No. I mean, thank you for beating his ass. I would have gone to jail, but wouldn’t have hesitated one second to do so.”

I let a small laugh escape my lips, as I’ve never heard her dad talk like this. “It was my pleasure,” I state, truly meaning it, referring to every lick I gave him.

I’ve wondered if he would try to call the cops on me or pull some shit, like trying to sue me since he knows we have money, but thankfully, it’s been completely silent. Glad to see he at least has his smarts about him when it comes to that because he knows he deserved every ounce of what I gave him.

He places his hand on my shoulder. “I’ve always felt better, knowing Maya had you looking after her.”

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