Page 52 of All Along

I rear back at the angry tone of her voice. “What did I do?”

“Yes. What did you do? Maya’s not answering my call either.”

“Shit.” I rub a hand down my face. “I have a bad feeling.”

“What did you do? Don’t make me come over there. Or send Hudson over there to kick your ass.”

“I didn’t do anything. She was stopping at the grocery store on her way here. I asked her to pick up bread and milk.”

She blows out a breath. “Okay. Here’s Hudson.”

“I’ll message you Flynn and Lucas’s numbers.”

“What? I need to find Maya. Not make friends.”

“Flynn is engaged to Sophia, and Lucas is married to Chloe.”

“Oh.” Sophia and Chloe are two of Maya’s posse. Maya has told me all about their love lives in her letters but in my need to get to Maya, I forgot.

He hangs up and my phone beeps with a message seconds later.

I dial Flynn first. From what I remember in high school, Sophia was more levelheaded than Chloe.

“Here’s Sophia,” Flynn says instead of greeting me.

“What did you do?” Sophia asks.

I’m about done with being accused of hurting Maya. I would never hurt her. I love her.

I love her.

I’ve been fighting my feelings for her for far too long but I’m done fighting. Maya is everything I need. She fills up the cold corners of my soul. She calms me when I feel as if I’m going out of my skin. She drives me crazy with desire.

She’s it. She’s my person.

“I didn’t do anything,” I grit out. “I need to find Maya. She could be hurt and all you care about is gossip.”

She sighs. “About time you stopped hesitating.”

“Were you fucking testing me?”

“Hell yeah, I was. Maya is fragile. I don’t want her hurt.”

“You don’t know Maya at all. She isn’t fragile. She’s a warrior.”

A fragile woman doesn’t handle a man having a panic attack the way she did. Maya’s shy but she’s not soft.

Sophia squeals. “I love this! Maya is finally getting her happy ever after.”

I grunt. “Can we discuss our relationship later?” As in never. “I need to find Maya now.”

“Remember you promised to discuss your relationship later,” Sophia says.

“Maya. Where is Maya?”

“I don’t know. She apparently had a confrontation with her parents at the grocery store.”

I growl. “What? What the hell happened? Did they hurt her?”

---