Page 54 of Say Yes to the Hot Mess

I sigh. How do I tell Maya it’s because my mother was originally holding out hope that Maya might be suitable but then changed her mind once they met?

“It’s because she didn’t like me, isn’t it?” Maya says, rendering my explanation useless anyway. “She thought I might be okay until she met me. But what did I do?” she asks, turning more fully toward me. “What did I do wrong?”

I sigh yet again—something that happens a lot when I’m being asked to explain my mother’s behavior, apparently. “I—do you really want to know?”

“Yes,” Maya says immediately. “Of course I do.”

I rub my free hand over the lower half of my face. “I think she might have taken issue with your shirt? With the shoulder?”

“With my—” She glances down at her exposed shoulder, then looks back at me. “Really? Dex, I asked youspecificallyif this outfit was okay,” she goes on, exasperated.

I shake my head. “The outfit is more than okay. You look good, Maya. Sorry if that’s awkward,” I add, “but you do. You’re gorgeous, and I like the bare shoulder. Plus I really just am not all that invested in getting my mother to approve of my friends. Who I choose to date is my business, not hers.”

We start up the stairs, the clicking of Maya’s shoes muted once more on the plush, carpeted steps.

“Who you choose tofakedate, you mean,” she says, and I’m relieved when I don’t hear any more exasperation in her voice.

“Of course,” I say, inclining my head. “Who I choose to fake date is none of her business. And I certainly do not plan to date or fake date Val.”

Maya wrinkles her nose. “Ew,Dex. She’s pretty enough, but it would be like dating yourself. Yes,” she says over me when I begin to protest. “It would. You guys give off the same vibe. Proper and high society and maybe a little snooty.”

I scoff. “I’m not snooty.”

“You come off that way,” she argues, but there’s no heat to her words. “You did at first, anyway, until you started to loosen up a little bit. It was a bit of a rough first impression.” She pauses, looking at me. “By the way, are we really going to go explore?”

I shrug. “Sure,” I say. “Let’s go down to the beach. It’s probably warm enough. You want to?”

“Yeah,” she says with a nod. “That sounds like fun.”

We walk in silence until we come to a stop in front of our door, and I insert the key card until it beeps and the little light turns green.

“And by the way,” I say, pushing the door open and letting her go ahead of me. “You talk about bad first impressions, but you’re the one who closed yourself in my storage closet while trying to storm out of my office,” I point out.

“Shut up, Dexy,” she mutters, pulling her hand out of mine and stomping away.

I just laugh.

Twelve

Maya

Thirty minutes later,after changing into my suit, Dex and I head down to the beach.

It’s just us, thankfully. If he had agreed to catch up with Valencia, I wouldn’t have stopped him, but I definitely would not have tagged along.

She is a very unpleasant woman.

I was a little intimidated by her at first, because she looked so serious and uppity. But then she opened her mouth and out spilled the classic bit you expect from an ex-girlfriend who wants another shot. Once I saw what game she was going to be playing, all my intimidation fled.

Valencia Devlin can’t make me feel insecure. I’ve never been one to play the popularity game with other girls; not in high school, and not now. She can preen and talk all she wants, but I don’t have time for nonsense like worrying that I don’t measure up to her. I was extra grateful for Dex’s arm around me, though, for his silent support—not that I’d tell him that.

By the time we reach the water, I’m wishing I wore a shirt over my suit. My shorts are just a pair of denim cutoffs, and the breeze blowing off the ocean is chilly. It’s not going to stop me from getting in, of course; how often will I get the chance to come to the beach by myself, when I don’t have to keep my eyes on Archer? How often will I get the chance to come to this particular beach, which is much less crowded than the one near Sunset Horizons? No, it might be chilly, but I’m going to take advantage of this situation while I can.

I pull my shoes off and let my toes squish in the sand, imagining what it would be like to bring Archer here, maybe when he’s a little older. We could build sandcastles and hunt for seashells. I could carry him out into the water so he could feel it lapping against his toes. He would love it—and I would, too. I make a note to check and see if it’s going to be clear tomorrow; catching the sun coming up over the ocean is something I’ve been wanting to do since I moved to Florida. I just haven’t had the will to get up that early with Archer’s nightly feeding habits.

I make my way down to the water’s edge, tossing my shoes aside and letting the tide lap at my feet. The cold is a shot of adrenaline to my system, but I don’t let that deter me. I wade in further, walking parallel to the beach as I move, looking for seashells.

“Oh, look!” I call over my shoulder. When there’s no response, I turn around, waving at Dex. My smile quickly turns to a frown.

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