Page 100 of The Fallacy of True Love
“You have a thing for cheese, huh?” I said after the waitress left with our orders.
“Best food ever,” Maya stated. “Thank God I’m not lactose intolerant, though I’m not sure that would stop me.”
“That explains the tatt on your hip.”
“I thought of placing it somewhere lower, but that would have been too much.”
“Lower, huh? I would have wanted to see that.” I chuckled as she actually blushed.
“Shut up,” she muttered without any heat in her voice.
Under the table, I nudged my knee against her leg. “Which one was your first?”
“The birds.”
“Those are maya birds, aren’t they?” I asked, trying to play it casual for her when in reality, I’d already looked up the species.
“It’s corny, I know.”
“I think it’s beautiful. Like you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Now that is corny.”
“That doesn’t make it any less true,” I said firmly. “I could spend hours staring at your face alone. Do you have any idea how expressive your eyes are? And your mouth?—”
She snorted. “I’m sure you love my mouth.”
“Guilty as charged. I never want to hear you say you’re not beautiful, because you damn well are.”
“I never said I wasn’t.” She smirked, looking mighty proud that she’d gotten one up on me.
I had to laugh. “Good. So why is that your only colored tatt?”
“I realized I wasn’t really into color. Good thing I can’t see it easily or I’d be sick of it.” She hesitated. “I got it for my parents. The maya specifically because my name’s one of the only things I got from them. The birds because they left.”
“One could argue that birds look after people from above.”
She was silent for so long I thought she might not reply. “I wish that was the truth. Them being gone for good would hurt less than them being alive and choosing not to look for me.” Her eyes held mine. “I used to hope they would come back for me. I had to condition myself not to stare at random grownups, wondering if they could be my parents. I haven’t returned to Bataan, but the couple I lived with know how to reach me. It would be easy enough for my parents to find me if they tried.”
My heart bled for her because even though her voice was steady, there were shadows in her eyes. Reaching out, I gently cradled her cheek. “My gut tells me they are looking after you. That they’ve been with you every step of the way. But whatever happened, you made it through and got yourself here, and I’m damn thankful for that.”
Her jaw flexed beneath my hand. Looking away, she murmured, “You’re supposed to be studying.”
“I need to eat, don’t I?”
As if on cue, our food arrived. Maya leaned away from me as the waitress began unloading her tray. I watched her stare at each dish with widening eyes.
“You didn’t tell me the servings are this big,” she said. “We ordered too much.”
I chuckled. “We’ve got this.”
As we dug in, I asked about her day. She told me what they got up to in boot camp and how Eric had decided to finally ask Nikki out.
“I wish they’d just be together already. Everyone can see they’re in love with each other. You guessed it after hanging out with them once.”
“It was pretty obvious.” My brain latched onto something else she’d said. “So you do believe in love?”
“I mean, sure. For other people.”
