Page 72 of The Fallacy of True Love
“Nope. I kissed you, remember? And I liked it.”
My mouth hung open at her admission. I’d gotten the entire thing wrong.
She’d liked the kiss—the same one that played back in my head every once in a while.
Trying not to dwell on that, I asked, “Does that mean we can be friends now?”
“You’re the only person I know here so…”
“Thank you for the ride, Alonzo,” I said, pitching my voice higher. “It was so thoughtful of you.”
“Do you need me to be quiet so you can praise yourself some more?”
“But then you’d deprive me of your verbal ass-kicking.”
Her resulting snort had me grinning. “You volunteered for this,” she reminded me.
“Apparently, I like some pain in the morning.”
She shook her head and turned to the window, but not before I caught her smiling.
I didn’t know why, but that felt like a win—and her admission did too.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cam
Sooner than I expected, Alonzo pulled up in front of a building. “As promised—got you here in one piece.”
“This is it?” I stared at the glass and metal facade that looked indistinguishable from most other office buildings in the city. It gleamed a cool bluish tint in the light, yet it felt sterile, with none of the freedom and life reflected in the ocean’s blues. A shiver ran up my spine as it fully sank in that I was back in the place that almost broke me.
“The Meridian, right?”
“Right.” I wanted to tell him to drive me back to the bus station so I could go home, where I belonged.
“Then this is it.”
“Alright.” This was only for a week. Five days. I could do it. “Good.”
“You okay? Nervous?”
I looked at him. “Of course not. This job is just going to dictate the state of my bank account and my future. No big deal.”
“You’re going to kill it.”
“Uh huh.”
“Maya.” He waited until I met his gaze. “You’re going to kill it. They already like you or they wouldn’t have asked you to come.”
“They like what I can do,” I corrected. “This is them trying to figure out if they actually like me too.”
He shrugged. “I guess you’ll have to make them.” And then he smiled, his eyebrows silently goading me into getting it done.
“You’re so annoying.” I clicked the seat belt loose and grabbed my tote bag.
He laughed. “You’re welcome.”
“Thanks for the ride,” I said as I opened the door.
