Page 35 of I Love to Hate You
There’s a moment of awkward silence before I ask, “So, what happens now?”
“You mean with us?”
“Yeah. What happens with us?”
“What do you want to happen?” Kendrick asks, tilting his head to the side. Out of nowhere, his cell phone rings and he ignores it until it stops, but it immediately starts ringing again. This time, he presses a button to mute the ringer and gives me his undivided attention.
“I … I’m not sure,” I answer honestly. “It’s all a bit sudden. I mean, we both just got out of relationships and school just ended. I don't even know what the next step for me is personally, so I really don't know how to answer what might happen between us. But I do know that I like you. Fucking in cars isn't exactly my thing, but I just did it with you. I’d love it if it wasn’t for nothing.”
“Of course it wasn’t,” he says. “I know Amy and I just broke up, but I like you, too, Maya. It’s okay for us to say we have shit to figure out with our futures now that school is done, but in the meantime, I’d like to get to know you better, which is something I don't say often or take lightly.”
“I know what you mean,” I say, smiling.
“So for now, I can take you back to your car, and I’m gonna go visit my mother in Strawberry Mansion, which is who just called me,” Kendrick goes on, “and we’ll see how everything else goes starting tomorrow. Cool?”
I smile from ear to ear as I take Kendrick’s phone from the cupholder and hand it to him.
“Unlock it so you can take my number,” I tell him, and he does. I put my number in his phone, and allow him to put his in mine. “Okay, now it’s cool.”
He smiles as he turns the ignition and starts the car back up.
“Good,” he says, before lowering the handbrake and driving us out of the parking lot.
Twenty-Four
~ MAYA~
I can’t believe everything that went down last night. The thought of it has stayed with me like a ghost I see in the corner of every room I enter. I can't shake it, even now as I lie in my bed with the TV on trying to watch reruns, the memory of Kendrick pulling me on top of him in his car is still there in the shadows.
I honestly don't know what got into me last night. After deciding to go to Amber's party, I thought the day would be a fun one, where I had a good time with fellow Temple students in celebration of attaining our degrees. If I’d had a million ideas of what would end up happening at the party, I never would've guessed that the entire house would gang up on me and chant for me to cry. I certainly wouldn't have thought the whole scene would come crashing down around them as Kendrick entered as my savior. There isn’t a psychic in the world who could've predicted that Kendrick would smash my ex-boyfriend’s face into a China cabinet, before escorting me to his car for the hottest sex I’ve ever had—sex where I got off on defying him and doing exactly what he wanted at the same time. It was the most erotic moment of my life, and the thrill of it still flows through my veins, keeping me from settling down in my own bed.
After it was over last night, Kendrick dropped me off at my car, and I drove home with an indelible smile on my face. My father was in the living room when I walked in, but he was passed out on the couch, which made the night even better as I slipped inside, grabbed something to eat, and made my way downstairs without having to hear anything from him. I ended up falling asleep the same way I drove home, with a big smile on my face.
Today is just getting started, but my mind is fixated on last night. On Kendrick. On Kendrick’s dominant personality. On Kendrick’s cock. I couldn't get him off my mind when I woke up, when I showered, when I ate cereal for breakfast, or as I lie here now. Thoughts of him occupy my mind in a way Eddie was never able to, but my phone has been as dry as the desert. Not a single notification has flashed across the screen since Kendrick and I exchanged numbers, and I can admit that I’m a little sad about it. The last thing any woman wants is for the guy they’re interested in to not be interested in return. No one wants to willingly give themselves to someone, just for them to disappear in the night afterwards. Being ghosted is no fun, so I really hope Kendrick is better than that.
A knock on my door startles me and breaks my train of thought. It also makes me frown because no one else lives here but me and my dad, and he hasn’t had anything nice to say to me in quite a while now. I dread responding, but I know I don’t have a choice, so I push thoughts of Kendrick to the back of my mind for a moment, before clearing my throat.
“Yes?”
“What? I know you don't have an attitude,” my father shouts through the closed door at the top of the steps.
I frown hard. “Huh? Why would … no, Dad, I don't. I’m answering your knock.”
“Yeah, well this trash up here needs to be taken out,” he says. “How about you make yourself useful and get on that? I’m gonna take a trip to the liquor store and maybe go see a movie or something. I expect this house to be clean when I get back. You can't just sit down there all day. You’ve graduated. It’s time to grow up and start helping out around here. You understand?”
I sigh loud and long, because all I’ve been doing since my mother died is help out around here. In fact, I’ve done more than that. I’ve been the only responsible person here. It’s not my fault he's always too drunk to notice.
“Yeah, okay,” I answer.
“Right,” he says, before his footsteps finally fade away.
I shake my head to myself, because I’m honestly starting to get tired of being trampled upon. My father and I can go days without speaking, and when we finally do manage to utter words to one another, he only has malice to offer me. I love him, but he’s the number one source of my anger and sadness. Nonetheless, he’s still my dad and I remain under his roof, so I get up and make my way to the top of the stairs.
When I open the door, I’m glad to see he’s not there or in the living room. I’m not sure if I heard him leave yet, but just in case, I speed walk to grab the trash from the kitchen, and practically jog the bag out to the dumpster behind the house. When I go back inside, I walk through the door just in time to find my father leaving his room. A look of disgust washes over his face the second he sees me, so I try to avoid any drama by speeding to the door leading to the basement, but I’m not fast enough.
“Don't forget what I said about cleaning up this place,” he says before I can close my door.
“Okay,” I reply.
