Page 45 of How We Loved

We play two games total, with each of us winning one, then we all say our goodbyes, and I hop back in Trevor’s truck, sliding in to sit beside him.

Trevor cranks the engine and puts the truck in reverse as he says, “I don’t like that guy.”

I felt the night went really well, so his words take me completely off guard. “What guy?”

“Ben,” he states matter-of-factly.

I try to blow him off. “Oh, don’t worry. You will over time. Just let him get used to us dating, and then he’ll be just fine.”

He comes to the Stop sign to leave the parking lot, but instead of turning into traffic, he looks straight at me. “He’s got a thing for you, and I won’t have it.”

“No, he doesn’t. He’s just protective, is all. We go back a long way, literally since we were born.”

He still hasn’t moved from the Stop sign, and there’s a line of cars looking to get out behind us. “If this is going to work between us, then you have to put some space between you two. It’s not right for my girlfriend to be best friends with a guy. Such a thing doesn’t exist. It’s impossible for guys to just be friends with girls. They always want more.”

“No, not with Ben. I promise it’s not like that. We’ve acted this way for years, and it’s never even been a question. It will be just fine, you’ll see.”

“I mean it.” His nostrils flare just as someone honks behind us.

He doesn’t move until I nod my agreement, and then he turns left to head back to my place.

I’ve liked his alpha possessiveness vibe before when he says I’m his, but this feels different, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

Suddenly, I wish I weren’t sitting so close to him, so I could gather my thoughts without him next to me.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Maya

I wake up to a text from Natalie.

Us girls are heading to Billings to go shopping. Want to come with us?

A sense of relief comes over me. This is exactly what I need to do today.

Last night left me with a sense of the unknown. Where I do understand my not sitting on Ben’s lap and stuff like that, I don’t fully understand not being able to hang out with him at all, and I think some girl time will help me work through the thoughts in my head before he’s supposed to come over tonight.

I respond with:

Hell yeah!

Then, I get up to hop in the shower, glad I can get outside my head for the morning at least.

Ashley picks me up about an hour later, and everyone is already in the car.

“Hello!” I say as I slide into the back seat.

They all say their hellos, and we get on the road. The entire way there, we talk about everything from boys, to hair products, to outfit ideas they are looking for when we get to the mall. It cracks me up how different their conversations are than those I hear when I’m with the guys, but I’m totally here for it, loving the girlie way of life.

“So, yesterday was fun,” Ashley says when there is a lull in the conversation. “Trevor seems pretty cool.”

“Yeah. Can I ask you guys for your opinion on something?” I ask timidly, feeling more comfortable about asking them their advice after hearing everything else they’ve said on this car ride.

Ashley turns down the radio so she can hear me more clearly from the back seat. “I thought yesterday was amazing and that Ben and Trevor were actually getting along, but when we got in the truck to leave, Trevor told me he didn’t want me hanging out with Ben anymore.”

“He didn’t!” Susie says, shocked.

I sigh. “That’s not okay, right?”

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