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I shake my head and sign, “I already brutalized his balls as I previously promised. Just drive me home.”
Any desire for a walk has completely disappeared. I just need to hide this stupid mark first.
We ride to my apartment in eternal silence.
I pull up Landon’s texts and type a few of my own.
Maya is just being a little shit. Never mind her. Like you and Bran, we’ve always been overprotective of each other.
You’re right. Fuck the forbidden love concept.
Also, what Rory said just now was a lie. You know that, right?
I delete each and every one of them. I sound guilty when I did nothing wrong.
Instead, I type.
About that statue you made for my birthday, I think I’m ready to see it now.
I stare at my phone for the rest of the journey, but there’s still no reply.
My shoulders drop as I exit the car and get inside the apartment, still having a glaring competition with my phone.
He hasn’t even read it.
Don’t tell me he really believed what Rory said. Worse, was Rory right and Landon loses all interest in soiled good, as he so disgustingly put it?
“Where were you?”
I startle at Maya’s uncharacteristically monotone voice. She’s been waiting by the corner, in darkness, I now realize. All the curtains and blinds are pulled.
After I slide the phone into my pocket, I hit the light switch and sign, “I just got back from class.”
She releases a shaky breath and inspects me like Mom would. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. You’re being weird.”
Her brows knit together as she looks at my neck. “Was that Landon?”
I shake my head. “Some other asshole who has a death wish. Speaking of Landon, why did you pretend to be me? We agreed you wouldn’t do that again after you tried to vet everyone who had an interest in me during high school.”
“Well, they clearly didn’t deserve you since they couldn’t even tell us apart.”
“But Landon did.”
She makes a face. “He’s so perceptive, it’s annoying. Apparently, we don’t have the same eyes. He figured me out from the beginning and pretended he didn’t, just to see what I was up to.”
I smile to myself. That sounds like something Landon would do. He’s such a manipulative asshole, it’s attractive at times.
Only at times, though.
“Why are you smiling like some proud girlfriend? He’s still bad news, Mia.”
“Maybe I’ve always wanted bad news,” I sign. “You know I never liked all the nice boys at school and found the bad boys too shallow. Landon is neither and maybe I like that. As long as he doesn’t hurt my family, I’m ready to see where this goes.”
“You’re…serious.”
“Yeah. I like him, Maya.”
