“Shut up. So I should go to his place and talk.”
“Screw talk. Go rough him up. Sleep with him. Get him invested again. Seriously, I just can’t see him getting with some other woman a week after being gaga for you.” Riley tapped her chin. “Unless he’s so devastated he’ll jump into anyone else’s pants to heal his wounds.”
“He was smiling when he left,” Maya snapped, hating that scenario.
“I’m sure he was just masking how much you mean to him,” Ann chimed in, then Riley looked at her and she hastily added, “Uh, though Riley made a good point.”
“Now I’m feeling bad again.” Maya sighed. “I should head home.”
“You should. After brownies and our movie.”
“Which is?” She’s been afraid to ask.
“Alien. We wanted to see men die and a woman who kicks alien ass. You’re welcome.” Riley smiled.
“Okay. Brownies, movie, then home.”
“No.” Ann shook her head. “Then you go talk to your dad, because you are all kinds of messed up. After you talk to Roy,thenyou see Dex.Stat.”
“Fine, fine.” Maya didn’t look forward to talking to her dad, but the girls had a point. Time to bitch up and start acting like she had a pair. She glanced at her friends, now arguing with each other over the merits of double fudge over triple chip, and smiled. “I love you guys. But Ann’s right, Riley. Triple chip rules.”
Riley flipped her off, then Ann started on Riley again, and they laughed as they argued. Never happier than when getting along…not getting along.
Chapter Fourteen
Maya knocked on her father’s door, not sure he’d even be awake at eleven at night.
He answered soon enough. “Maya? Everything all right?” He stepped back to hug her, then pulled her inside and shut the door.
“Sorry to barge in so late, but I needed to talk to you.” She paused. “Is Bev here?”
He smiled. “Not tonight. She’s visiting one of her sons in Portland this weekend.” Her dad wore his Seahawk sweatpants and an old ratty shirt he’d had for years.
“I can’t believe you still have that.” She pointed to the holes in his yellow tee.
“Me neither.” He chuckled. “Up for some tea or cocoa?”
Outside the wind howled, the promise of snow on the air. “Cocoa, I think. Do you have mini marshmallows?”
“Of course. I’m not a communist.”
Her father. She shook her head and followed him into the kitchen. After he put a pan of milk and chocolate on the stove to heat, he turned to her. “So, is this about Bev? Are you okay with us getting married? Be honest.”
“I am, Dad. Really.” She hugged him, then pulled back to look around. How many nights had they spent talking late at night? How many bonding sessions over chocolate and marshmallows? “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” He smiled, and to her surprise she saw her own grin reflected in the expression. For so long she’d thought of herself as a carbon copy of her mother, at least as far as her looks went. But she and her dad had the same smile. Imagine that.
“Maya?”
“Why didn’t you ever marry before? How do you know that Bev is the one for you? Why now?”
He sighed. “Ah. Time for that talk. This is about Dexter Black, isn’t it?”
She flushed. “No. We broke up.”
Roy frowned. “Then it’s definitely about Dex. What happened?”
“I, well, because I…” She expelled a heavy breath. “I don’t know, exactly.”
