Page 183 of The Way I Hate Him
Maggie:Oh my God! The old crotch probably had her spirit reawakened.
Hattie:Probably. But seriously, he makes me forget everything around me, and it’s just us. I think I’m falling hard for him.
Maggie:Aw, that makes me so happy.
Hattie:But don’t you think it’s soon? I mean, I’m still a few weeks out from Matt breaking up with me. This isn’t a rebound thing, is it?
Maggie:No. Not from the way I’ve heard you talk about him. This is so much more, and let’s be honest, it’s not like you and Matt were fully immersed into each other’s lives. You were drifting apart.
Hattie:We were.
Maggie:And with Hayes, it seems you guys are on a different journey. You have a deeper connection. With Matt, it was more of that high school type of love, which sometimes grows stronger with years or, in your case, faded as you grew up. With Hayes, you’re in a more mature relationship.
Hattie:True, and he told me this morning how much he likes me. He made it known he had no intention of ending what we have.
Maggie:Eeep, really?
Hattie:Yes, and he wants me to meet his grandma. There’s a town gathering at Five Six Seven Eight that Aubree texted me about. Mac wants us all to go, and Hayes said we could take his grandma as well because she needs to get out of her apartment.
Maggie:Oh, Ryland and Aubree must be THRILLED about a town gathering. Aubree especially.
Hattie:I think she’d rather listen to me and Hayes go at it in the apartment above. But you know Aubree, she’ll do pretty much anything for Mac. All of us will.
Maggie:So this is good. You’re all going to hang out together. Even Ryland and Hayes?
Hattie:I think so. I mean, things aren’t comfortable between them, but I think they’ll get to a point where it’s not awkward.
Maggie:It should get better once you reveal the bedroom, don’t you think?
Hattie:I think so. I also think it’s a peace offering from Hayes.
Maggie:How’s it coming along?
Hattie:Good. Hayes is touching up some paint—with his shirt off—and I’m resting on the bed, texting you because I just got done ironing curtains.
Maggie:Send me a picture. I want to see him with his shirt off.
Hattie:That’s my boyfriend! You can’t drool all over him now. And saying things like he impregnated you in your mind.
Maggie:My thoughts are my own thoughts. You can’t take those away from me. And are you actually official? Is he calling you his girlfriend?
Hattie:I don’t know, I mean . . . we haven’t had the chance to do introductions, but I’d assume he’d call me that after the conversation we had this morning.
Maggie:And the multiple orgasms.
Hattie:So many orgasms.
“What are you doing over there?” Hayes asks, startling me so badly that I nearly toss my phone in the air.
Hand to chest, I say, “Jesus, you scared me.”
He sets his paintbrush down and walks up to me. “Whoever you’re texting, I don’t like it.”
“Why?” I ask as he lays me down on the bed and hovers above me, his pecs flexing.
“Because you have this smirk on your lips that’s only meant for me.”
“That smirk was because of you,” I say. “I was texting Maggie about you.”
