Off Limits

Maya's POV

“This assignment will take up to eighty percent of your grade for this semester. I expect to see real research, emotions, character bibles, and a much better outline. See you next time.”

Everyone started packing their stuff immediately after the professor left. I didn’t have friends in this class, so I slung my bag over my shoulder and exited the classroom.

I was twenty and halfway through my second year at Pelt University, where I studied Literature. Since I was a child, I had always buried myself in books. My dad’s collection of vintage romance novels had raised me almost as much as my parents had. My mum used to complain that she could always find me in the oddest places with a book in my hands.

Books had always felt like my only escape.

Dad died when I was five.

It’s weird how much I remember about that day.

We were on our way to the grocery store when a truck hit us. The car rolled into a ditch, and everything happened so quickly. The steering wheel punctured his ribs. Shattered glass covered his beautiful face. I was upside down, my booster seat a few inches away from dropping me onto my face.

I don't know how long we stayed there before the paramedics arrived.

He was dead at the scene.

There was nothing they could do. They took him away in a body bag, and I still remember my mum’s cries while I was being dragged out of the wreck.

It was pure agony.

Six months later, we moved.

Mum had found this small town she swore would be good for us. It was. The neighbours were welcoming. The town was serene. It was a very nice environment for a child to grow up in.

That was where I met Ethan.

My best friend.

It was my first day of school after we moved. I stood outside the building, staring at it like it was about to swallow me whole.

Then he came riding his bicycle and knocked me down.

I was already overwhelmed from having to move to a new town, a new school, and a new life without my dad. I just sat on the ground and kept crying. The tears wouldn't stop.

He apologized, sat beside me, and held me until I was done.

Since then, we've been inseparable.

We stayed over at each other's houses and attended events with our parents. We were like a family. Since my mum travelled a lot for work, I had to stay at their house often. I had my own space and chair at their table.

It was that serious.

That was how I met his brother, Dean.

He was two years older than us.

Dean was the definition of a bad boy. If he wasn't in detention, he was getting suspended. By the time we got to high school, he was a notorious flirt. His relationships were always short-term, and I think his partners knew that too.

Now, we're all grown up and in Pelt.

Ethan majors in Art. Dean is in my department, just a year ahead of me. He had spent a year travelling before coming back to university.

I brushed my boots against the pavement as I waited for Ethan. We had plans to meet up for lunch as usual. Even though we shared an apartment off campus, we still found ways to meet whenever we could because of our conflicting schedules, most of which were his.

The Art department ran on a different schedule from the rest of us.

There were times when I wouldn't see him for three days because he would be slaving away in front of a painting. We made it a tradition to meet up whenever we could and make plans ahead of time.

His cologne hit me before he did.

“Hey, sunshine!”

At five foot seven, Ethan was slowly turning into a giant. His blonde hair was frizzy and all over the place. He also had his overalls on.

He was definitely going back to work after this.

“When was the last time you had a bath?” I asked as we started walking towards the mini restaurant.

“Two days? Three? I can't remember. I'll definitely do that tomorrow, though. I'm about to be free!”

He grinned from ear to ear, which could only mean one thing.

“You're done?”

“Yes, ma'am. The painting's finished. I just have to make a few adjustments and it's good to go.”

He held the door open for me, and we moved towards the counter to place our order.

“So, when's the exhibition?”

I dug my hand into my bag to pay, but he stopped me and slapped a few dollars on the counter while telling the guy our usual order.

“Briney says it's probably in a month,” he said as he led me to a booth near the window. “Since it's our first, they just wanna do something around school and see if we can pull a small crowd.”

I nodded and saw him looking at me with a raised brow.

“What?”

“How are you holding up?”

Oh.

Of course it would come up.

I broke up with a guy I'd been seeing for about six months last week, and Ethan thought I was heartbroken.

I wasn't.

I just couldn't feel anything between us beyond sex. He understood, and we broke it off. Ethan had always been around to comfort me through my heartbreaks, so he probably thought I wasn't holding up well without him.

“I told you I'm fine. It wasn't that serious. If this was a divorce, the reason would probably be a difference in personalities. He wasn't the one.”

“Why do we both have very shitty love lives?”

He sighed as our food arrived, and we dug in.

Ethan had only had one girlfriend as far as I knew. It was Cindy in senior year, and it had been a very messy breakup. I think he wrote off relationships after that.

“We get shitty love lives, and he's just collecting them like Pokémon.”

I looked out to see what he meant.

And there he was.

Dean.

Making out with a girl in broad daylight.

She was hanging on to him like he was her lifeline, and he squeezed her ass through the mini skirt.

When I looked back up, he was staring directly at me while kissing her.

With the same lips that took my first kiss.