Reckless Love

8: The Blank Space

~ MAIA’s POV ~

Hunter was sleeping like a baby.

I was sitting next to him on the bed and my fingers ran softly along his forehead. His left eye looked swollen and blackened. He hit his head pretty hard when he fell down, so I was quite worried. I got my chauffeur to come back for us and he took us home immediately. Then I called the house doctor and made sure Hunter got checked out through and through.

“He‘s fine. He just needs to sleep it off,” the doctor told me.

I was relieved. In the beginning I was grateful that Hunter had stepped in to help me out, but now I felt guilty that he got punched in the face because of it. And most of all, I was angry with AJ and with myself. Especially with myself.

Like, how could I be so dumb? How did I not see what an asshole he was from the beginning?

“…Maia?” Hunter’s voice croaked and it pulled me back to reality.

“Hey? How are you feeling?” I said as I adjusted my position next to him on the bed. He was having trouble propping himself up on the bed, so I helped him.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I was in a fight with this guy and you came to help me out. You punched him and then he punched you and then…”

“Oh, God. Please tell me I did not faint,” he pleaded.

“Well…”

“Wow,” he sighed and stifled a dry laugh, “Aren’t I cool?”

I smiled in response.

“You really got my back, back there. Thank you,” I told him.

“Of course, anytime,” he rubbed his face and winced in pain, “Who was that guy anyway?”

“His name’s AJ and we’ve been seeing each other… in secret,” I sighed, dreading the fact that I’d have to explain further.

Hunter remained quiet. He looked displeased. Perhaps he was judging me and my horrible taste in men.

“I thought he was a decent guy. He seemed like it in the beginning. But last night, we were in the bedroom about to have s*x and I found out he was secretly recording us,”

Hunter had a pained expression on his face. I wondered if it was due to my story or if it was the bruises on his face.

“I know, I know. You must think I’m so dense. I should have seen the signs. Never trust a guy that posts way too many pictures of his abs on i********:,” I said and he laughed, but laughing caused him to wince in pain again.

“I guess I just believed what I wanted to believe,” I sighed and looked away.

He was staring at me for a few seconds before he opened his mouth spoke, “I’m sorry your Harry Styles turned out to be such a douche. But that’s not your fault,”

That was probably the best thing anyone could say to me right now.

I turned to him and smiled. He grinned back, but his face looked funny because he was in so much pain.

He’s an amazing human being and I must protect him at all costs.

“Hey, I’m sorry I ruined your night,” I quickly remembered what was going down for him last night, “Marguerite texted me. She told me you ran out before things could happen between you two,”

“Oh, that,” he scoffed, “Yeah, it’s no problem,”

“I was a total c**k-block, I totally messed this up for you. I’m the worst friend ever,”

“Ah, there’s always next time,” he shrugged.

Hunter didn’t sound nearly as disappointed as Marguerite. She was blowing my phone last night, fuming profusely. I thought about doing another setup for them, but that wouldn’t work. I saw Marge’s instastory this morning and she was already posting pictures with some other guy.

“Hey, is that your phone over there?” Hunter pointed at the fireplace where my iPhone lied facing down inside of it. Or at least, what remained of it.

“Oh, yeah,” I said nonchalantly.

“Why is all smashed up in the fireplace?”

I took a deep breath and sighed, “AJ was blowing phone. Then Marge was blowing my phone. Everyone just wants something from me. I got tired, so I got rid of it,”

“…Whoa,”

“Yeah, I was super pissed. AJ ruined my night, and then I ruined yours. This whole summer’s cancelled,” I whined like a baby.

“Hey, it’s not all that bad,” he cooed.

I thought about what he said for a moment, and then I realized something.

“You know what, Hunter? You’re right. We still have time. There’s still another week before you have to leave,”

I could still save our summer.

“What are you saying?” he looked at me quizzically.

“Darling, I’m going to keep my promise. You can still lose your virginity before the summer’s over,” I declared proudly.

I was feeling confident. Seven days would give us enough time to meet someone and get some things started. Weirdly though, Hunter didn’t look as excited.

“Yeah, Maia, about that,” he sighed, pausing for a second before saying, “It’s not that I don’t appreciate what you’re tying to do, but I think maybe we can just forget all about that. It doesn’t have to happen for me right now. I don’t mind waiting around some more,”

I couldn’t tell if he was genuinely saying this, or that maybe he was too scared to do something out of his comfort zone.

“Ah, darling. You’re such a sweet guy and you’ve been an awesome friend to me. I just wanted to make sure you to have an unforgettable experience while in Paris,” I said as I scooted closer next to him and laid my head against his shoulder.

“Are you kidding? You took me sightseeing. We found the best croissant in the city, you pushed me into the Seine River, we had baguette sword fights in front of the Eiffel Tower, and I got punched in the face by some British prick at a party. It’s all very memorable, trust me,”

We both laughed as we remembered all those things. Those were some great memories. I was too concerned about making this summer legendary that I forgot to be grateful of the little things.

“You’re right,” I said to him, “Even if we still end up as virgins by the end of the summer, it’ll still be a great summer,”

Hunter’s body suddenly jerked up.

“We?” he gaped, “what do you mean we?”

“Oh…” I just realized what I had said.

I scratched my neck and laughed nervously.

“Yeah, so… I’m a virgin too,” I said sheepishly.

“What?!” he half-yelled.

I just kept smiling and batting my eyes at him, trying to act all cute.

“Whoa, okay. Hold it right there,” he shook his head and raised a hand in front of my face, “All summer long, you gave me such a hard time for being a virgin and you talk about helping me lose my virginity, and you give me all these rules and you made me wear some weird cologne, when in reality you are also a virgin?”

He was speaking so fast and blinking his eyes rapidly. I could only laugh and put my hands to cover my face because this was getting too embarrassing.

“Don’t laugh, answer me,” he demanded as he pulled my hand away and I squirmed.

“Okay, you’re right,” I gave up, “I’m just a pathetic virgin who’s trying to live vicariously through you,”

Hunter rolled his head back against the headboard. He looked up to the ceiling and he started laughing.

“Sure, laugh. Laugh at the lame virgin,” I said and he laughed harder.

When he finally stopped laughing, he turned to me and said, “Can’t believe you’re still a virgin though. All those things you said. And they way you danced. I wouldn’t have known,”

I registered this as a compliment and asked “Aw, really?”

“Yeah, plus look at you. Guys must throw themselves at you,”

I knew he meant well by what he said, but somehow that just made me remember last night and I got kind of sad. Guys did throw themselves at me, but only so they could use me.

Hunter noticed I was being quiet. He snuggled closer to me and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I sighed, “I’m sorry I tried to project my inner kinkiness to you. You don’t have to do this anymore,”

He didn’t answer and he just stared at me. So I started talking again.

“I just want to lose virginity so bad. I thought it’d be fun if I can go through this experience with a friend,”

“Why do you wanna lose your virginity that badly?” he asked.

“Because…” I paused for a moment to find the right words before answering, “I want to do it now while I still can enjoy things and not worry about the repercussions,”

“What repercussions?”

How should I explain this to him in a way that wouldn’t overwhelm him with information? Of course he didn’t know about my carefully planned out life and the image that I had to portray to the world.

“It’s the same with drinking and smoking cigarettes,” I started, pausing for a moment before continuing, “I need to experience all these things now, as soon as I can. Because one day, I’d have to give up everything and be… proper,”

He narrowed his eyes at me and asked, “Are you parents sending you a nunnery or something?”

That got me laughing again. I shoved him playfully and he laughed too.

“I’m not kidding, Hunter. All I ever wanted was to have a normal girl experience. Grow up, make friends, fall in love, have s*x, hell maybe even get arrested?”

“Get arrested? Is that your definition of normal girl experience?” he laughed drily.

“Hunter, you’re my first ever real friend, you know that?” I asked and paused to study his reaction. He looked surprised.

“Ever since I was born, I was always Maia Rose du Pont. You’re the only person I know that really sees me as Maia. People always have other expectations for me. They only get close to me because they want something out of it. But not you,”

Hunter listened to my every word attentively. I didn’t usually open up to people like this, but I could always tell Hunter anything.

So what if I don’t find love this summer? I’ve found an amazing friend.

“I can’t control what happened in the past or change my fate, but I can do something in the present. Things like smoking cigarettes, dancing on the roof, or losing my virginity? At least I can control that,” I shrugged.

Hunter looked as if he was thinking about something difficult. He ran his fingers through his head briskly before taking a deep breath. He sighed aloud and turned to face me, his eyes looked serious.

“Alright Maia, I’m in,” he stated simply.

“Huh?” I responded.

“We’re both doing this,” he said firmly, “We’re losing our virginities before the summer’s over. We’re gonna do everything we can so you’ll have that normal girl experience or whatever,”

I couldn’t stop myself from smiling widely as I heard him. My heart started pounding in excitement.

“Really? You’ll do this with me?” I wanted to make sure he was certain.

“Yeah,” he nodded and I immediately flung my arms around him to hug him.

“Ouw, watch the face,” he grimaced and I pulled away.

“Sorry, I’m getting too excited,”

“But we have a problem,” he said suddenly, “We only have a week left and I’ve lived in this world for sixteen years and I still can’t talk to a girl. What makes you think it’s gonna work this time?”

I thought about what he said for a moment. This might be difficult to pull off, but not impossible. We just need to come up with a foolproof plan. And suddenly, a light bulb lit up in my head.

“What?” he asked when he saw the smirk curving up on my lips.

“Darling, we’re gonna hit Paris so hard, they don’t know what’s coming. We’re going to make them an offer they can’t refuse,”

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- - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -