Someday: A Collection of Joshaya One Shots

Just Between Us

Maya's POV

When my dad told me that I needed new tires I had promised him that I'd get them as soon as I could. Of course, I broke that promise and had continued to drive on them.

Which led me here, on the side of the road and leaning against my worn down BMW, waiting for my rescue.

I check my phone again but it's still dead. I guess I was just lucky that I had enough battery left for my one phone call. I didn't know what I would've done otherwise.

I sigh, pocketing my dead phone and kicking at the gravel at my feet. A few pebbles get stuck in my flip-flop and I groan, lifting my foot to shake the pebbles free.

It was mid-summer, the New York sun warming into the hundreds. My clothes were practically stuck to my body at this point and the scrunchie holding up my hair was only doing so much.

Suddenly, I hear gravel crunching under tires and look up to see a freshly washed Dodge pick-up truck pulling up. The driver hops down from the cab of the truck and shakes his head at me, amusement clear by the smirk on his lips. "Long time no see."

"Haha." I'd never admit it to anyone...at least not yet, that the reason that I was upstate was because of the man standing across from me. I had been sneaking up to NYU for months to see Josh and so far, we had flown under the radar successfully.

"What happened?" He asks, eyeing the vehicle before dragging his eyes to mine. The blue of his eyes is shaded by his eyelids, squinting in the sun.

"Um...I've sorta been driving on bald tires...and they popped."

Josh's lips purse into a fine line and I don't know what reaction I was expecting but it's not the one I receive. "What the hell were you thinking?" He exclaims, raising his voice at me. I'm taken aback. I don't think I've ever heard him yell before.

"I-I'm sorry?" I'm not apologizing but voicing my confusion over his sudden outburst. I was expecting perhaps a laugh at my ditzy stupidity or an eye roll but not a lecture.

"You should be" he shouts, throwing his hands up as he walks towards the car to examine the damage. I follow him but at a distance, hugging my arms to my chest. "Jesus Christ" he mutters, kicking the three blown out tires. "Are you alright?" He asks suddenly, stepping away from the car and back towards me.

I furrow my eyebrows at him. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

He thrusts his hands towards the car. "Because you blew out your tires Maya! Do you not understand how dangerous it is to be driving on bald tires? You could've been hurt...or worse" he adds as a quiet afterthought.

My face falls along with my defensive stance. I take a small step towards him. He wasn't angry. He was scared.

"Josh. I'm okay. I'm right here" I reassure him, placing my hand on his arm. His body visibly deflates and he pulls me into his embrace, burying his face in my shoulder.

"If anything would've happened to you" he murmurs, kissing my neck. I thread my fingers through his hair.

"You're not losing me that easily Matthews" I tease, pulling away only slightly to settle my eyes onto his. I ruffle his hair, my lips pulling into a smile. "I missed you."

"I missed you too" he agrees, encircling my waist. "But we need to get this car towed and get you home."

"Or, we get the car towed to a place around here to save some cash and I could stay with you tonight."

He shakes his head at me despite the grin on his lips. "You, my love, are nothing but trouble."

"Yea well you have knack for getting into trouble" I reply causing his lips to part in surprise giving me the perfect opportunity to steal another kiss.

This time he concedes to my advances, allowing me to deepen the kiss as he pulls me closer. A soft moan spills from my lips as his hands slide down to my ass and I remember the empty bed of his truck. "Do we have to call for a tow right now?" I ask, ripping my lips from his.

He pants, "they'll take at least an hour to get here."

"Plenty of time" I reply cheekily. "Call and arrange the tow. I'll be in the truck waiting."

I start to walk away from him, heading for the back of the truck but his voice stops me. "Uh, the cab please." He says without turning around. One time we get caught in the bed of his truck by a very unpleasant officer-.

"Got it" I shout back, opening the door and climbing up. Luckily, he had left the keys in the ignition allowing me to turn over the engine and blast the air conditioning.

I breathe out in relief, lifting my eyes to watch Josh talk on the phone through the windshield. An effortless smile finds it's way onto my lips. As sexy as he is and as great as the sex has been for the past few months, there was so much more I had grown to love about him that made the rest just a bonus.

He was so many things. Intelligent, hilarious, caring, passionate, the list could truly go on forever and if I had the time I would write that list. But what I loved most about him was that he always put me first. No matter what.

I had left his dorm early this morning so he could study for an exam he has tomorrow morning and yet, without hesitation, he jumped in his truck to come and save me when I called.

I had never been able to count on men in my life before Shawn and Josh walked into my life and now I had two men that would always be there for me.

"Alright" Josh says, hopping into the cab beside me. "It's only gonna be forty-five minutes." He tosses his phone onto the dash and turns to look at me, his eyebrows furrowing as he reads my expression. "Everything alright?"

I immediately lean across the bench and crash my lips onto his, reveling in the feel of his skin against mine as he reaches out to caress my cheek. He goes to deepen the kiss, biting my lip to give me the hint but I pull away rather than give in, panting heavily. "Wha-?"

"I love you." I blurt out. I don't know how I hadn't seen it sooner but I did. I was in love with Joshua Gabriel Matthews.

His eyes stare into mine, his hand steady on my cheek as he processes my words and for a moment, I think that perhaps I was wrong. Maybe he isn't someone to count on.

I start to pull away and his eyes cloud with panic, his hand flying out to hold my waist. "Hey. Hey." He says gently, squeezing my hip. "I'm sorry. I just-." He laughs softly. "I just never thought I'd hear those words" he finishes, rubbing his thumb across my cheek. "I love you too."

My heart trips over my chest and it strikes me how those three words mean so much more than the three years between us. The age difference that has kept us from telling everyone about us.

"Josh."

"Yea?" He asks, his blue eyes straying to my lips but returning to my eyes as the words spill out.

"I wanna tell the family "

His face lights up, his smile so bright that it's almost as blinding as the sun. "Absolutely" he agrees. "We'll tell them right after you tell Shawn about the car."

My lips part. Telling Shawn that I disobeyed him and put myself in danger would probably end worse than telling him that I was deeply in love with the man he saw as a brother. "I have to tell him? Can't we just...keep this between us?"

Josh shakes his head. "No more secrets just between the two of us. Okay?"

I huff, reaching up to thread my fingers through his silk hair. "You're lucky I love you."

"Ain't that the truth" he mutters, pressing his lips to mine once more and guiding me down onto the bench seat where we let the minutes until the tow truck arrives, melt away.