Chapter 13
I inhale the fresh air once we step outside.
Leaving the tension behind in the club. My heels click against the cement sidewalk as we walk toward Ezra’s car.
It’s only midnight, so we probably have about two hours before the others want to leave.
I regret not driving separately. Taking this skintight dress off and rolling up into my covers sounds good right about now.
“Where should we go?” I ask Ez.
The beep of his truck echoes through the underground parking garage. “You down for some tacos?”
“Hell yeah,” I say, and we both speed up our steps.
We slid into the truck. As soon as he starts the engine, the music blares through the speakers, causing me to jump. I forgot how loud we were listening to the music on our way over here. Or I should say, how loud Rya had the music on.
He pulls out of the parking garage and heads for the street that always has food trucks.
A couple of lights shine up ahead, hanging from the truck. This taco truck was our go-to after getting the drunk munchies from dancing all night. They are the best authentic tacos around. Nothing compares.
There are only a couple of people in line, which is nice. Everyone comes here after the club, and we always have to wait in line forever. There’s another positive about not partying all night. I doubt Rya and Zay would even care if I rubbed it in their face.
Ez comes around the truck just as I slide out, my heels clinking to the ground. He holds up his hand for me to hold on to him. “I don’t know how girls wear those things. They look painful,” he says, staring down at my feet.
“Beauty is pain.” I giggle.
“And you girls love to be in pain,” he says, shaking his head.
I howl in laughter.
After ordering, we walk back to the truck. Ez holds my tacos while I lift myself in, grabbing the tacos after I get myself seated. He comes around and jumps into his truck like nothing. And I’m over here bracing myself as I struggle to get my five-foot figure in.
People have always asked me if I enjoy being short. I’ve always loved it. My height never bothers me. I’ve heard it bothers some girls. But I think being little is cute. And as a bonus, I can wear as high of heels as I want and not worry about being taller than my husband.
I’ve always liked tall men, too. Well, Zays is the only man I ever dated.
In high school, no one tried to date us because they always thought one of us was with the other.
I mostly got told I was dating Ez, which didn’t seem so far off.
We got pretty close our senior year of high school.
Until that night at the graduation party.
It’s like things shifted for us. We’re still really close, but it just never felt the same.
There were so many unspoken words that lingered every time I was around him.
Weeks after all that happened, I always wanted to ask him how he felt about me.
But then again, I felt dumb to ask after hooking up with Zay.
I finally got the courage to ask Rya if she ever asked him about me.
I’m not sure why it took me weeks to ask her.
It was almost like I was worried of rejection even though seeing them two together in bed felt like the biggest rejection of all.
Rya sits with her knees up to her chest on my floor as she paints her toenails white.
When summer hits, we always paint our toes once a week.
We both have so many nail polishes we’ve been collecting.
It’s always so hard for us to choose what color to use next.
Then every time we go to the store, we always have to get the newest shade.
I sit across from her, biting my tongue as I swipe the brush against my nail. Just ask her, I say to myself repeatedly, until finally I blurt it out. “What happened between you and Ezra?” I ask sternly. More sternly than I expected it to come out.
She avoids eye contact with me for a few seconds before putting the brush back into the bottle. She raises her head, but her eyes are soft and overshadowed by something hidden underneath. “I was hoping you wouldn’t bring it up.”
My face goes blank as I stare at her, trying to read her facial expression, wondering what she means by that. “What do you mean?” My heart is thumping against my chest.
She shifts her body, sitting up straighter. “I talked to him about you.” She pauses, narrowing her gaze at me and then shifting it down. “But he said he didn’t feel the same for you as you did for him.” Her eyes lift slightly.
I swallow the lump in my throat as it hits the pit of my stomach. “I saw you two.”
Her head shoots up, eyes wide and brows raised. “What do you mean?” Her words come out rushed.
I thought she knew I knew, so why this reaction? Was she trying to hide it from me?
“I walked in on you and Ez,” I mumble.
She shifts her body nervously, as if she’s been caught doing something bad. She smiles. “We were just talking,” she says, grabbing the brush from the bottle.
“No, you weren’t.” Her body goes still. “You guys were fucking.”
Her mouth drops and the colors of her face drain. She clears her throat. “I… I don’t know what to say,” she stutters.
Beads of sweat now drip from my hairline from the nerves coursing through my body. “Tell me the truth, Rya. Did you always have feelings for him?”
“Um, yes.”
My shoulder slumps. “Why didn’t you tell me?” The room falls silent as her eyes shift with uneasiness. “Did you like him when I told you how I felt about him?” I told her a few weeks before graduation. Did she even ask him if he liked me?
“Yes,” she says, gazing down.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her shoulder shrugs, and her head hangs low.
“Does he like you?” I ask, holding my breath in, waiting for the answer. But I already know the answer because they were sleeping together. Of course, he likes her.
She nods her head. “He told me he liked me when I went to talk to him about you.”
“Oh,” I mutter.
She reaches for my hand. “Are you mad at me?”
A slight smile forms. “No. I’m not. If you both like each other, I can’t stand in the way of that.”
She smiles. “Thanks, Vi. I knew you would understand.” She squeezes my hand and releases it. “Plus, you and Zay make a cute couple.”
My stomach drops and I swallow the lump in my throat. What does she mean by that? Does she know? I haven’t told anyone about our night together.
She reaches down for the brush, lifting it from the bottle, and swipes it on her toenail. “Ez told me.”
My eyes widen in disbelief and my mouth goes dry.
Ez knows.
Why should I care, though? He doesn’t like me. He even said so to Rya.
“Vi.” I glance up. “You look like you’re going to be sick.” My head drops, and I feel dizzy. “Vi, it’s okay.”
It’s bro code not to sleep with your friend’s girl. Ezra is so nice. There is no way he would ever be with me after I’ve been with Zayn. Whatever chances I ever thought I had with Ezra are now officially gone.
What ifs always surface in my mind just like they would for anyone in a situation like this.
As time passed, I pushed the what ifs deep down, and my and Zayn’s relationship grew.
Our relationship felt easy since we knew everything about each other.
We simply shifted from best friends to husband and wife.
Even though we are married, I still cherish him as one of my best friends.