Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
EZRA
I couldn’t wait to close up my shop today.
All day I’ve been counting down the hours, minutes, and seconds.
Probably not a good thing for being a business owner.
But all I’ve wanted all day was to see her.
To be in her presence. So here I am, all showered and cleaned up, heading to her house.
My body jitters like I’m going on a first date.
It’s been so long since I’ve felt this way.
As soon as I pull up to her house, nerves dance around my stomach.
I walk through her open garage and head inside.
The smell of sweetness hits my nostrils, but I halt in my steps as soon as I see the kitchen.
Dirty dishes and flour are all over the counters.
Usually by this time of day she’s done baking, and all cleaned up.
I stand here listening to the silence in the house until I hear sniffling sounds.
I walk closer to the stairway, and the sniffling increases. She’s crying?
I follow the sounds up to her bathroom. I try to open the door, but it doesn’t budge. Something is in the way. Her crying stops once she realizes someone is here, and I realize it’s her sitting against the door.
She slowly opens the door. Her rosy cheeks are wet from her tears.
My eyes widen as I step closer to her and wrap her in my arms, not saying a word.
I know she’s tired of hearing people say this and that, and their actions never follow through.
I know all she needs right now is someone to prove to her that she’s loved.
She shakes in my arms, and I kiss the top of her head. Her arms squeeze me tighter.
My eyes catch sight of the bathtub. I release her, walk to the tub, and turn the water on.
“What are you doing?” she asks with a broken voice.
“I’m running you a bath.”
“Why?”
I glance over at her. “Because you need it.”
Her mouth parts. “Do I stink?”
A small chuckle comes out. “No. You could never stink to me. But a warm bath will help you feel better.”
Once the water is at a decent temperature, I step away and let the water fill the tub. “I’ll be in here,” I say, shutting the door behind me and taking a seat on her bed.
A few minutes later, I hear the swish of the water from her getting in.
“Ezra.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to come in?”
My heart thumps against my chest. “In the bathtub?”
She giggles. “No. In the bathroom.”
“But won’t I see you?” My voice trails off. “You know. Naked?”
She giggles once more. “I put bubbles in. You won’t see anything.”
I step back into the bathroom hesitantly until I notice white bubbles surrounding her, covering her to her neck.
I shut the door and slide down to the ground and lean my back up against the door.
“Thanks,” she says.
“For what?”
“Running the bath. I never think of taking a bath, but it actually is helping.”
A small grin rises. “My mom used to make us take baths when we were sad or mad.” I shrug my shoulders. “Somehow it helps.”
I clear my throat. “Do you want to talk about anything?” I know why she’s sad. So, I almost feel stupid asking this. But I want to know if something happened between last night and now to make her more upset.
“I talked to Zayn,” she says, swishing around some bubbles.
My eyes meet hers in surprise. My mouth opens and I’m about to ask more questions, but I don’t know what to ask.
“I forgot to change the garage code,” she says.
I lean my head back against the door. “Fuck. I’m sorry.
” I feel somewhat responsible because maybe if I had changed the code, he wouldn’t have come in.
But then again, he has a house key. I just want to stop these fuckers from coming near her.
They have done enough damage. There’s nothing more they can do, but they’re digging their grave deeper.
“Why don’t you let me stay here with you? I can help you pay the mortgage; I can help with things around the house.” I go on and on because I’m trying to give good reasoning on why it’s the best thing for us.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” My eyes shoot straight to hers in shock.
“Yeah. I would like you to stay with me. Why do you look so shocked by that?”
“I thought it would take more convincing.”
“I think it will be good for us. It gets pretty lonely here living on my own. The silence sometimes feels deadly, and you said you don’t want to stay at your place anymore.” The bubbles on top of her move a little from her shrugging her shoulders. “So stay with me,” she says with a small grin.
My thoughts run wild with happiness. A small grin forms on my lips, but I try to keep it small and not so big.
I don’t want to freak her out with how happy this makes me.
I want to tell her how I feel. How I’ve always felt.
Even though at some point I thought my feelings were more for Rya than for her.
I know now they were for her. I’ve always known.
I just never knew what to do. Rya made everything a mess in so many ways.
“Do you mind me asking what Zayn said?” My head leans against the door, glancing over at her. I don’t want to be nosy because that should be their business. I do want to know what he’s trying to do. If he’s trying to win her back or if he’s being an asshole to her.
She lets out a sigh. “Stupid bullshit that he’s sorry, he misses me, and he wants us to work it out.
” Her eyes roll as she shakes her head. “Oh,” she adds, glancing over at me.
“He also said it just happened, and he didn’t mean to hurt me.
And it didn’t mean anything and blah blah blah.
” She pauses for a moment. “Fucking idiot. How does something like that just happen…” Her voice trails off as she stares over at me.
We catch each other’s gaze and we both know that what we did just happened.
I swallow the lump in my throat. Do I bring up that night? There’s so much I want to talk about, and I know I shouldn’t bombard her with all these questions all at once. Especially so soon after everything. But shit, I feel like I’ve waited my whole life for this.
For her.
So instead I blurt out. “Are you going to work it out with him?” I bite my tongue waiting for the answer.
Her head tilts slightly as her mouth parts in disbelief. “Ezra. Come on.”
“What?”
“I’m not taking him back. I would never do that to myself.”
“What do you mean by that?”
She raises herself up a little higher, bubbles falling down her chest, but they stop right above her breasts. Shit, this isn’t the time. I wiggle myself a little, hiding the fact my body can’t stop itself from physically reacting. I’m turned on, even though I know this isn’t the time for it.
“Our trust is broken. I could never be with someone I don’t trust. It was hard enough these past months wondering what the hell was going on and if he was cheating or not.
It made me crazy, and I’ll probably go psychotic if I stayed.
Always looking over my shoulder and worried if or when it will happen again.
I’d rather be heartbroken than live through that again. ”
That’s good to hear, not only for my sake but for hers too.
She deserves better than that. Especially with how much care she puts into her relationships with others.
That’s what I’ve always liked about her.
She has always included everyone. Makes everyone feel like they’re important.
Sometimes I questioned her and Rya’s friendship.
The long history they had got in the way of what Violet couldn’t see. I was even blinded by it.