Chapter 30
Mariyah
I raised my palm to my mouth as I yawned for the bajillionth time while in the car the next day.
It was just before twelve in the afternoon, and Kai, Esmeralda, Shehryar, and I were en route to a fancy burger place to eat before heading to the famous Falasteen Market to do some shopping.
As both places were within the city, Kai was driving, which meant Esmeralda was up front with him, and Shehryar was in the back with me, staring out the window, looking somewhere between uncomfortable, lost in thought, but still annoyingly sexy and refreshed.
I, on the other hand, had not realised how tired I was from the previous night’s activities until the faint noise of the car’s engine and pretty scenery passing by felt like sleep hypnosis.
Esmeralda glanced back at me from the passenger seat, brows drawn in question. “Why do you keep yawning? Did you not sleep last night?”
Maybe it was just a sway as we came to a stop at a crossing, but from the corner of my eye, I was sure Shehryar straightened in his seat. I could sense his ears were perked up, paying close attention, just by the way something shifted in the air between us.
I licked across my lips as my cheeks warmed in response, but I narrowed my eyes at Esmeralda. Was she asking on purpose? “I did. I just slept late.”
A light turned on behind her irises as she smirked. “Oh. Okay.” Laughter edged into her words. She twisted further to look at Shehryar behind her. “What time did you say you got back again last night?”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. Esmeralda, you little bitch. I glared at her side profile.
She and Shehryar had talked about his meeting with his dad, hence why there wasn’t an ounce of worry on her face. But I wished they hadn’t. A fretting mother hen Esmeralda was much easier to deal with and reassure than a mischievous, meddling one.
“It was ten to eleven,” Shehryar answered blandly. He definitely wasn’t oblivious to Esmeralda’s prying, but he didn’t seem bothered by it or in denial, which was…interesting. I meant she knew, but didn’t he want to make it seem like there was nothing between us?
I meant there wasn’t anything between us—not like that, but like—
A bright aura blinded me from the side, and I glanced ahead to find Esmeralda grinning from ear to ear, foaming at the mouth, and practically bouncing in her seat. Fuck.
“Mariyah, where were you at that time?”
I’m gonna fucking kill you , I threatened with a sneer. “In my room,” I gritted out.
She ignored the warning and widened her eyes. “And when did you go to bed?”
When?
I had no fucking clue.
Shehryar hadn’t left my room after we had sex again. He wiped me down and stuck around. He tucked me under the duvet, then went back to the other side of the bed and we…
We talked. Just talked. About random shit, some of which I’m sure was just tired nattering.
The last thing I recalled was yawning repeatedly, my eyes growing heavy, which was when Shehryar said, “Stop talking, little menace, and go to sleep.”
To which I replied, “Shut up, dickhead. Don’t tell me what to do.”
I remembered the warmth of his arms encircling me and then nothing, which meant I fell asleep.
I woke up to an empty bed, but there had been an indent next to me, evidence that he’d stayed.
And it had been warm. Evidence that he’d only left moments before I woke up.
I had since desperately tried not to think about what that meant or signified, but Esmeralda’s nosey questions weren’t fucking helping.
“I don’t know,” I bit out slowly.
“Sher,” Esmeralda said like a shameless little bitch. “What time did you and Mariyah go to bed?”
A choked sound escaped my mouth as I gaped.
Fucking Neves, she hadn’t just—
“It was nearly four a.m..”
My heart ricocheted on the spot as Kai brought the car to a stop at a traffic light. I twisted my head around so abruptly, I swore I gave myself whiplash.
I gawked at Shehryar, who held Esmeralda’s wide gaze with undeterred confidence. Even Kai turned and looked at the man who’d basically admitted to sleeping with me, even though everyone present knew we didn’t like each other.
Why? What the fuck? Why did he say that? Why why why?
It was one thing telling Esmeralda so that she didn’t get her hopes up for something that wasn’t going to happen. And a very different thing to announce we were sneaking into each other’s rooms like we were telling the family about our relationship—which it couldn’t be called anyway.
I should’ve been damn well annoyed after all the time I’d spent trying to stop Esmeralda from planning a wedding and baby names for me and Shehryar. I supposed I was annoyed. But not as much as I was puzzled by his openness about the situation. But the kind of puzzled where something was flying inside me, zigzagging around, and lost as to which direction it was supposed to go.
I wanted to dig my hand inside and throw it out.
But I also wanted to see where it was trying to go.
“Oh, is that so?” Esmeralda sang, smugness as thick as syrup coating her words. “But I thought you didn’t like each other. A week ago, you threatened to throw each other out of the plane.”
Her teasing tone scratched at a sore spot that made my left eye twitch. “Okay, that’s enough.” I peered over the driver’s seat. “Kai, control your freaking woman, please.”
“Hey!”
Kai smiled at me through the rearview mirror. His dimple deepened in his right cheek as he turned to Esmeralda and placed a hand on her thigh. “I don’t think I could even if I tried to,” he said, then turned his attention forward as the cars ahead started moving again.
My best friend arched a brow as a smile grew on her face. “What does that mean?”
“He means he couldn’t even if he tried to because he loves you so much,” I said with a teasing look of disgust at Kai through the mirror. “Am I right or am I right?”
The man’s cheeks turned pink. “You’re right.”
Hearts glowed in Esmeralda’s eyes as she placed her hand over Kai’s on her leg, grinning like an overexcited clown. “I love you too. So much.”
“Sickening,” I mumbled, shaking my head.
Esmeralda tilted her head mockingly at me. “Sher, can you control your woman, please?”
Fire torched my cheeks, and my mouth hung open. Oh no, she fucking didn’t.
She snickered. “That’s what I thought.”
I snapped my mouth shut. “I am not his woman.” I glared at Shehryar like what Esmeralda had said was partly his fault. “And he could never even dream of being able to control me.”
The faintest smirk tugged at one corner of his mouth, but I couldn’t tell if he was claiming he already had, if he was rising up to the challenge, or if he was enjoying Esmeralda’s teasing. “I wouldn’t want the headache of trying to control her either,” he said blandly.
I ground my teeth together as Esmeralda giggled and Shehryar arched a confident brow at me. At least Kai had the decency to try to hide his smile by keeping his gaze trained on the road.
After a second of letting him gloat, I flashed him a wide grin. “Well, it’s a good thing you’ll never have to worry about that, because you’re never gonna get the chance to.” I pointed at Esmeralda. “And you’re a little bitch.”
Esmeralda’s beaming smirk remained plastered across her face. “I am,” she agreed. “Five years you two have made me wait for this moment, so yes, I plan on being a huge bitch about it.”
I wanted to scream that there was no moment , but I knew my best friend enough to know that was only going to spur her on more, so I bit my tongue and glanced out the window. But my annoyance made me restless, and within seconds, I picked up my phone to scroll mindlessly on social media.
Instead, new messages from my dad caught my attention in the notification bar.
Dad:
Hello how are you?
Dad:
I know you’re still enjoying your vacation and I don’t want to disturb it but I spoke to Patch yesterday and he mentioned the job at the Central Bank has a lot of interest so they’ll be closing the applications earlier than planned
Dad:
I got him to keep it open until 5th Dec but that’ll mean if you want to apply you’ll have to do it as soon as you come back home
Dad:
I’ve attached the job application so you can have a good look at it when you get the chance
Dad:
Let your mum or me know what you think once you have, otherwise enjoy today and don’t forget your mum’s tea! Love you Mar
An invisible hand pushed through my belly and wrapped its spindly fingers around my stomach, clutching and squeezing in a sickening rhythm.
I hadn’t forgotten about the job opportunity my parents wanted me to apply for, but I had done a damn good job of not thinking about it.
Now the door to my anxiety had been wrenched off and I couldn’t find the broken hinges to screw it back on.
Fuck…I needed to tell them. I couldn’t keep struggling with this feeling anymore, but…
“Hey.” Esmeralda’s soft voice yanked my focus up. “What’s wrong?”
All eyes turned on me and my discomfort doubled. For some reason, the weight of Shehryar’s piercing gaze felt the heaviest.
I forced a smile onto my face and shook my head. “Nothing.”
“Mariyah.”
“Really, Ez, it’s fine. Just my dad.”
Her frown immediately melted in understanding. “Is it about…”
Swallowing, I nodded. “Yeah.”
“You haven’t told them yet?”
“I will when I get back.” But I didn’t sound so sure, so I widened my smile and loudened my voice. “By the way, are we just gonna sit in silence the whole time? Can we turn on the radio or play some music? Ez, you connected to the Bluetooth?”
Thankfully, Esmeralda got the hint that I didn’t want to talk about it and picked up her phone from her lap. “I am actually.” She wiggled her brows. “Shall we play some throwbacks?”
“Yes!”
“Okay, let me see…”
As Esmeralda swiped through her music app, looking for the right song to start with, I became increasingly aware of the man trying to peer at me from under a microscope across the seat. I avoided looking for as long as I could, but a chipped pride meant I didn’t last long.
Except my dignity was told to sit down when I saw that there was no judgement or pity in Shehryar’s pale-green stare. He was trying to pick me apart. That much was obvious with the way his eyes slowly roamed my face, but I couldn’t tell what was actually motivating his search.
So, I looked away and refused to look back. And when Esmeralda played the first song, we both squealed and started singing along. To our shock and excitement, even Kai joined in quietly.
Shehryar didn’t, like a boring dickhead. But every so often I felt his searching gaze return to me.
Though what he wanted to know, he wasn’t going to find out.