Page 35 of Inevitable

After I had shown Kit out, the emotional drain of the evening slammed into me like a Mack truck and I no longer had the energy for movie night. I had fully intended to crawl into bed alone, but the need to have Bash close to me robbed me of breath and sanity, and I had asked for him to cuddle with me before it even registered what I was saying. When he agreed to it wholeheartedly, it made my foolish heart skip a beat and I was comforted with the knowledge that he'd be by my side through the night.

Nothing in the known universe had ever felt as reassuring, safe, and perfect as Bash's arms felt around me. I wanted to bury myself in his chest and never come up for air. I wanted that forever.

I wantedhimforever.

Unfortunately, when I woke up the following morning to a cold bedand a note from Bash saying he had to run and would text me later about the date, I had to have a come-to-Jesus about keeping myself from reading into Bash's actions too much. I needed to stop looking for the romantic subtext to his every gesture, look, and touch and keep in mind that he was my taken, straight best friend who had willingly supported my relationship with Kit. He had proven that by proposing this crazy ass double date.

Even if this date turns out to be a total disaster, it too shall pass. It might pass like a fucking kidney stone, but it will pass.

Bash had texted me mid-afternoon with the details for the date, checking to see if I was okay with it.

BB: Kerbey Lane Cafe, 7pm. We'll meet you there. That work ok?

ME:Yeah, that works. I'll let Kit know.

BB:<3

Ugh, that stupid little heart emoji had me smiling reflexively and my heart giving a happy little “thump thump” in my chest cavity.Look here Heart, we do not get our hopes up about him! I repeat, do not get our hopes up! You hear me? Hopes need to stay low, way low, like down on the fucking ground and bolted to the floor kind of low. You feel me?

I texted Kit the time and where we'd be going, happy that Bash picked a casual, low key place for us to go since this date was going to be awkward and painful as fuck. No need to add a stuffy atmosphere and fancy clothes to the mix.

Kit told me he'd be at my place about ten 'til seven and we'd walk over to the restaurant together. I didn't complain because I sure as hell didn't want to show up to the place alone, and see Bash and Ainsley all over each other. I was already on edge about what I might play witness to tonight that would finally push me over the Cliffs of Insanity,Princess Bridestyle.

Kit got to my apartment right when he'd said he would, and we made the short journey to Kerbey Lane. When we got there, I looked around and quickly found the unmistakable head of thick, blond hair and stunning green eyes that belonged to my favorite person on earth. Then in the next second, my eyes swung to the beautiful, but irritating creature sitting to his left in their booth. Ainsley arched her brow at seeing me and promptly slid her hand onto the back of Bash's neck, running her fingers through the hair there.I swear, she has her entire life to be a bitch. Why not just take the day off for once? Mix it up a little?

I cleared my head of the petty comments racing through it, andsteeled myself for the next two hours. Kit guided me to the booth with his hand on my lower back, and I couldn't help noticing how different it felt from when Bash did it. It almost felt wrong and foreign to have his hand in that place when my body distinctly recalled every minute detail of a very different hand there.

I saw Bash's gaze dart down to where Kit had his palm on me, and there was the briefest flicker of…something on his face, but it was gone before I could decipher what it meant. He stood up as we reached the table, shook hands with Kit, and then pulled me into a brief hug. For those two seconds that Bash had me in his arms, everything else ceased to exist around us.

The background noise dulled to a faint buzz, the lights didn't seem as bright, Ainsley and Kit could've been dry humping for all I knew and I never would have noticed because all my attention was whittled down to the man in my hold. My focus was so lasered in on him that I would have been oblivious to the world ending. All too quickly, he pulled away and sat back down next to his girlfriend.Jesus, I feel like I need a shot…or twelve.

Things got awkward real fast when Kit and I sat down, and we all took a few seconds looking at each other, everyone at a loss for what to say. This was going to go about as smoothly as a fucking root canal apparently. Finally, Bash spoke up.

“So Ainsley, you remember Micah and this is his…Kit,” Bash said, clearly not sure what to call Kit since our relationship was still so new. Strangely enough, I felt a massive relief that he hadn't called him my boyfriend, but I didn't want to inspect that feeling too closely right that second.

Ainsley smiled at Kit and reached her dainty hand across the table for him to shake, and I found it eerie that Bash and I had ended up dating two people who actually kind of looked alike. They weren't so similar that they looked like siblings or anything, but they both had high cheekbones, dark curly brown hair though Kit's was of course much shorter, and almost the same shocking blue eyes that were bright and clear.Yep…weird.

However, they clearly didn't think anything weird about it because they pleasantly shook hands and Kit told her it was a pleasure meeting her. The beginning of the date wasn't too bad because we were all busy silently perusing the menu, and then giving our orders to the waitress who popped up a couple minutes later. When she left to put those in, Ainsley asked how Kit and I had met, and then he had asked the same of her about hers and Bash's story. It was then I realized I didn't actually know the story myself. I knew his dad had somewhat orchestrated it, but I didn't know it had been such a blatant set-up. Itstill surprised me that Bash had continued to go along with it afterwards, but clearly he had liked Ainsley enough and developed feelings for her despite their unconventional introduction.

It took me a bit to become aware of it, but I soon realized that Kit and Ainsley were the only two really making conversation. I had been interjecting comments here and there as they talked, but Bash had largely remained mute. His eyes seemed troubled and tight, and I could almost feel the waves of unease coming off of him. It didn't make much sense to me because he was the one to suggest this cockamamie plan in the first place. What did he expect?

Ainsley must've caught me with my attention on Bash because she subtly slipped her arm around his and leaned her head on his shoulder, only after pecking him on the cheek for an obnoxious amount of time.Okay, a three second kiss to the cheek isn't that obnoxious, but come on…peck and move on, chick.

I fought against rolling my eyes. I then felt a warm arm slip around my shoulder, and I couldn't figure out if Kit had done it to once again stake his claim, or he was genuinely being affectionate. I still didn't know him well enough to understand all his motives and signals, but something told me that gesture was for Bash's benefit. In a bizarre twist, Bash's face appeared to redden and draw tight when his eyes caught the movement. Before I could give that development much thought, Kit announced he needed to use the restroom and would be right back, and Bash instantly relaxed once his arm was no longer around me.

Right after Kit was out of earshot, Ainsley looked at me with a suspicious smile on her face. It was obvious she didn't like me, so I immediately was on guard as to why she was flashing that megawatt smile my way. “So Kit seems like a really great guy, Micah! I'm so happy that you've finally found someone! It was like the universe knew you needed someone to call your very own, right?” she asked with sugary sweet enthusiasm. Her words penetrated my brain like a 7-gauge needle and it was easy to read between the lines. She was saying that I needed someone to call my own because Bash was hers. I knew I had no right to be, but I became irrationally furious and jealous at the sentiment.

“Yeah, he's really nice, but it's still too early to know where it'll go. I don't want to plant any flags too soon, you know?” I replied, forcing a tight smile and ignoring Bash's intent gaze on my face that I could feel hot on my skin like a heat lamp.

Ainsley tilted her head at me, the gesture reminding me of an owl and would have made me snort out a laugh if I wasn't so on edge from her comments. “Right, but you also don't want to let him get away.Take it from me, it's so hard to find a truly decent guy out there in the dating world. I mean, I thank God every day that our parents introduced us! You were so lucky Kit just fell into your lap and happened to be so amazing! Hopefully, you two will end up where Bash and I are headed,” she crooned, and her words tossed around in my brain like shrapnel.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked cautiously, icy fingers of dread snaking up my spine.

I could see from my periphery that Bash's eyes had gone wide and he shifted around in his seat. “Uh, Ainsley…” he said warningly, but she kept going as if he hadn't said a word.

“Well, Bash and I haven't been dating that long, but it'll be about a year come Christmas and our parents are dying for an engagement. I know my mom has been pestering me about it, and I'm pretty sure Bash has already had a talk with his dad about it…but I don't think I was supposed to know about that part,” she whispered the last part like it was some big secret that she had just spilled. “I mean, when you've found The One, you just know!” she finished and placed another kiss to Bash's cheek, but I hardly saw it through the intense storm tearing through my head after her revelation. I couldn't even bring myself to look Bash in the eyes, fearing I'd see the confirmation in them.

Marriage…Bash was going to marry Ainsley. I attempted to convince myself the last few months that Bash had to have been in love with Ainsley to stay with her as long as he had, but this was on an entirely different level that I had never allowed myself to process. The fact that she proudly proclaimed that she and Bash were as good as engaged had me feeling almost violently ill and so overheated that I was scared I'd pass out in my seat. I had to get out of there, or I would humiliate myself in front of the whole damn restaurant.

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