Page 24 of Defect
“Ezra,” she laughed. “We’re going to be great friends.”
“Good because I need a friend so fucking bad. You have no idea.” I was dead serious about that. Everett was my only friend and now he was gone. I had a gaping hole in my heart.
“I have an idea,” she nodded. “I need a friend too.” When I stared at her, I couldn’t imagine any real man putting his hands on her. How could anyone ball up their fist and swing it in a rage at someone as sweet and kind as Solana? She was sunshine and fresh air personified.
“So…friends?” I asked even though I’d never be able to stop my mind from thinking about how gorgeous she was or the way her clothes fit and how her smile lit up a room.
“Friends,” she nodded. I held out my hand for a handshake but she opted for a hug instead.
Yeah.
This friendship was going to be hard as fuck.
…
SOLANA
Eighteen.
He was eight-fucking-teen years old.
Finding out how old Ezra was hit my chest like a ton of bricks. The energy between us was insane. I’d never experienced anything like it before. I’d been in love before. I’d had moments where IthoughtI was head over heels but even in those instances with those relationships, the energy exchange had never been as vivid and in my face as what happened between me and Ezra in my studio. That kind of vibe wasn’t a friendship vibe. It wasn’t the undeniable click of two people meant to be friends. It was the undeniable click of two people meant to explore so much more.
How could I ever do that knowing how young he was? I was ten years older than him.Ten. There was no way energy lied but it was definitely confused right then.
Still…I couldn’t push him away. Being around him made me feel balanced even though he was sad and something angry raged inside of him. I still saw his light through it all. It spoke to the light in me.
We’d have to just be friends. I didn’t know what kind of test the universe had devised for me but I was up for the challenge. But why the hell did Ezra have to be so fine and so…big?
I mean he was six-foot-six inches of purse brown sugar and he had the prettiest eyes. I could stare at him all day. I could listen to his deep gravelly voice and watch him fight off dozens of smiles for as long as the sun stayed in the sky.
Basically, I could look but I couldn’t touch.
He was technically legal though so…
“What did you want to show me?” He asked after he choked down the tea I made for him. I almost forgot I wanted to show him something after the revelation of who he was came out. My soul wept for his immense loss and while it helped me understand him better, I hated what was ripped from him.
“Oh, yeah.” I smiled and motioned for him to stand up. Seeing Ezra up close was something monumental. He was huge and he eclipsed me with ease. When he was standing tall, the top of my head reached his collarbones. Maybe.
Without thinking, I grabbed hold of his hand. His swallowed mine. We walked toward the back of the studio where I’d started to lay out my Reiki room. My all black massage table was in the middle of the floor sitting on top of a yellow rug decorated with little tiny suns all over it. Bowls of glittering crystals sat in every corner of the mid-sized room and off to the left was a table with a huge sage bundle and different homemade incenses and candles that I planned to sell in my studio once I perfected my recipes.
“So, this is my Reiki room,” I told him with a proud smile. I rocked forward on the balls of my feet and he nodded, taking everything in.
“I’d be very impressed if I knew what the fuck Reiki was,” he said.
“It’s energy work. Like how you mentioned being able to feel something when I put my hands on you to help you breathe. I was purposefully pushing energy to you.”
“So is that why your hands started heating up?” He asked.
“Exactly. Everyone carries energy inside of them. It’s why we’re alive. Energy is our life force. Every time someone touches you, there’s a transference of trace amounts of energy. Every time you’re around someone you absorb some of their energy. Reiki uses that for healing.”
“So you help people with low energy?”
“Kind of. I move energy inside of them that might be blocked and unable to flow properly. I can also transfer energy to them if they have low energy. I can give them a jumpstart so that their natural energy comes back full-force. You think I’m crazy don’t you?” I laughed. I was used to people giving me the side eye when I told them I was a yogi or that I was into spiritual practices. Most people thought I was the devil incarnate.
“No. Why would I think you’re crazy? It’s not like you just told me you believe in talking animals or zombies. You work with energy. What’s crazy about that?”
Oh…my heart.
