Page 29 of Defect
“He’ll be a good fit. He needs to get out of the house anyway. You remember that really bad accident in Inglewood last month?”
“The one where the football player got killed?” Amaris asked. I nodded my head and let my shoulders drop a little.
“That was his twin brother. He was in the car during the crash too. Went through the windshield.”
“Shit, I had no idea there was anyone else in the car besides the mom.”
“I know. The news kind of glossed over that part.” I twirled a lock of my dark hair around my fingers.
“Solana, I don’t want you catching feelings for this little boy. I know you. You’re already attached to him and I’m sure he’s attached to you because you’re…you.”
“We’re friends, Amaris. I told you. I have willpower. Besides, I’m ten years older than him. You know how wrong that is? I’m good.”
“Uh huh. You hired him to work in your studio. You two will be around each other most of the day. You also live across the street from him.”
“So? Why can’t we be friends?”
“I wouldn’t question it if you hadn’t started off drooling over the boy. And why isn’t he in school during the day?”
“He got expelled for fighting,” I muttered.
“So he’s a problem child too? Girl, stay away from him.”
“I can’t. I’ll be fine. He’ll be fine. We’re friends.” I had to keep saying that because I needed reminders. I kept seeing his intense eyes and handsome face in my mind. I wanted to go across the street to check on him so we could clear the air but I held off.
“The fact that you keep saying friends lets me know exactly how this is going to turn out. You have fun being in denial though.” She stretched a hand high above her head and sighed. “So since he’s working with you now, that means if I stop by the studio, I can see this mystery teenager.”
“Don’t do that, Amaris,” I said.
“What?” She smirked. “I’m just playing around. I’m looking forward to watching how this whole situation plays out.”
“You don’t know everything.”
“I know everything when it comes to Solana Willow Monroe. I’ve watched your patterns over the years. Whenever you like someone you can’t stay away. You like this little boy.”
“I’ve only known him for one day and finding someone attractive is not the same as liking them.”
“I know that. We’re not talking about other people right now though. We’re talking about you.” I waved her off and shook my head. We fell into a harmless argument about the ability to be attracted to someone and not make any moves on them. When the doorbell rang. Our conversation fell silent.
“Ooh, maybe that’s your teenage lover,” Amaris teased. She was only playing but I hoped it was him. I cleared my throat an insane amount of times trying to dislodge the nerves that insisted on collecting there. I stood up and hurried over to the door, making sure to look out the side window first.
When I saw over six feet of brown sugar standing on my porch, my heart leaped into my throat. I took deep breaths and steadied my breathung before opening the door. I tipped my head up and looked at Ezra without a smile. I was too nervous to smile.
Why the hell was I nervous though?
“Um…what’s up, Solana?”
“Hey. Everything okay?” I asked, bouncing up on the balls of my feet. Ezra rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat. I wondered if he had the same issue with nerves clogging his throat.
“Yeah. I wanted to stop by and apologize for earlier. I shouldn’t have snapped at you and…” He looked around me, which wasn’t hard for him to do, and saw Amaris standing in the back like a fucking creep. I glanced over my shoulder and rolled my eyes so hard I got a headache.
“This is my sister, Amaris.”
“Oh, nice to meet you.” He nodded at her then looked at me. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I didn’t know you were busy. I’m sorry.”
“Ezra, you’re fine.”
“Don’t mind me,” Amaris smiled. She walked away and I could hear her footsteps going upstairs.
