Page 46 of Ever After

I thinkabout surprising Jay at first, but then decide against it. He is usually busy with work. It would be better If I found a weekend that he would be around more. I grab my phone and walk over to the couch and lie down. I scroll through my contacts and find his name. When I click on the name, I put the phone against my ear and wait for him to pick up.

“Hey, babe.”

Babe? He’s never called me that before.

“Hi, are you busy? Do you have a minute to talk?”

“Not busy at all. I just got home, actually. Drinking a beer outside on the new outdoor set we ordered together. Wish you were here to see it.”

“Oh nice, did the rest of your furniture come in?”

“Yeah, I need help decorating. Please help me, or else Alex is going to turn this into a man cave. He has his own house, but apparently, he thinks he lives here, too.”

I laugh. That’s just like him. Makes himself at home wherever he goes.

“Well… I was calling to see what you would think about me coming down there to visit for a weekend?” I anxiously wait for his answer. I know he would never say no, but I still got eager for his answer.

“Nothing would make me happier than to see you, hold you, and kiss you.”

“But I invited Lia. Remember my best friend I told you about? I was thinking we could all hang out, Alex included. Would you be okay with that?”

“As long as I can hold you all night long in my bed. Alone.”

“Deal. Do you think Alex and Lia will like each other?”

“Well, you know Alex doesn’t do relationships.”

“Neither does Lia.”

“Then I don’t think those two will have a problem.”

Jay and I end up talking for hours. It feels like no time has passed by the time we hang up. He’s so easy to talk to. We both spent time catching each other up about ourselves and what we’ve been doing. It’s nice having this type of conversation with someone. All my conversations have been so tense lately. I decide to book Lia and I flight. I don’t want to wait any longer to go see Jay. I screenshot the flight itinerary for Lia and text it to her.

Me: Be ready…we leave next weekend

She sends back an open mouth emoji, showing how surprised she is. Knowing I’m going to see Jay soon makes me relax. Is this a sign?A sign of what?Did Aiden make me tense all the time? I throw the thoughts out of my head. If I keep thinking about this, I won’t be able to sleep.

A few days later,Lia and I are walking out of the airport and I’m looking around for Jay’s truck, but I don’t see it. Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone waving us over. Lia taps my shoulder, and I look over at her.

“Who’s that?” She points behind me. I look over and see Alex. I wonder where Jay is.

“That’s Alex.”

“That’sAlex? Why didn’t you tell me he was cute?” She bumps my shoulder with hers. We walk over to him. “What the hell Lilah? You’ve been holding out on me.”

“I’m sorry getting you laid wasn’t the first thing on my mind,” I say as Alex approaches me and pulls me into a hug.

“How are you?” he asks.

“Good.” I turn to face Lia. “This is Lia. Lia, this is Alex. Jay’s best friend.”

Lia smiles and says, “Hi,” while lifting her right hand to give him a handshake. Alex grabs it and gives it a kiss.

I look over at Lia, and her cheeks are bright red while she tries to hold back her smile. Alex grabs both of our bags and throws them in the back of his cab. Lia climbs in the back seat. I walk up to the front seat and get in. Looking behind my seat, I look at Lia’s face. She’s literally watching Alex’s every move. He walks around his truck and gets in.

I ask Alex, “So, where is Jay?”

“Yeah, where is this mystery man of yours Lilah?” Lia asks.

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