Her eyes dart toward me in surprise. “He… He didn’t?” she stutters.
I shake my head.
She bites her lip and starts fidgeting in her seat. “Where was he?” she asks in shock.
“I don’t know.” My voice is flat.
Her forehead creases as she looks at me. “Well, what made him not come home?”
I shrug my shoulder, shaking my head. “He thinks I’m cheating on him.”
Her jaw drops. “What?” she says in a high-pitched voice. “That’s crazy. Why does he think that?”
“You’ll never believe why?” I say, shaking my head before letting it fall back on the cushion.
“Why? Tell me.” She leans in closer.
“He saw me and Ez at a coffee shop talking, and he now thinks we’re sleeping together.” I raise my head to see her facial expression to get an idea if she cares or not.
Her face falls. “Oh.” The sound in her voice doesn’t seem like she cares at all.
“So, it doesn’t bother you?”
Her lips go thin. “No. Why would it? We’re all best friends—right?” she says with a slight smile.
I can’t wrap my head around why Zay thinks I would sleep with Ezra then. Rya doesn’t seem to think that we would. Why Zay? Ezra and I have been close for years, so have Rya and Zayn, and I would never think those two would be together. Is it really stress, or something deeper? Rya didn’t even flinch when I told her what he accused me of. Why can’t he see what everyone else sees?
“Yeah. I don’t get it. But then you’ll never guess what Cat said,” I say, my arms crossing around my chest as if it will help the chest pain I might feel from this conversation.
“Our hairdresser?” She raises an eyebrow in question.
I nod as I run my hand through my hair, feeling the tension rise. “I told her everything that’s been going on between me and Zay and she thinks he might be cheating on me.”
She flickers her gaze at me. “Well…” She pauses. “Why would you even tell her what has been going on between you two?”
The pang in my chest rises like I knew it would, not at what the conversation I thought we would have, but at her response. “I don’t know. It felt right to.”
“Well, that kind of seems like your fault for thinking he’s cheating, since you let her put that into your head.”
That feels like a slap in the face. “You act like you don’t tell her everything about your life.”
Her posture stiffens as she crosses her arms, as if she’s offended. “Well…you’re letting her plant these stupid thoughts into your head.”
“I never said I thought he was cheating on me. I only said she thinks it.” I narrow my gaze at her with my brows raised.
Her eyes waver around me. “Oh.” She chuckles. “Well, don’t let her make you think that. Zay would never cheat on you,” she says reassuringly.
I move away from her slightly, feeling more confused at this conversation the more it goes on. Is it the lack of sleep or can I not comprehend fully what she thinks? I thought coming here would help ease my thoughts, but it did the opposite.
“Think about it. He’s not only your husband, but your best friend. You’ve been friends with him since you two were kids. We’ve all been best friends since we were kids. He wouldn’t let anyone hurt you before you guys got married, so why would he be the one to hurt you?”
Her words echo in my mind. She has a point. Zayn was always there to defend me in school, never letting anyone hurt me with their words, let alone hurt me physically. So why would he be the one to hurt me now?
We’ve been through so much together. He’s the person I trusted to have my back since we were kids. I rub my forehead, trying to clear my thoughts. Is it me overthinking this? Maybe Rya is right and I’m the one hurting us by not taking what he’s going through seriously.
Zayn walks into the house, his back toward me as he scans the kitchen.
Hopefully, for me.
