With that, I spin on my heels and run out of the room, not giving him a chance to react. I follow the voices until I make it to the kitchen and let out a sigh of relief when I see coffee.
“Well, look who’s wide eyed and bushy tailed.” Kyle is the first one to spot me. “Grab a plate and come sit.”
Ray slaps him upside the head. “Stop talking to people like this is your house.” He then looks at me. “Grab a plate and come sit.”
“How’s that different from what I said?” Kyle complains.
I shake my head in amusement, then do as told. When I head to the table, I notice an open spot next to Zara, Kyle’s girlfriend. Since she’s been so nice to me, I decide she’d be a good table mate.
“Zara, good to see you again.”
She smiles and glances away, almost as if she’s embarrassed to look at me. I stare around the table in question, realizing that the other two people at the table are Kyle and Ray.
“Hayden’s sleeping in,” Ray explains when he notices me looking.
“And Zara’s blushing cause we heard you and Alex doing it last night.”
“Oh, my God, Kyle, shut up!” Zara drops her head in her hands. I can’t tell for sure, but I think she’s trying to hide that she’s laughing.
I pop a strawberry into my mouth and stare all of them down. “I’m only apologizing for doing it in someone else’s house,” I say. All three of them snicker.
Zara turns in her seat to face me. “I really like you.”
“You sound surprised.” I take another bite from the food on my table. “I thought we got along really well last night.” I stop chewing. “Unless I did or said something really stupid while under the influence.”
Zara shakes her head. “No, you were so funny.” She covers her mouth when a giggle escapes. “I just meant that I never got to know you from before…” She hesitates, looking sideways at Kyle for help.
“Before Alex dumped you,” he explains like it’s the most normal thing. Both me and Zara roll our eyes.
“Yes, well, me and Alex don’t get along,” she adds. “So I was expecting to dislike you as well, by association.”
I rest a hand on her shoulder. “Not to worry. I know he’s an ass.”
Ray snorts while Kyle stretches over the table to fist bump me. “I knew I liked you for a reason, girl.”
I grab another piece of fruit and wink at him. Zara rests and elbow on the table, resting her chin in her hand.
“I would’ve never imagined that Alex was so romantic,” she says. “I always assumed he was strictly an asshole.”
I raise an eyebrow in question. “Romantic how?”
“You know,” she shrugs. “Pretending to be someone else on theHolidatesapp to get you to see him… That’s romantic.”
“Zara, baby,” Kyle cuts her off. “Let’s not get into their business…”
“I’m not getting into anyone’s business.” She waves him off. “I just thought it was romantic, and I’m sure Mona agrees.” She looks back at me. “Don’t you?”
My mind goes a mile a minute, unable to process what Zara just dropped on me.
“Very romantic,” I somehow manage to say.
“How did you not make the connection to his middle name?”
I stare at her like she teleported here from out of space.
“Julian is such a great name. Was his grandmother’s name Julia, maybe? And where did Lewis come from? His father?”
I literally feel like I am about to pass out. If I am connecting the dots correctly, there was never a Julian Lewis. I went out to meet with a man who didn’t exist. Alex showed up, and I assumed that he had just happened to be there, when in fact, he was there to meet me under false pretenses.
