Alex looked between the three of us, shifting in his seat and biting his fingernail. I guess he could sense the tension between Javier and I.
Alex's eyes lit up as he gasped. "Wait, is this who you were just talking about?"
Javier leaned against the wall. "You were talking about me?"
"I was not," I quickly denied.
“He was,” I overheard Bella whisper to Alex, causing him to chuckle. I didn’t know what exactly he thought was so funny about it. It wasn't funny, it was terrible. It felt like the universe was punishing me for some unknown reason.
That was when Killian came back into the room with a hot pink shirt in his hand. On the shirt in big bold letters it read, 'Not bossy, just aggressively helpful.’
He handed it over to Javier who grimaced when he read the shirt.
"Aw, you'll look so cute in that shirt Javier!" Bella joked.
Javier shrugged as he held up the shirt to his chest. He scratched his head as he viewed it and then said sarcastically, "Thanks, I’ve been dying for a shirt like this."
"We know," I responded blandly.
Javier grinned widely, amused with the conversation. After a moment, he shrugged nonchalantly. "The shirt is for my mom, obviously. My mom said thanks, Killian."
I later found out that Killian's mom owned her own small business making custom shirts, and Javier’s mom sometimes purchased those shirts from her. Alex’s parents were friends with Javier’s parents. Through that, they met Killian and found out about his mother’s business. Now, when the Cortez’s would place an order, Javier would come pick it up.
"You know my mom loves doing it," Killian said as plopped down on the couch right next to Alex. He glanced at me, then Javier. "You two know each other?"
Javier and I spoke at the same time.
"Unfortunately."
"Surprisingly."
Javier and I maintained eye contact with each other for a couple of seconds before I broke it.
Bella mumbled sarcastically, "Eli and Javier are best friends.”
Alex gave me a look, but I didn’t understand the meaning behind it. He raised an eyebrow as he eyed me, and I gave an unsure shrug in response.
After a few moments of silence and some more weird stares, Javier stood up and grabbed his keys off the counter that he had set them on. "Well, I've got to go. Diane and I have plans."
I rolled my eyes at the mention of his girlfriend. I hated when people would mention their partner like I gave a damn. Unwarranted talk of other people's love lives pissed me off, even more so when Javier did it. I didn’t need to be reminded of the fact that he was not single.
I was man enough to admit that part of my annoyance was jealousy. Jealousy of people in happy relationships, not of Javier and his relationship specifically. That was what I was telling myself, anyway.
With a few goodbyes and waves, Javier left. Once the door shut behind him, Alex and Killian's eyes immediately met mine.
"Eli," Killian said in a sing-song tone. It was the most emotion I had seen out of him yet.
I threw my hands out to the side and shrugged. "What?"
Killian and Alex shared another look before laughing. It must have been an inside joke between the both of them, that was the only explanation I could come up with. I ignored their weird gestures and un-paused the game. All I wanted to do was forget about the pain in my ass that was Javier Cortez.
After another hour of playing, it was time for Bella and I to leave. Alex made sure to give us both his phone number so that we could keep in contact. We had forgotten to do so last time, so it was lucky that we came across each other again.
We were outside of the apartment, walking along the sidewalk to Bella’s mom’s car. That was when Bella nudged me with her shoulder. Me being as clumsy as I was, I almost ate the concrete.
Bella caught me by my arm, just in time for me to regain my balance. I gripped her arm tightly as I shouted, “You almost made me fall!”
Ignoring my loud shouting, Bella changed the subject. "I really like Alex and Killian."
