Time has been as good to him as it was to Ezra. I can’t help but notice his now broad chest and biceps that are testing his white T-shirt’s limits. The fitted shirt offers a glimpse at his narrowed waist, and his black torn up skinny jeans hide absolutely nothing. No need for my imagination here, but you won’t hear any complaints from me or the rest of this city’s population. He’s wearing leather wristbands and red bandanas tied around his wrists that match his red converse perfectly.
He’s a groupie's dream come true with the rock god power radiating off of him. Just watching his forearms flex as he twirls his drumsticks is like porn for a music junkie, or groupie within a fifty foot radius. My hands start to shake as he draws near so I grip my coffee and breakfast bag a little tighter to keep him from seeing that my nerves are getting the better of me. Though I’m sure my wide eyed gaping and lack of breathing is a clear indicator that I’m definitely a nervous wreck.
Between Ezra showing up yesterday and Phoenix being here now, I’m overwhelmed and just… not okay. That doesn’t stop my ears from perking up at the dark voice that reaches them, and I swear I damn near faint when he speaks. One word and I’m done for.
“Mine.”
Chapter Five
Ainsley James Dylan
“Ainsley,canItalkto you real quick?” Phoenix asks, pulling me away from the rest of our group of best friends. The boys all look back at us like they’re going to double back to us, forever protective of the smallest boy in our group and the girl, but I wave them on into Cyan’s house without us because my friend really looks like he needs a minute. The look on his face is stressing me out.
“What’s up Nix? You good? You kinda look like you’re gonna barf. Are you sick?” I question, biting my lip anxiously while waiting for him to say whatever he needs to say.
“N—um, no. I’m not sick. I just keep… ugh, I’m so bad at this. I don’t know what I’m doing,” he says angrily, dropping his chin to his chest and shaking his head like he’s disappointed. He’s been acting really weird lately and I worry about him more often than not. He’s smaller than the other boys so he gets picked on at school. You’d think with how much tuition costs at private school, there’d be some level of protection from bullies. There isn’t. The other guys and I stay with him as often as possible though. He’s quiet and sweet and I can’t think of anyone who deserves to be treated better than him.
His parents aren’t home very often and he gets left alone a lot, which bums him out more than I think he likes to admit. He’s so quiet all the time though, and he keeps a lot of things to himself. The issue is that he’s been worse lately. He barely even talks to me and I’m his best friend. Like, I know the other boys are his best friends too, but I’m hisgirlbest friend so I think it means a little more because the boys can talk to me about more without getting shut down for not being ‘manly’ enough. It’s dumb because we’re only twelve and they aren’t men. Try telling those dummies that though. I know they only want to see him act tough to keep him safe, but they go about it the wrong way. That’s why I’m way cooler than the rest of the boys. They all think they’re hot stuff because of our dad’s. They aren’t. They’re just annoying boys. But they’remyannoying boys.
“It’s cool. Just say it. You know I won’t judge you or anything. Is everything going all right at home? Do you need to come stay at my house for a bit? My mom has yours and the guys’ rooms ready whenever you need them, you know.”
“That’s not it,” he says sullenly. He looks so defeated that it’s hurting my heart. Reaching up, I move some of his shaggy dark hair from his eyes and tap his chin so he gets the hint to look at me. When he finally does, the determination in his eyes makes me gasp.
He moves closer to me and mimics my movements by brushing my hair away from my face. “Mine,” he whispers and then touches his lips to mine, making them feel like they got sparked with electricity. Then he turns around and walks into the house without looking back, leaving me behind, touching my fingers to my lips. Phoenix London just gave me my first kiss and I think… I might just have a crush…
Fingertips tracing the line of my jaw and tipping my face up, up, up by my chin have me jolting out of my memory. Wow,he got big.My eyes widen when his raspy chuckle reaches my ears, sending licks of fire down my spine.
“Yeah Ains, I gotbig.”
“Oh my shit. Did I say that outloud?” I ask, my bottom lip starts trembling so I bite down on it to keep myself from further reacting to his presence.
His long fingers hold my face steady, and his thumbs swipe away tears I hadn’t realized were spilling down my cheeks. This whole situation is so embarrassing. I just want to go crawl back into my bed and hide under the sheets.
“Did Ezra send you to torture me some more?” I question. Though I’m not sure if ‘torture’ is necessarily the right word. It was more like a shitty encounter that I couldn’t have prepared myself for in a million years.
“Did Ezra torture you? You look mighty fine to me,” he murmurs, and I’m not one hundred percent certain I was supposed to hear that last part, seeing as it came with a heated glance down my body. Or maybe it was intentional and that’s just who he is now.
Were all the guys I used to be friends with horn dogs now? They all seem to play on the line of impropriety.
“No, that wasn’t the right way to say that. It’s just that things didn’t exactly go as one would hope after seeing one of your childhood best friends. It felt sort of like, losing a piece of my heart all over again.”
“Hm. Well, that explains his bad attitude yesterday,” he says, more to himself than to me. “C’mon Ains. Let’s go catch up, yeah? I’m sure you and I can get along a little better than that,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
It’s so out of character from the shy boy I once knew that I can’t help but giggle in response. Not a cute flirtatious giggle, but one that turns into gut busting laughter, and I don’t even know why. My emotions are all over the place right now. They have been since I ran into Ezra. These guys are like a livewire to my soul. They bring out the best and the worst in me.
Who doesn’t love reuniting with their old crush only to realize that they’re totally mental? So cute. He probably wants to run far away from me now. Only, when I look up at him he just wears a crooked grin on his face and says, “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”
“I can’t Nix. I have class, work, and then hours to log for the suicide hotline I volunteer for. I’m booked solid.” I use my standard excuses to get out of things, but this time it causes a strange twinge of pain to lance through my heart.
“Your first class of the day is Music Production, right?”
“How in the hell do you know that? Are you and Ezra… stalking me?” My blood runs cold at the thought. I really don’t know these guys anymore and this is getting a little weird.
“No… and yes. Kind of, but not in a creepy way.”
“Oh, yeah. Obvs. Because stalking people that you haven’t seen in years is totally the norm these days. Not at all creepy. In fact, everyone’s doing it, am I right? Hashtag Stalkers Unite.” I say jokingly.
On a real note though, I’m ready to run back to Pop’s cart and hide. This is definitely getting uncomfortable. Backing up a step or two, I sidestep him and wave, nausea turning my gut. “I’m just gonna get to class. This was… nice.” I state awkwardly. Then I make my way to campus, albeit a little faster than my normal pace.
