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“It’s kinda awkward between us, isn’t it?” he asks, not making eye contact with me. “I mean, since I confessed my love for you. Or is that just the sexual tension I’m picking up?” he asks, finally looking at me with a vulnerable expression yet trying to make light of it.
Leave it to Zeke to not beat around the bush. I really respect that, and I don’t hide the smile that he brings to my lips. Walking over to the bed, I hop onto it, making us both bounce. He smiles at me, which was my goal.
I turn so I’m facing him while propping one leg under me and hanging the other off the edge before I reach for his hands. He turns to mirror my position. “I have a confession, Zeke,” I begin, lowering my head and quickly licking my chapped lips. God, I’m so nervous.
Swoosh! The fireplace shoots fire into the hearth, and Zeke and I both jump with nervous laughter.
“Man, that’s a bad habit of mine,” I say, pushing my hair behind my ear.
“Yeah, you’ll be lucky if Lucifer doesn’t kill you,” Zeke jokes.
“Well, if you think about it, if I died now, I probably have a lot of sins and I’ll be in Hell for eternity, where I would be saying all sorts of things. Probably ruining a lot of fireplaces,” I snort.
“Oh man.” Zeke shakes his head and then he stiffens. “Wait, so technically, you’re probably exempt from going to Hell!” he exclaims, and then laughs with me.
“Well, you definitely know how to break the tension,” I admit.
“I do what I can,” he admits. But his cheerful expression slowly melts off of his face as his green eyes focus back on mine. I take in a deep breath and let myself be honest as I begin again.
“Before everything fell apart at the beach party, I was falling in love with you,” I confess. “What we had felt so natural and carefree that I didn’t think anything of it. You just came out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. So, when I saw that video, a part of me felt ripped apart. I won’t lie. I closed down and pulled away from those I became closest with.”
Zeke tucks his head to his chest, and a part of me wants to stop and comfort him and say sorry, but I can’t. I need to get this out if I want to heal and get past all of this. I want to be with Zeke. I’ve forgiven Levi, and hopefully we will work on our relationship. But Zeke and I haven’t had this chance to talk, for me to express myself, and for him to be forgiven.
I swallow around my dry, swollen throat, but I push to get out the next words. “Then I lost Lynx, and I didn’t want to live anymore.”
Zeke’s head snaps up at my admission. His eyes turn glassy as he squeezes my hands. “But with the help of JP, Moni, and Knots, I pulled through enough to stand on my own two feet again. The thing is, even though it might look like I’ve gone leaps and bounds with the other guys, it’s been a slow process. You’ve just been gone for weeks, and this is our first time together since you ripped out my heart.”
“Rez—”
“When I heard you were missing, I didn’t want to hold a grudge against you anymore. But I also knew that we wouldn’t be able to continue where we left off. So, can we start over?” I ask with a shy smile.
“I think it depends on what stage we're starting from.” Mischief flashes across his expression, and he returns my smile. “I’m Eziekel, but call me Zeke. I think you know my brothers and little sister already. My father, you’ve had the displeasure of meeting. And I really like you.”
The mention of his father has my eyes going wide and my mouth dropping. “Oh my God!” Fire shoots up in the fireplace like clockwork, but I’m too busy pulling the USB out of my pocket. “Zeke! I totally forgot. I did see your father, but on more than one occasion. He came to check on you while you were resting in your room yesterday,” I confess.
His eyebrows pull down in question. “Really? That doesn’t sound like him.”
“He did!” I say, bouncing again on the bed. “He even apologized to me.”
“Okay, so now I know it wasn’t him.” He laughs before getting up. He makes a pass across the room before stopping in front of me and running his hands through his hair.
“No, I’m serious.” I sit up and grab his hand, pulling him back to sit beside me. “He said he was sorry the council’s decision had affected my relationship with all of you guys. He also explained that you’re stubborn”—Zeke smirks at the comment—“and that I shouldn’t have blamed myself for you getting hurt,” I admit and lower my head, not able to look him in the eyes.
“Now that I agree with,” he says, as I feel his thumb under my chin. He lightly lifts it up so I’m looking at him. “What I did wasn’t your fault, Rez. I hope you know that,” he tells me, and my heart feels a little lighter as we talk this out.
“I do. Plus, like I said, having your dad explain things helped, and I think he gave me a peace offering,” I say, holding up the USB between my fingers.
“What’s that?” he asks, taking the small black device.
I shrug my shoulders. “I’m not really sure. Your dad just said it was the security feed from when they found me at Diablo’s door and when they questioned me.”
“Are you serious?” Zeke’s voice jumps an octave as he gets excited. “This is amazing. I tried to find that information right after I heard about the meeting, but I never found the footage. Do you mind if we share this with the guys?”
“No,” I tell him, still a little shocked by how this is turning out. “But I don’t see a computer or anything around here to upload it,” I mention as I look around the room.
“Leave that to me. Just go grab the guys real quick before they pass out.”
“Okay,” I say, dashing out of the room.
