Page 27 of Trial and Error

“Just nice?”

I frown. “Just nice.”

Imani frowns as well, the two of us falling quiet. “It wasn’t how I hoped it would be. He was perfect, in the way Malik always is, and god, he was such a gentleman and he made me feel so special, but there was no spark. No moment where I thought, this is it, you know?”

My best friend looks sad as she nods, her eyes zeroed in on the wineglass in front of her. “I guess you both knew this might’ve happened, that maybe it was just meant to be how it is and nothing more. It just sucks, I guess. You’ve both been interested in each other for years, and I really thought it would work out.”

She’s not the only one who had thought, hoped, that things would be different.

“He won’t be angry at you, Bids,” she says, almost sensing all the worries I’ve had. “He’ll be upset, sure, but he won’t be angry. You gave him what he wanted—you both knew the risks.”

I nod in agreement. “You’re right.”

Imani smirks. “Of course I am.” She looks down at the menu. “Now, come on. Let’s get food—I’m starving.”

elias

Zac has no idea what he’s doing when it comes to women.

Mind you, I’m not much better.

It’s not like I don’t know what I’m doing, it’s more like I don’t know how to keep it going. You know, past the first few months. It’s like, as soon as the first few months are over, there’s this pressure to put a label on things, and I guess that’s just daunting to me. I’m not someone who rushes into things, and I know the irony—getting “engaged” to someone I barely know—is definitely the opposite of how I usually operate.

I tend to put relationships on the back burner, because while they are important to me, I still haven’t found someone I want to spend every waking moment with.

Avery and I watch as her brother flirts with two women outside of a nightclub the two dragged me to. I want nothing more than to be at home, but when Avery asked me—begged, more like—to meet them for a drink, I said yes. But I should’ve known it would be more than just one drink where my cousins are concerned.

My youngest cousin sighs as she flicks her hair over her shoulder, watching as Zac snakes an arm around a blonde’s waist. “We can’t take him anywhere—it’s embarrassing.”

I snort. “Like you didn’t know this would happen.” I smirk at her. “What are you, stupid?”

Avery jams her elbow into my side, and I laugh through a groan. The twenty-two-year-old pouts her glossy lips and looks up at me with her dark green eyes. “Clearly, otherwise I wouldn’t have dragged out some dumb old-timer.”

I laugh at that—she’s not wrong. I am an old-timer, especially compared to the other people who are in the same era as us. She looks down at her phone and I see a string of messages from people, and she swipes right on all the notifications, dismissing all of them.

“What’s going on, Aves?”

She sighs, tucking her auburn hair behind her ear. “My friends are being losers,” she grumbles, resting her head on my shoulder as she wraps her arms around my waist. “Not a single one of them wanted to come to my birthday dinner, so I ordered takeout and stayed home alone.”

I frown and tuck her into my side. “Why didn’t you text me? I would’ve come, and so would’ve Ozzy and your brother. We wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

Avery sighs. “I didn’t want to bother you guys.” She then looks up at me, her eyes widening slightly. “Don’t tell Zac about this. He already hates them as is, and I don’t want him to fly off the handle.”

We both look over at Zac, and I chuckle.

While he’s an absolute tool most of the time, he is fiercely protective when it comes to family; especially Avery. The two of them may fight like cats and dogs but they love each other deeply, and if you fuck with one, you’ve got the other breathing down your back almost instantly. They’ve got a deep bond, one that even Oscar and I don’t have.

Zac glances at us, as if his ears are burning, and flashes his sister a wink. He excuses himself from the girls he’s talking to and makes his way over to us. Zac takes Avery’s face in between his hands and presses a kiss against her forehead.

“Stop frowning.” He grins. “You’ll get wrinkles.”

Avery swats his hand away, but I don’t miss the look of affection that takes over her face as her brother dotes on her. Zac looks at me and places a hand on my shoulder as he lifts his other and tugs it through his dirty blond hair. He’s the only one of us who inherited our grandmother’s caramel blonde hair, while the rest of us got our grandfather’s dark and thick hair.

His hazel eyes take in his sister’s frown and he matches it. “What’s wrong, Rubes?”

“Nothing.” She smiles, but he doesn’t seem convinced. “Pinky swear.”

She holds out her pinky and he links it with his own, giving it a squeeze. He looks over me mischievously with a giddy and shit eating smirk on his face.