“I never thought I’d see the day,” Maddox whispered.
When I turned to look at him he was smiling at Mathias and Remy with a look of awe. I think we’d all worried that Mathias would remain angry and brooding for the rest of his life—and he still was those things occasionally—but you couldn’t deny the fact that for once he was actually happy. Seeing someone that had once been so miserable find a light in their life was a truly beautiful thing.
“What are you guys looking at?”
We all turned around to see a pretty redhead standing on the other side of the pool, her hand clasped tightly in the hold of the guy beside her. The guy was wearing a fedora—yes, a fedora—with his sandy colored hair peeking out of the bottom. They were both dressed in swimsuits, but the girl had a bag slung over her shoulder like she’d only just arrived at the party.
“Avery!” Olivia, Trace’s wife, chimed. “I was afraid you weren’t going to make it.”
The woman named Avery straightened her pale blue bikini top that had white stars. I noticed that her bottoms had red and white stripes. It was the perfect bikini for the holiday. “Yeah, we spent more time at Luca’s parent’s house than we meant to.” She shrugged. “Where should I put my stuff?”
“Our cabana’s fine.” Olivia pointed.
“Thanks.” Avery set off in that direction and the guy, I assumed he was Luca, followed her like a puppy.
The next interruption came in the form of Trace’s younger brother, Trent. He let out a war cry and bound towards the pool, executing a perfect cannonball, and drenching all of us in the process. It was a good thing we were already wet.
Trent surfaced, grinning.
Dean began to cry, not pleased that his face got wet. Trace pulled Dean out of his float and into his arms as he glared at his little brother. “Look what you did. Now my kid’s going to be terrified of the water.”
“Oh, shut up,” Trent kicked his feet swimming away, “a little water won’t hurt him.”
Trace continued to glare at his brother, but chose not to argue, and instead bounced the baby in the hopes of cheering him up.
Ezra swam over to me, his curls plastered to his forehead. He cracked a small smile and treaded water. “Enjoying the party.”
I smiled back. “It’s nice to be with my friends.”
“I’m still your favorite, right?” He joked, winking.
I mock gasped. “I don’t pick favorites.”
He chuckled and lowered his lips, blowing bubbles in the water before speaking. “But if you did I would be number one?”
“Maybe.” I splashed him.
He splashed me back and soon it was an all out war.
“You guys are children!” Maddox called, he and Emma now at the other end of the pool to avoid our splash fight.
“Coming from you that means nothing!” Ezra laughed, shoving a wall of water at me.
I didn’t turn away in time and some of it went up my nose. I coughed and sputtered.
Ezra immediately ceased his attack. “Are you okay?” He asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Before I knew what was happening he had my back pinned against the pool wall with his arms on either side of me. He stared down at me, his dark eyes intense. I watched as a droplet of water fell from one of his curls and onto his nose, before rolling down his lips.
My heart thudded in my chest at his proximity and my muscles locked up. When he got this close I never knew what to do. My body had always reacted to Ezra, I just denied what I felt. I tried to pretend it didn’t exist, because it was easier that way. He was right, we couldn’t ruin our friendship even if I did daydream about the way his lips would feel against mine. Even when I was with Braden I’d still felt this intense connection to Ezra. I guessed maybe Braden had been right to be so jealous.
“So, we’re good?” He asked.
“Huh?” My brows knit in confusion. I’d been too busy staring at his lips to process his words.
“Are we good?” He repeated. “After our talk earlier…we’re still good, right?”
“Oh,” I shook my head, “yeah.”
His smile was blinding, shedding light on all the darkest parts of myself. Ezra, in many ways, was the best parts of me. There was something about him that was so pure and good that you couldn’t help but be affected by that if you were around him for long. I swore he had one of the kindest and pure souls that ever existed. There weren’t many people like him and I was lucky enough to call him my best friend.
“I want you to know that I really am sorry for acting like such an asshole the past few days. It was wrong of me.” He took a deep breath. “I’m going to be a better friend to you.” He reached up, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.
My eyes closed and the skin on my cheek tingled where his fingers had brushed against it.
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. I hated that I was so affected by him—that I wanted him in a way that he refused to want me. I knew it was still too soon to want a relationship—and I didn’t—but I hated that he refused to even entertain the idea of an us one day. My feelings were obviously stronger for him than his were for me. I’d been denying my feelings for so long, trying desperately to ignore them, but from the moment Ezra dove in the lake after me during my Thank-God-That-Asshole-Is-Out-Of-Your-Life party they’d become impossible to ignore. At least the night I got drunk he admitted to being attracted to me. If it weren’t for that I’d still be convinced that my feelings were entirely one-sided.
“You already are the best friend I could ask for. You’ve gone above and beyond best friend duties,” I joked, finally answering him.
“I’d do anything for my friends. You’re my family.” He waved his arms, encompassing his band mates and their girls.
The Willow Creek boys really were like family, and by extension the people they brought into their inner circle became family too.
I knew I’d become a better person by knowing them, especially by befriending Ezra. He’d become my anchor when I was lost and confused. I knew without him I would’ve never had the courage to pursue my dream and own a store. He believed in me when most people didn’t—but as a teenager I’d given people a reason not to have faith in me. I’d spent more time chasing boys than figuring out what I wanted in life. And then once I had things figured out, I’d met Braden. He’d completely fooled me. I’d believed I’d finally found the right guy for me, but I’d never been more wrong. I didn’t regret my time with Braden though. The way I saw it, being with him taught me a valuable life lesson—to appreciate the good in my life, and to stop striving for an unrealistic ideal.
Ezra snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Sadie?”
“Sorry, I zoned out,” I laughed. I squared my shoulders, the water sloshing around my body as I swam away from the edge of the pool, putting more distance between us.
I hated the way my heart came to life when I was near him. The stupid, treacherous, organ didn’t seem to know that he was off limits.
Ezra swam away, back to the guys.
Emma and I got out of the pool to grab some food. We ended up back in the cabana and I took over the lounger Maddox had vacated.
Emma put on her sunglasses, smiling out at the scene that played before us.
Chatter, music, and laughter filled the air and children ran around with sparklers, their happiness contagious.
Off in the distance a group of guys, Trace and Trent included, began to set off fireworks.
I smiled at the sight, then at Emma, and the guys as they got out of the pool.
Hayes ran over to us, his hair slicked back off of his forehead. He held his hand out for me. “Come on, you can’t see the fireworks from over here.”
I wanted to argue that it was still daylight, so even up close you’d barely be able to see them, but I let him lead me away.
We joined the group I’d watched earlier and they set off another round of fireworks.