Sandcastles | Completed

28 | burned bridges

Kensley Parker

"What you put in it?" I asked, the ice in my glass melting as I waited for them to bring me another drink.

"I think it was the noodles. I didn't have time to go to the store, so I just used penne."

She flipped me off when I started laughing, "It reminded me of the macaroni they used to make at school, but I still expected him to at least act like he liked it."

"I'm on his side 'cause I wouldn't have eaten it either."

We went to Taco Tuesday once, and apparently, it's now a weekly thing. I liked Maria; pair that with half-off margaritas and unlimited chips and queso, and you have my new favorite place to drink.

In the beginning, I felt like our only mutual interests were Zi and Elijah. It took until the second taco date for me to realize that we probably would've clicked anyway.

"I was mad, but not like, mad, mad. Anyway, he told me to pick somewhere to go. Now that's an apology."

"We love trips." I spoke through a mouthful of chips, "Where y'all going?"

"I'm thinking an island somewhere. Not San Juan 'cause everybody goes there. Maybe Aruba?"

"Bitch if y'all go to Aruba you better pack me in the suitcase."

Her drunk ass slapped the table loudly, "Y'all should come! We can be on the beach with our cheeks out together."

That'd be nice. Especially since Elijah still wasn't acting like himself.

While he apologized for the way he talked to me that same day, he was doing stuff I wasn't used to him doing. I'd say he was finally acting like the lawyer that he was– constantly looking at paperwork, taking calls all day.

Granted that's what he was supposed to do, he just never did it. The nigga hadn't worked more than he had in the past few days.

That being said, I didn't wanna ask, prompting me to come up with an excuse not to ask, "How you expect us to both leave? And Zi probably wants it to just be y'all."

"First of all, I make the schedule, and secondly, it's not like we'll be together every second. I'ma ask and see what he says."

I thought she meant later, obviously, she meant right then. Her fingers flew across the screen of her phone as she sent a message to Zi, reading it aloud as she typed, "Do you care if Ken and Eli come to Aruba with us?"

Childish is how I felt for not just asking Elijah myself. Nervous, is what I was feeling while we waited for her phone to vibrate against the table with his response.

Relief would be the future feeling regardless of his answer because if he said no, I wouldn't have to ask, and if he said yes, he'd just mention it to Elijah without me having to ask.

It was always crazy to me that I was so comfortable doing other things, having sex publicly, telling my parents I have threesomes, yet simple shit made me nervous.

Maria snatched her phone up, turning it around to show me the message which was a simple, 'Nah that's cool.'

"Told you." She stated excitedly, "He loves y'all. Y'all like our kids."

"You're literally only 3 years older than me."

"Respect your elde-" Maria paused mid-sentence to lean in and whisper, "Don't turn around but Jade standing by the pick-up window."

My stupid self turned around.

Jade looked directly at me, and I could either turn back around or wave and smile at her.