Now I See You | ✓

Thirty-Two

Zeb triumphantly announces two days later that he's coming to visit not this coming weekend, but the one after. It's information that Manal also relays to me with a small, hopeful smile on her face, her eyes twinkling a little.

I just grin at both of them – Zeb through the video call and Manal right in front of me – because I can't wait to see what happens. Zeb's being pretty tight-lipped about what he's going to say or do more exactly, so I'm just eagerly awaiting.

In the meantime, I finish off some paintings, as well as going out on a date to a burger joint with Aubin on Wednesday. He'd initially suggested we go somewhere a bit nicer, but I'd rolled my eyes and told him that all I wanted was to spend time with him and eat some food, so I'd rather it wasn't too upscale.

Now, it's Saturday, and Manal's out with some friends for dinner – her weekend version of a party, really – and Josie's got a shift at Smith's, so I find myself at the football house for a party, mostly under Saori's persuasion, rather than Aubin's. He'd suggested we both skip the party and just have a movie night, but Saori had begged us both.

So, I'm standing in the kitchen chatting to Saori, Jaden and Saidi, a red cup in my hand, giggling at the way Saori's teasing Saidi.

Apparently, Saidi's long-time crush is here and he's all embarrassed. Last semester, he met this girl at a party here and he was instantly infatuated. She ended up passing out, so he let her and her roommate stay in his room, and he stayed in Fraser's room, who was sleeping at his girlfriend's that night. From the sounds of it, it was before I met Aubin.

Saidi's scowling at Saori as she recounts the story now. "Stop it," he grumbles, reaching forward and putting her in a headlock, rubbing her chin-length hair with his other hand.

Saidi's not necessarily the resident fuckboy of the team, but he does indulge in casual sex, which is fair enough. According to Saori, though, he's been a lot less interested in one night stands lately, which she puts down to this girl who's not even batting an eyelid in his direction, unfortunately.

Saori's still cackling despite the noogie. "I can't help it, Saidi, you're far too easy to wind up."

He groans dramatically, releasing her, but not before pinching her bicep for good measure.

"What's going on?"

I twist around at the familiar voice and throw my arms over Ezri's shoulder, still laughing in his ear. "Oh, just a bit of friendly fun," I assure him. "It's so good to see you."

Ezri and I have been keeping in touch pretty well, meeting up for lunch or drinks when we can. Since he moved in with Linpeng and Diego, he seems to be doing a bit better. We've both talked quite a lot about the fallout of the situation, but our lives seem to be continuing to develop outside of that too, which is nice for both of us.

When I turn around, I beam at my friends. "Guys, this is Ezri. Ezri, this is Saori, Jaden and Saidi. Ezri's actually on Aubin's course."

Each of them smiles at him – I don't miss the way Jaden's gaze lingers a little longer on Ezri than usual – and then Saidi immediately brings him into the conversation.

Every now and again, Ezri's eyes flicker to Jaden, who spends a fair portion of the conversation with his eyes on my friend, rather than any of the others while they're talking.

After a bit more conversation, Ezri wanders off to the other side of the kitchen to get a drink, so I grab Jaden's arm and tug him to my side. "Go shoot your shot," I encourage him gently.

He pulls back, raising his eyebrows. "You think?"

I wink. "Absolutely."

I mean, Ezri seemed interested, and I know they're both single. To be honest, I've never really spoken to Jaden about his sexuality, but in casual conversation, Aubin often brings up guys and girls when talking about Jaden's hook-ups.