Forevermore

Eleven

I let out a whispery string of cuss words as I dig around my backpack.

"How did I forget a hair tie?" I whisper to myself, still feeling around my bags, though I know it's no use. It might seem dramatic, but I cannot sleep when my hair clings to my neck. The only reason I was able to sleep last night was because of how tired I was.

"Everything okay?" Ezra's deep voice comes from behind me.

I turn around to see him in the doorway. My eyes slowly trail up his body, stopping at his wrist where two black hairties sit. I'm not sure how I haven't noticed them before.

My jaw drops–because how did I get so lucky?–and I point at them. "Can I have one?"

His eyebrows raise a fraction of an inch. "Malachi has used them before."

"Why are you wearing them?"

"He gets feisty during baseball games if he can't put his hair back, so I bring some when we play." It doesn't explain why he's wearing hairties that Malachi uses, but I don't push further.

"Can I use one?" I ask again. "I left mine at home."

He shrugs and smoothly slides one of the hairties off his wrist. "If you really want to."

I take it from him and quickly put my hair into a low messy bun. "Thank you," I reply.

"Of course." He enters further into the room, towards the bed, and I get a whiff of his cologne. The cedar and spice is a lot more obvious than the hint of vanilla that follows. It's intoxicating, the way it softly lingers in the air around me.

I turn to him and don't even think before asking, "Where did you get your cologne from?" It's a girl instinct. That's what I would ask any of my other friends–not that I'm his friend...or maybe I am?

When I turn around, I see him smiling from the bed. "Don't judge me, okay?"

I stand and sit on my side of the mattress, kicking my legs out in front of me. "No judgement here."

He looks away for a moment, his grin only widening when he faces me again. "It's Chanel."

My jaw drops for the second time. "Chanel?" I try to take a discreet breath to smell it again.

Ezra nods.

"Why would that warrant any type of judgement?" I ask. "I'm more of a Christian Dior girl myself, but I've got nothing against Coco either."

"Dior, huh?"

"I'm only saying that because my favorite lip gloss is from them," I add. "But fashion wise, it's pretty hard to choose."

"I know absolutely nothing about the fashion. I just know that the cologne smells good."

I almost eagerly agree with him about that last part, but decide against it since I don't want to come off as creepy. "Well, fashion shows aren't for everyone, but I've been to a few. Mostly in cities that I don't care much for while Dad and Lucas explore."

"You guys travel a lot, huh?"

I nod. "You'd think I'd grow tired of it, but I like the vacations."

"That sounds nice."

"You could probably come on more of the trips," I say without thinking. "Dad always lets us invite friends."

"Wonder what he would do if he knew where they are now," he mutters, almost too quiet for me to hear.

"What?"

He looks over at me. "You don't know?"

I feel the puzzled look form on my face. "No?"