Effortless

Tweleve

"How is it that I keep running into you?" Javier asked in disbelief. "You must be stalking me."

Damn, I could never catch a break. Ignoring him, I leaned over and whispered to Bella. "Is he actually here or am I dreaming?"

"You dream about me?" He asked condescendingly.

"You wish." I scoffed and glared.

Alex looked between the three of us. He could sense the animosity between Javier and I, it was honestly hard to miss.

Alex's eyes lit up as he gasped. "Wait, is this who you were just talking about?"

"You were talking about me?" Javier asked with a smirk as he leaned against the wall next to the front door.

"I was not." I quickly denied.

I heard Bella whisper 'he was' to Alex which made him laugh. I didn't know what the hell he thought was so funny. It wasn't funny, it was terrible. I felt like the universe was punishing me for some unknown reason.

That was when Killian came back into the room with a hot pink shirt in his hand. On the shirt in big bold letters it read, 'Not bossy, just aggressively helpful'.

He handed it over to Javier who grimaced when he read the shirt.

"Aw, you'll look so cute in that shirt Javier." Bella joked with a grin.

Javier shrugged as he held up the shirt to his chest. He scratched his head as he viewed the shirt and then said sarcastically, "Thanks, I've been dying for a shirt like this."

"We know." I responded, overly annoyed at his presence.

Javier smiled, he was amused with the conversation. After a moment, he shrugged nonchalantly. "The shirt is for my mom, obviously. Tell your mom that mine said thanks for making it, Killian."

I would later find out that Killian's mom owned her own small business making custom shirts. Killian's mom and Javier's mom were friends, so Killian's mom would sometimes make shirts for her.

"You know my mom is always willing to make it." Killian said as he sat down on the couch next to Alex. He glanced at me, then Javier. "You two know each other?"

Javier and I spoke at the same time.

"Unfortunately."

"Surprisingly."

Javier and I maintained eye contact with each other for a moment before I broke it.

"Eli and Javier are the bestest of friends." Bella said sarcastically as she scrolled on her phone.

Alex gave me a look but I didn't understand what he meant by it. He raised an eyebrow as he analyzed me. I shrugged as I had no idea what he was trying to imply.

After a few moments of silence and weird stares, Javier stood up and grabbed his keys. "Well, I've got to go. Diane and I have plans."

I rolled my eyes at the mention of his girlfriend. I hated when people would mention their partner like I gave a damn. Unwarranted mention of other people's love lives pissed me off, even more so when Javier did it. I didn't need to be reminded of the fact that he was not single.

I was man enough to admit that part of my annoyance was jealousy. Jealousy of people in relationships, not of Javier and his relationship. At least that was what I was telling myself.

With a few goodbyes and waves, Javier left. Once the door shut behind him, Alex and Killian's eyes immediately met mine.

"Eli." Killian drawled.