Last Night

Part 18

I knocked on Emily's door at 5:58 PM with a bag of El Rey De Tacos in hand. Seeing her smiling face when she opened the door just set me at ease.

"What do I owe you?" She asked and moved out of the way to let me in.

"When did we start keeping track?" I bumped her shoulder and winked back as I walked by.

"Come on, let me at least cover my half. I feel bad." She shut the door, locked it, and grabbed her purse.

"Why? We're friends. This is normal so forget about it. You don't owe me anything. I'm just here for some girl time and tacos." Setting down the bag on the counter, I spun around and frowned. "Where's your shirt?"

Emily stood there in a pair of jeans and pale green t-shirt. I glanced down at my bright purple tanktop with white lettering that read: Feed me tacos and tell me I'm beautiful.

"Sorry, Nic. It's dirty. My sister borrowed it last time she stopped by and got a stain on it that I haven't figured out how to get out." Her hand reached back and scratched her head before she shrugged her shoulders. "But let's dig in before the shells get soggy. Four crispy carnitas with avocado are calling my name and I can hear them from here."

"Yeah," I said with a half-hearted chuckle. Spreading open the bag, I laid out our tacos. Now I felt silly wearing the tank alone. We always wore them when we'd get Mexican together.

"So, I've got three movies picked out: Pitch Perfect, Kill Bill, and The Punisher. What are you in the mood for?" She asked as she pulled out two plates and cups from the cupboard.

My hands paused above two of my tacos as I stared at her. "I'm not really in the mood for singing."

"Okay, that leaves girl kicking ass or boy kicking ass." She placed the dishes down in front of me and snatched up two tacos. "I'll be back for my last ones after I'm done with these two bad boys. Don't even think about stealing them."

"Emily, have I ever told you that you have the oddest collection of movies?" My head cocked to the side as it shook.

"At least a dozen times, but who's counting, right? Come on, grab your food and let's move to the couch."

I grabbed three of my beef tacos and followed her out of the kitchen.

After settling ourselves in place, she presented the two remaining DVD cases and laid them between us. Her hands returned to her plate of tacos, but she hesitated.

My eyes peeked up at her while I took another bite of my taco. She looked distracted, gazing over at the TV even though it wasn't even on.

"Em? You okay? Did they forget something on your order?"

Her head snapped back to face me and her best fake smile spread across her lips. "Yeah, everything's fine. Why are you asking me when you're the one who called for the girls' night? Is everything okay with you and Ian?"

I stiffened and a chunk of beef fell out of my taco onto my plate. "Why are you bringing him up?"

"Because you've been acting really strange ever since that time you stayed here for a week a few months back. Was he really that intense that you were embarrassed to go home? I mean he seems like such a perfect gentleman, well, except for that glare." She shuddered.

I set the half-eaten taco down on my plate so it would stop spilling its filling. "What? What do you mean intense?"

She rolled her eyes at me before she put her plate on the coffee table. "What is he an animal or something in bed? It obviously startled you, but you've been off ever since."