...
When the sun is up, like clockwork, so is Zay. He wanted to steal a quick glance of Samara, but quickly realized he couldn't, because he was being cuddled by her. Now this is a first, he thought to himself. Her arms were wrapped around his bare chest and he could feel that her face was hiding behind his back. He wanted to move, but he didn't want to wake her. On the other hand, he really had to pee. Zay cautiously tried to adjust his body against Samara's weight, but one small movement and she was slowly starting to stir. Samara started to shift the position of her body next to him. Zay felt her scoot closer to him and then rest her head in the space between his neck and shoulder. Her long, almond shaped nails caught him by surprise when they gently grazed his stomach and chest. The feel of it against his skin was satisfying and as a reflex he placed his hands over top of hers to stop them from going any further. When he did that however, it caused her to shift against his body once again. Zay cursed silently to himself. It had been a while since he last slept beside a woman, causing him to forget how light of a sleeper they could be in the morning. After letting a few more minutes pass by, Zay assumed it was safe to try to untangle himself from her embrace. When he came close, she woke up.
"Where are you going," Samara mumbled as she held on to him.
"Bathroom," he said gruffly. Samara groaned in protest, but relinquished him from her grasp anyway. "Fine," she muttered. When Zay got out of bed Samara blindly reached out and dragged his pillow close to her. She pulled it up to her chest and hugged it as she attempted to drift back off to sleep without him.
..
"Zay," Natalie said from the other side of the bathroom door, "It's me. Can I come in?"
Zay shook his head and chuckled to himself. "Yeah Nat. Come in." Natalie opened up the bathroom door from her adjoining suite and propped herself up in the doorway. "How'd you know it was me and not Mar," Zay asked as he washed his hands.
"You're a guy. Y'all pee loud," she whispered in her heavy Texan accent.
Zay nodded his head and let out a small laugh. "Makes sense." He reached for the hand towel and dried his hands.
"So, how is she?" Natalie asked.
"I don't know yet. She's still asleep. I'm assuming Zen called you too?"
"Yeah. I told Z I would go check on her after we hung up, but when she told me you were on your way, I knew she was in good hands, so I didn't bother her."
Zay raised his brow at her. "You were with your new guy last night weren't you?"
"Isaiah Adams are you suggesting that I didn't check on my friend last night because I had a male guest over?"
"Come on Nat. You know me. I would never insinuate such a thing," he teased.
"Well, if you must know I was a little preoccupied last night, but Z did call you first. It must've been for a reason," Natalie grinned. "Anyway. I better get going," she said as she stood up straight. "I have a busy day ahead of me." Natalie turned to leave. "Oh. And for your peace of mind, I did check on Sam last night. You two looked pretty cozy," Natalie grinned.
Zay smiled at her knowing he couldn't defend his actions. Natalie would find some way to joke around and make it more than what is was. She gave him a friendly wink. "Tell Sam I'll see her later. Maybe when y'all not sharing a bed."
Zay chuckled quietly to himself as he exited the bathroom. It didn't surprise him that Natalie had peeped in on Samara last night whether he was there or not. They were one tight group of friends and they always made sure to look out for one another.
Back in the room, before returning to the warmth of the bed, Zay took the time to admire a peaceful Samara. He smiled to himself at the sight of her hugging the pillow he had slept with. The longer he looked at her, the more he could see that whatever transpired last night really took a toll on her. He noticed that she didn't even bother to wrap her hair. It was all over the place, and yet, in his eyes, she was still beautiful. Pulling the white duvet back, Zay slowly slid back into the bed beside Samara. As he settled in once again, Samara began to gently move around under the covers. After a few minutes passed by, her eyes began to slowly flutter open as she welcomed the sight of Zay lying there next to her. She smiled over at him innocently.
"Good morning," she said quietly.
"Morning," Zay said, with sleep still lingering in his voice. "How'd you sleep?"
"Good," she yawned. "I hadn't slept like that in a while. Thanks for coming over."
"Don't mention it," he smiled.
"So I guess Zen told you about what happened last night," Samara said adjusting her head on her pillow. "That's why you came?"
"No," Zay said shaking his head. "She just told me that you needed a friend and that I should come over and check on you."
"Aw. That was sweet of her, but you didn't have to stay. I would've been okay," Samara replied.
Zay looked over at her and smiled. "Yes I did. I know you Mar. And you definitely needed a friend last night."
"How would you know? I was practically asleep by the time you came over."
"Because you let me hold you last night. You clearly needed me."
Samara raised her brow at him. "Boy whatever. Don't be acting like you know me," she teased.
Zay laughed. "I don't mean nothing by that. I'm just telling you what I noticed. And it's okay that you responded that way, cuz everybody needs to be hugged up once in a while."
"Yeah? So who's hugging all up on you at night," Samara taunted. Though she was joking, there was a small piece of her that was curious as to what his response might be.
"Well, some nights it's Noelle. Others nights it's Lex. Sometimes it's Gia," he teased.
Samara playfully hit him on the chest. "Stop lying," she laughed. "You are not a hoe. I know all them lil fast ass girls be throwing themselves at you because you're a basketball star, but I also know that you don't give none of them the time of day."
Zay laughed. "You know me Mar. Imma one woman kinda guy."
"I know and I respect it, but don't you—ever get lonely? I mean what about..." Samara's voice trailed off.
"Oh. You wanna have this conversation," Zay said adjusting his body in the bed.
Samara laughed. "Not if it's too much for you." Zay looked at her trying to get a read on her sudden interest in his love life, or lack thereof rather. "What," she smiled. "Don't look at me like that. I'm just wondering how you can always be here when I need you. Even for times like this. Does it ever get to be too much?"
For a moment Zay pondered what Samara asked him. "Do I ever get lonely? Sometimes," he shrugged. "Depends on the day. Do I ever get tired of being there for you? Of course not," he said looking over at her, "you're my best friend. I always gotchya back. You know that."
"And what about—"
"Sex?"
Samara nodded her head. "Yeah."
"I want it exclusively with one person."
"So every time you've done it you've been in a relationship?"
"Not every time, but at this point in my life that's how I want it to be."
"Wow. That's..." Samara's voice trailed off when Zay pulled the covers back and revealed himself only in boxers. "Excuse me sir?" she said leaning her head back. "Where are your clothes?"
"What," he grinned. "You lucky I'm wearing this much," he said sitting up. "I prefer to sleep naked."
"Well this is damn near close, don't you think?"
"You didn't seem to mind this morning when you were hugged up on me," he laughed.
Samara reached over and hit his arm. "Shut up," she blushed. "I was—cold."
"Uh huh. You were comfortable," he teased, getting out of bed. "It's okay if you liked it."
Samara playfully rolled her eyes at him. "You're so annoying."
Zay chuckled and walked over to the desk where he heard Samara's phone vibrating. "Mar, Rico's calling you," he said picking up her phone.
Samara groaned. "Ugh. I don't want to speak to him. He pissed me off last night."
Once the call ended Zay could see on the lock screen that this was the third time Rico called Samara that morning. "It looks like he called you twice before that and left you a message."
"Seriously," Samara questioned. "That's not like him." She sat up. "Let me see." Zay walked over to the bed and handed Samara her phone. He sat down beside her and watched her go through the call logs. She clicked the voicemail icon and waited to hear the message Rico left.
"Hey Mara. It's me. I know you don't wanna talk to me, but I just wanna apologize for my behavior last night. I was out of line. I should have never stepped to you like that. I'm so sorry. I hope you can forgive me."
When the message ended Zay looked at Samara with a confused expression etched on his face. "What happened last night?" Samara looked hesitant to retell the details of what transpired with Rico. She really didn't want to rehash it. "Mar, how bad is it?"
Samara grabbed the pillow from behind her and sat it on her lap. "Look if I tell you I don't want you flipping out about it," she said holding up her pinky finger.
Zay hooked his pinky with hers. "Imma be cool Mar. You have my word."
Feeling confident in his claim, Samara told Zay the full story and as promised he kept his head. "Damn Mar," he sighed. "I'm sorry you had to put up with that. Is there anything I can do? You want me to beat his ass?"
"Thanks, but no thanks," she said giving him a weak smile, and then without warning she found herself engulfed in a warm hug from Zay. Giving in, she exhaled and slowly wrapped her arms around his muscular back. "I clearly haven't been giving you enough credit," Samara mumbled into his shoulder. "You're too good to me," she sniveled. Zay slowly unraveled himself from Samara to look at her. He gave her a smile that, for a second, took her breath away and she couldn't figure out why. Nothing about his smile was different than before.
"Don't sell yourself short Mar," he said, sweeping his thumb across her lower eyelids and wiping away her tears. "You're a good friend to me too. Don't let your girls trick you into believing that you're not, because you never show them your weak spot for me," he teased. "If they really knew how much you do for me, they would never let you hear the end of it."
Samara's face broke out into a grin and then she laughed. "You irk my nerves!" she said dabbing under her eyes.
"Aht, aht. No. See. That's what you want your friends to believe, but if that were true would you be willing to buy me breakfast," he checked the time, "say in the next hour?" Zay's light brown eyes smiled down at her making it hard for her to say no.
"Of course you would take this opportunity to try to finesse me," Samara laughed.
"Hey, I'm just doing what you would do," he teased.
"Well played," Samara smiled. "Now hurry up and get dressed, before I change my mind. And I got dibs on the shower first," she said quickly jumping out of bed. Zay hopped up and tried to beat her to the bathroom, but Samara made it to the door just in time. She stuck out her tongue, taunting him before shutting the door behind her. "I only need ten minutes," she yelled from the other side of the door. Zay chuckled to himself and went to make up the bed.
In the bathroom, Samara took a minute to gather herself. Her mind was swirling with a million different thoughts, all of them about Zay. Wayment sis. What the hell is going on? she thought to herself. Why am I feeling like this? Am I trippin'? "Wait," she said to herself in the mirror. "Is it really attraction or just loneliness?" she whispered. Internally, she told herself that it was the latter, but as the days turned into weeks she would soon find out that there was something much greater brewing in her heart.
