...
Samara arrived at the restaurant with Zen and Malachi as planned. She wore an emerald green, satin midi dress with a cinched slit stopping just a few inches below her inner thigh. The dress had a slanted, one shoulder neckline with spaghetti straps that crossed in the back. The silhouette of the dress hugged her body perfectly, and the looks and compliments that she received upon arrival confirmed that.
As Samara settled into her seat, Zay leaned over and whispered the words, "You look beautiful," in her ear. The closeness of Zay's mouth brushing past her helix made her smile just a little more than the compliment itself. "Thank you. You don't look too bad yourself superstar," she whispered back. Zay opened his mouth to say something else, but the sound of his dad clearing his throat stopped him. Mr. Zayne stood up at the head of the table causing all eyes to fall on him.
"Before we get too carried away in all the excitement of tonight, I want to thank each of you for coming out to celebrate Zay with us. I know it means the world to him as well as to us," he said looking down at his wife, Imani. She grabbed his hand and smiled. "I'd like to propose a toast, so if you all would raise your glasses," he said motioning to the champagne that was set in front of them. They each picked up a glass and held it high. "If you wanna add anything just chime in," he encouraged. "Here's to my son, Isaiah and his team's first win of the season," Mr. Zayne started. "Congratulations man! You did your thing out there."
"And here's to Zay Zay," Zen added. "You played your heart out there tonight. I'm proud of you big bro."
"To family," Imani grinned. "We love you so much."
"To the best friend a girl could ask for. Love you Zaytavious. You were amazing tonight." Samara smiled and playfully leaned into him. Light laughter came from around the table.
"Aye man, you did good out there tonight. Can't wait to see you in the big league," Diem, Zay's friend from back home added.
Mr. Zayne's eyes glanced around the table to see if any of the other guests had anything to add. Seeing that there was none he said, "Okay then. Here here!"
"Here, here," they all said before taking a sip of their champagne.
..
The night grew increasingly loud as the celebration in Zay's honor continued. "You having a good time," Zay asked Samara just as he approached her seat. He caught her in the middle of taking her last sip of wine.
"Yes," she smiled, setting the glass down. "What about you? You're the man of the hour."
"Yeah. Everything turned out nice, but you know what would make this night even better," he smiled. Samara raised a suspicious eyebrow at him.
"What," she questioned.
"If you would dance with me," Zay said holding out his hand for her to take. Samara looked at him and let a smile tug at the corners of her mouth.
"Are you serious? All these women here and—"
"—I wanna dance with you," he grinned. "Come on Mar. Indulge me," he begged. Samara thought about saying no, but how could she when those dazzling, light brown eyes were staring back at her. She gave in and placed her hand in his.
"Okay," she smiled alluringly, "but only because I wanna show off my dress," Samara teased. She stood up from her seat and let Zay guide her to the dance floor. A few older couples who were already there were happy to share the floor with the two of them. An older married couple smiled at each other and watched as Zay pulled Samara in by her waist and took her hand in his. When they settled into a nice rhythm, Zay's hand slowly caressed her waist as they moved in sync to the music. Samara smiled to herself as they danced. This was the first time tonight that she had her best friend to herself. It made her happy, even if it was just for a few quiet moments together on the dance floor. They both seemed to tune out everything as the words to a jazzy love song crooned what they could not admit to themselves. The lyrics "If love is overrated let me be the one that is naive..." played on in the background as Zay's hands playfully crept up Samara's sides before resting at the small of her back. His gentle touches sent a small shiver up her spine. Each time his fingers grazed her bare skin or seamlessly sailed across the soft fabric of her dress, she drew in a quiet breath. Samara wondered if he knew the effect he was having on her, if every touch was intentional, but when she tried to read his face he seemed to be doing it mindlessly or so she thought. To avoid overthinking, she chose to savor the closeness instead and let the moments linger where they could.
As the song came to an end so did their dance. The sound of applause that immediately followed, startled Samara and her face began to feel hot. She had lost herself in Zay's arms and had forgotten that she was still in a room full of people. When she looked around and saw all the smiling faces looking back at her, she quickly mirrored their expression and led a grinning Zay back to his seat. At the table, Samara politely excused herself before stepping out into the hallway to cool down. Zen got up from her seat and followed behind her.
"You two looked quite cozy tonight," Zen said playfully leaning into Samara.
"Zen. Please," Samara sighed, "Can you leave this alone just this once? Tonight was perfect and I don't need you picking apart our friendship over something that you think you might see. I like where we're at and I don't need you or Jules or anybody else trynna take that from me."
"MmMm. Woah. Woah. Wait—Wait. Wait. Wait. You said Jules' name. Why'd you include Jules in this? He's not here." Zen spoke fast when she knew that she was on to something. A thought occurred to her and she pointed at Samara. "Jules suspects something too doesn't he? So I'm not the only one," Zen grinned excitedly.
Samara groaned. "Fuck," she muttered into the air.
"I knew it," Zen cheesed.
"Knew what," Zay said walking up behind them.
"Nothing," Zen smiled as she turned to walk away. Zay raised his eyebrow at his sister as he watched her leave.
"What was that about," Zay asked, returning his attention back to Samara.
"Zen just being nosey."
"About what?"
"Nothing," Samara said as she looked down to smooth out her wrinkle-free dress.
"Baby girl, your dress looks fine," he said gently lifting up her head to meet his gaze. "Now what do you not want me to know?" The huskiness in Zay's voice paired with the words "baby girl" was enthralling and when Samara's eyes met his she had to will herself not to look at him too long for fear that she'd be found out.
"Nothing Zay. It was...nothing," she shrugged.
"It's clearly something cuz you won't even look me in the eye," he smiled. Zay reached out and pulled her in close by her waist, something she noticed he was starting to do often. "We keeping secrets now?" The thought of keeping anything from Zay hurt Samara's heart and knowing how let down he would be if that were true, pained her even more.
"There's no secrets," she said as she looked into the eyes swooning her. Samara placed her hands on Zay's arms as they held her. It was her unsuccessful attempt to maintain some semblance of distance between them. "When there's something to tell, I'll tell you," she said smiling up at him. Zay looked down at her and made the quick decision to let it go. He trusted that their bond was airtight and that she was telling him the truth.
"Yo Zay," a voice called out from behind them. Both Zay and Samara turned their heads in the direction the voice was coming from. It was Diem, Zay's friend from back home. "You not gon' introduce me to your best friend," he joked. Zay's hands slowly fell from Samara's waist as he reached out to dap him up. "I didn't interrupt y'all did I?" Diem smiled. "Y'all was looking real cozy over here by y'all self." Samara fought the urge to roll her eyes.
"It's all good man. We were just talking."
"That must've been some conversation," Diem smiled looking between them. Striving to move the conversation along, Samara reached out her hand and introduced herself to Diem.
"Hi. I'm Samara, but everybody just calls me Sam. I'm assuming you're Diem," she smiled.
"In the flesh," he grinned. "I wish we could've met earlier. I saw you at the game."
"Oh. You were there? I don't recall seeing you? Did you sit with Zay's parents?"
"Yeah," he said nodding his head. "Well, actually, I was sitting directly behind them, but yeah I was with them."
"Oh okay," Samara said giving him a quizzical look. "That's weird? Why wouldn't Z—" Zay's fingers grazed Samara's back in an attempt to catch her off guard and keep her away from the subject of Diem and Zen. "— Zen introduce you?..." Samara's voice trailed off as she looked up at Zay and then back at Diem. "Well you know what? It doesn't even matter," she said giving him a quick smile. "Look if y'all two wanna catch up," she said excusing herself, "I can head back inside. I don't wanna be in the way." Zay quickly reached out and caught her arm. Samara turned around.
"That's not necessary Mar. We can all hang out together." He looked at Diem. "Is that cool with you?"
"Yeah man. I'm down with whatever."
"Are y'all sure? I really don't want to impose on y'all guy bonding time or whatever the hell y'all call it."
Zay laughed. "Mar, it's fine. As long as you don't have any plans with Jules I think you should come hang."
"Who's Jules?" Diem asked.
"No one," Samara and Zay said at just about the same time. They looked at each other, both curious about what the other's response meant, but knew better than to inquire about it now.
"Damn. My bad. Forget I asked."
Ignoring Diem's comment, Samara continued. "No. We don't...have plans tonight," she said fiddling with her necklace. She looked over at Zay. "So, I'm all yours. What'd you have in mind?"
...
