I ignore his gaze, biting my tongue. This is the first Saturday in a while that I have off with no baking or plans. I’m not going to ruin it with a petty argument.
I close my eyes, allowing the sun’s warm rays to penetrate my skin. The sun always calms me, making me feel physically and mentally at ease. It’s true what they say: vitamin D does wonders for you mentally and physically. Every time I feel stressed and uneasy about something, I take a break and let the sun’s rays ease my stress. When I started doing research for my health journey, that was one thing I read repeatedly too. I make sure to get some sort of sun exposure every day, even if the sun is behind clouds. The UV rays still penetrate through them.
A couple of hours later, Rya and Ezra are walking out to our deck. No doubt it took them that long because Rya takes forever to get ready, but she’s always put together. She has on flared jeans with a cute pink, long-sleeve, low-cut top that she paired with white wedges. Me, on the other hand, I’m still in my black leggings and an oversize t-shirt—one of Zay’s old ones that he handed down to me when he was done with it.
Rya halts in her steps. “Why aren’t you two ready?”
Zay looks at me in question, as if I didn’t tell him our plans. Ezra walks over and sits next to Zay in blue jeans and a collared black shirt paired with black Nikes. The two of them can make any casual clothes look good.
“What are we going to do? We didn’t have plans,” I say, staring up at her, squinting my eyes from the sun.
She slumps down on a chair. “Yeah, but we’re just wasting time sitting around here.”
I roll my eyes. She is always go, go, go. Always moving on to her next adventure. Sometimes she schedules way too many things at once and will still try to make everything work. Even if she goes to one scheduled event for twenty minutes, she’ll still pop in.
“Hi Ez,” I say. I forgot to say hi because of Rya’s grand entrance.
Rya puts her face down, avoiding eye contact with all of us now. She doesn’t even say hi to Zay. Which is weird. She can’t be this upset.
Ezra leans up from his chair. “Are these your homemade cinnamon buns?” he asks, tearing one apart from the others.
“You know it,” I say.
He takes a bite, moaning while he chews it. “These are the best,” he says with his mouth half-full.
Rya crosses her leg over the other. “Guys, what are we going to do?” She huffs.
“We should go fishing,” Zay says, looking toward me.
My lips curl into a faint smile. “I’m down to go fishing.” We haven’t done an outdoor activity together in a while.
“Me too,” Ez says.
Rya crosses her arms over one another and knits her brows together.
“What babe?” Ezra asks, glancing over at her.
She raises her brows. “I just didn’t think we would be fishing. I didn’t dress for it.”
“I have clothes for you to wear,” I say, finishing up my second coffee that is now cold.
She sighs, gets up from her seat, and walks back into the house. I follow behind her. The cooler air from the inside of my house hits my warm skin, making goosebumps run down my arms.
An hour later, we’re setting everything up on the uneven dirt ground in a canyon. The crisp air and clear blue skies make this day even better. The calm chirping of birds echoes in the background. Tall evergreen trees surround us, creating a relaxing atmosphere.
To my surprise, it’s not busy today. Before heading up here, we stopped at Walmart and got some steak and vegetables to grill shish kabobs. I throw a handful of blueberries in my mouth to stop my body from jittering. All I’ve had to eat all day is a cinnamon roll and two cups of coffee.
When I worked in a corporate office, this was pretty much everything I would eat and drink before lunch. Sometimes, if we were busy, I would skip lunch. I stopped doing it because it’s not healthy for your gut. But sometimes you need to have balance and enjoy a cup of coffee and something sweet in the morning.
I grab a knife and start cutting the steak while Rya cuts the vegetables. I look up ahead and find Zayn setting up a fishing pole for each of us while Ezra is getting the grill ready with the charcoal.
I glance up at Rya. “I don’t remember the last time we all went fishing together,” I say, slicing the steak.
She smirks, not responding right away. “Yeah, it’s been a while.”
“Is everything okay? You seem off today” I say, grabbing the skewers.
Her eyes go wide, avoiding eye contact with me. “Yeah,” she mutters, and I notice Ez flick his gaze at us with a pursed mouth. He turns back around, waving a paper plate above the coals to get them going.
