“What’s wrong?” she asks, her head tilted, narrowing her gaze at me.
My shoulders are sagging, and my arms are tight across my chest. “Zayn and I got in a fight.”
“What happened?” they both ask.
Rya’s face flushes, and she darts her eyes between me and Ez.
Shaking my head, I say, “I don’t know. That’s the thing. Things have been so off since last weekend after the club.”
“After the club?” Rya meets my gaze.
“Yeah. Did something happen? You two were together.”
She shakes her head, looking at Ezra. “No. Not that I can remember.” She takes a few steps back and says, “Let’s go sit down.”
I follow behind her, and Ez is on the side of me. I look up at him and our eyes meet. His soft eyes are staring back at me in concern.
A ping comes from Rya’s phone. We ignore it as we sit on the couch. But then, out of the corner of my eye, I see Rya bite at her lips as she is looking down at her phone.
“So, what’s going on?” Ez asks.
I shrug my shoulders. “He’s been very distant from me this week. I tried to talk to him about it just before coming over here and it turned into an argument, so I left.”
Rya fidgets in her seat and says, “That’s all? He hasn’t said anything else?”
I furrow my brows, facing her. “No.”
She lets out a small breath and a small smile forms on her face. “Maybe he’s stressed.”
“Maybe. He has been working late every day this week.” I lean back into the couch, feeling some relief at having two best friends that I can talk to. I look over at Ez. “Has he said anything to you?”
He shakes his head. “Haven’t talked or seen him since the club.”
Rya places her hand on mine. “You two just need a night apart. You guys are always around each other. Sometimes we get on each other’s nerves.”
Ezra chuckles, and Rya narrows her gaze at him.
I nod in agreement. “Yeah. You’re probably right.”
“Why don’t you stay the night here? We can order takeout and have a girls’ night,” she says, sitting upright with a wide grin.
“I guess that’s my cue to leave,” Ezra says as he stands from the couch.
Rya and I both giggle. “Oh, Ez, you can be a girl with us tonight,” I say.
He looks between us and shakes his head. “No, it looks like you two need a girls’ night. I’ll be in the bedroom if you need anything.”
Rya’s face lights up like she has something on her mind. She follows behind Ez into their room.
I watch them until they disappear.
Already my tension feels better. I do need a night away from Zayn. I do know sometimes being around one another so much can cause tension. It’s a part of marriage. The constant closeness can be both a blessing and a curse. A little distance is exactly what we both need.
Rya comes out with a bin of nail polishes and a huge grin on her face. “We haven’t done this in a while,” she says, setting the bin down on the floor before sitting down herself.
My heavy heart lightens up as memories of us painting our nails together during our summer breaks from school resurface. It feels like we’re back in high school all over again.
I scoot off the couch and sit cross legged on the floor in front of Rya as she takes out all the nail tools and lays them across the floor.
