His Hidden Marriage

s e v e n

"May I ask once again... why you're into old women?"

His British accent was a reminder of how long it's been since we last hung out as he playfully scowled at me.

"Women and old do not belong in the same sentence, love." His lips stretched into a knowing smirk as he leaned back onto the slide. "And as I've said once, many times now and many times before... I prefer experienced women."

"But you said older women the last time." I roll my eyes at the brunette.

He gives me an unamused look. "It's the same thing."

"Old and older are the same things you arse!"

"In my vocabulary it isn't!"

"Well, your vocabulary doesn't really matter to anyone, now does it?"

He sighed heavily in defeat. "Yes, mother."

I inhale deeply and take in the familiar scent of the empty old playground at the bottom of a hiking hill a few minutes away from home. I was sitting on the monkey-bar in front of, Dean who was sitting comfortably at the bottom of the slide eating a packet of Dorritos.

I found myself smiling at the Brit as some sort of relief washed over me.

"You're smiling." He gave me a curious look, unsure of what was to happen next. "Why are you smiling? I feel like something bad is gonna happen."

I chuckle half heartedly, my smile not once wavering. "It's just... It's good to have you back, Dean. I didn't realise until now how much I've missed you."

He raised his packet of Dorritos in the air as if to make a toast. "It's good to be back, Ay."

A moment of silence went by before I hopped down from the monkey-bars. I made my way up the small ladder which led to the same slide, Dean was relaxing on and slid down like a kid sliding down the carpeted stairs.

I bumped into him after the 3 second slide down but not hard enough to make him topple over. I rested my head on his back and sighed. "What were you two talking about?"

I could imagine the look of confusion forming on his features. "What? What's this?"

"The night Ryler came back from, Australia. I'm not dumb enough to not notice the asshole's car that was parked outside when I went back upstairs. Our front door has a little glass window incase you've forgotten."

Dean exhaled deeply, knowing there was absolutely no escaping this question. "How much did you hear?"

"I couldn't hear anything at all. Only mumbling. You two have forgotten that my room takes three flights of stairs and a couple of hallways to get to. I'm sure I could hear Ryler perfectly slamming the door shut when he entered 20 seconds after I left." Running a hand through my hair in frustration, I pull my head back and stand up from behind Dean who already finished his packet of Dorritos. "Have you both already forgotten who has spent the most time with you guys aside from each other? I know how you two think, Dean."

"Listen, Ayla... I just didn't want you to bicker with him. I know you had something important to discuss with him but I had a gut feeling that you'd regret it after telling a bastard like him." He scoffed and smiled weakly at me since I was now standing in front of him. "You too are forgetting... I know how you think too, Ayla and sometimes I do things on purpose for your own good."

I shrugged with my lips pressed in a line. "I don't want to admit it but... your gut feeling was 100% accurate."

A cocky smile found its way onto his lips as he stood up and crushed his empty Dorrito packet into a ball before perfectly throwing it into a nearby rubbish bin and a minute later, we exited the playground. "Hence why I don't feel sorry or guilty for hiding him from you."