Our Little Secret

Chapter 15

Finally accepting that I had feelings for my best friend's ex...while laying in bed in a house that I was sharing with said best friend, super ideal.

The thought had been in the back of my mind for a while, but I had been trying to ignore it. Maybe now that I was admitting it to myself it would be easier to push my feelings aside. Probably not, but it was a thought.

Or maybe if we continued to hang out as friends that's all I would see her as...or I'd find some flaw that made me hate her. I was really reaching here.

I tried to push away the thoughts and get some sleep, but I didn't have much luck. I tossed and turned most of the night, thinking about what I should do. This probably would've all been much easier if I just would have talked to Ava the first time that I saw Isabel.

My streak of great decisions continued.

***

I stayed in bed for a long time the next morning, feeling my lack of sleep hitting me hard. At least there was some type of advantage to not having a job.

I'd applied for a position at the company that Isabel had referred me to, but I was still waiting to hear back. It seemed like there was a decent chance I'd get the job, but I was trying not to count on it too much.

I finally rolled out of bed and continued to work on unpacking my things. I had planned on talking to Ava about moving back in permanently when she got home tonight. I had no idea what I was going to do if she said no.

I didn't think there was a very high chance of that happening, but who knew at this point.

I worked on getting everything into place for the rest of the day, and was ready to call it quits by the time Ava got back from work.

"Welcome home darling," I said sarcastically to Ava as she walked in.

"Wow, thank you for that," she grinned.

"How was work?" I asked her.

"Not too bad," she said, "little slow today though."

"That's good, I think," I said to her, "but hey I have a question."

"Yeah, what's up?" She asked.

"Would you be okay with me moving back in here, like not just temporarily?" I hesitantly asked.

"Oh, honestly I thought that was your plan already," she said with a grin, "so I'd say yes."

"Thank God," I sighed, "I had no idea what I was going to do if you said no."

"Did you really think I was going to?" She asked.

"Well, no...but I was still worried," I said.

"Yeah you're totally fine," Ava said, "I'll be glad to have company again."

You might not be so glad if you knew I had the hots for your ex, I thought to myself.

"Sweet," I said, "well on that note, come and help me get the rest of my shit out of my car."

Ava raised an eyebrow at me, but she reluctantly followed me out to the driveway.

"That didn't take long," she said.

"In my defense," I started, "I was going to ask you last night, but you weren't home."

"Uhh huh," she said, "come on let's go get your stuff."

We brought the last few things inside and I got quite a bit of it unpacked.

"Thanks for the help...roomie," I said sarcastically to Ava.

"So glad to have you back," she responded with a grin.

I had to admit, it was good to be back, even if things were going to be more complicated this time around.

***

Over the next couple of weeks, I continued to get more settled in back at Ava and I's place. I had also continued to spend more time with Isabel.

I knew that I was playing with fire, but I truly did love having Isabel as a friend that I could talk to. Not being able to tell Ava and having to sneak around was obviously not ideal, but I felt like I couldn't help myself.

Unfortunately the feelings that I was having hadn't just magically gone away yet, but I'd been able to contain myself.

I was on my way over to Isabel's to hang out one night when I got a phone call from a number that I didn't recognize.

"Hello..." I answered hesitantly.

"Hi, is this Skylar?" The voice asked.

"Yes, this is her," I said.

"Skylar this is Jen calling with Eventful Moments," she said.

My stomach dropped as I heard the name, it was the place that I had applied for a job at.

"Oh, sure, hi Jen," I responded, trying to stay calm.

"I was wondering if you were still interested in the venue scouting position with us," she said.

Holy shit, it hadn't been that long since I'd left my last job but damn this was a relief.

"Absolutely," I told her, "thank you!"

"Of course," she said, "why don't you come by around 9:00 on Monday morning and we can go over a few things before we finalize the position."

"Okay sure, I'll be there," I said, "thank you again."

"Not a problem," Jen responded, "we'll see you on Monday."

I finished the call as I pulled into the parking lot of Isabel's apartment complex. I parked my car and leaned my head back with a sigh of relief. Hopefully this position would be more up my alley than what I was doing before, but either way I was damn happy to have a job again.

I got up to Isabel's apartment and intently knocked on the door. She came quickly and pulled it open to let me inside.

"Guess who has a fucking job again?!" I said to her.

"Oh my gosh, really?! That's amazing Skylar!" She said excitedly.

She grabbed on to my arm and pulled me into a hug and I wrapped my arms around her waist.

When she stepped back from the hug, she was looking at me like she wanted to tell me something. I looked at her expectantly, waiting to see if I was right.

"Okay, I have a confession to make," Isabel said.

"Oh boy, did you have to sleep with someone to get them to offer me that job or what?" I asked teasingly.

"No, no, nothing like that," she laughed.

"I uh - this probably is a terrible thing to tell you and I don't want to fuck anything up again," she continued.

"Okay well now you're making me nervous," I told her.

"I like you Skylar," she blurted out, "like I have feelings for you."

My eyes widened as she made her confession, this was definitely going to make my feelings harder to put aside.

"You don't have to say anything, and I know it's bad, with my history with Ava and you being her best friend and - " she rambled on before I reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Isabel," I cut her off.

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't but I had to tell you, it's been driving me crazy," she said.

I dropped her wrist from my grip and had an internal battle with myself about what I should do next.

"Please just - say something at least," Isabel said.

I looked up and met her nervous gaze, and I couldn't hold myself back any longer.

I took a step forward and wrapped my arm around her neck as I gave in to temptation and pressed my lips against hers.

            —————————————————-