Emily and Nick visited us for a few days and we were waving them off the morning they were departing. After we said goodbye to Emily and Nick who were going back to New York, Evan and I decided to have an early lunch at a family restaurant. Stepping out of the crowded airport Evan reached for my hand and held it in his, glancing down at me with a smile.
"Figured we try out being an actual couple."
I squeezed his hand, "Holding hands and going out on dates?"
His lips twitched, "Exactly."
Entering the restaurant we sat in a booth and ordered our food. We both ordered a lot since we skipped out on breakfast. Sitting across each other we shared our dishes, talking about how amazing Emily and Nick were.
"She is naming him after me."
"The baby?" I asked surprised.
"Yeah." He grinned, happiness gleaming in his eyes as his whole face lit up, "Said she was grateful I pushed them to be together. I told her I only advised them, they were the one who decided to make a move. But Emily, once she has made up her mind no one can change it."
"Nick can."
Reaching for my matcha tea I sipped it, feeling like I was in heaven. It was iced with a dash of whipped cream. I didn't care if it wasn't the healthy option, it was freaking delicious.
"Yeah, Nick can." Evan agreed, still smiling.
"I'm glad things worked out for them."
Evan leaned closer, "Me too." He told me quietly and narrowed his eyes on me, "So next thing we need to take care of is your girl, Laurel." I couldn't help but to be surprised he remembered her, "Don't look so surprised, I do listen to you, Zoey."
"I know that." I leaned back in my seat and placed my glass back on the table in front of me, "But since we've been busy I figured it slipped your mind." I glanced aside not being able to meet his gaze, "Laurel is not the problem. She'll like you. I'm more concerned about my parents."
"That they won't like me?"
I flickered my eyes back at him, "Is that weird?" I asked him, "We're not at a good place right now and they've seen the pictures of us together. I've told them we were just friends because when they saw the pictures and called me for an explanation we were just friends. Things changed."
He reached for me, running his knuckles lightly down my cheek to comfort me.
"We'll figure it out together." He promised me.
He leaned back and finished off his drink, "So what is Laurel like?"
"Very present, always. Loud and cheerful but loyal."
"So a good friend?"
I nodded, "Yeah, like Nick is to you."
He seemed to understand what Laurel meant to then, "I understand."
We planned the days, wanting to give Laurel a tour around and town and doing fun stuff with her. I didn't have to talk to her about my feelings for Evan anymore. I talked to Evan about it and here we were. Doing the couple thing and it made me fucking happy and I'm sure it was the same for him.
...
We had planned everything for Laurel's arrival and when she did arrive a few days later we welcomed her together. Evan convinced me it was better to meet her right away, not giving her time to get excited and come up with tons of questions or lots of squealing and jumping up and down because she was happy for me. And I wasn't going to lie and say she wouldn't do that, because Laurel was that kind of girl. She loved everything about romance and she believed in finding the one. Since she figured out I had a thing for Evan and she convinced me I was in denial she'd do a lot of squealing and jumping up and down.
When she approached us she stopped and stared for a minute. Her eyes widened as she met Evan's gaze. He smiled at her and met her halfway to take her suitcase. She wanted to protest but Evan didn't give her time to.
"I got this, Laurel." He told her with that charming smile which made many panties drop, "You go say hi to Zoey."
While she kept staring at Evan, probably not believing her eyes because he looked even hotter, in reality, she approached me and wrapped her arms around me.
"He looks like a wet dream." She whispered to me, making me laugh.
"He is pretty hot," I whispered back, meeting Evan's gaze.
He looked rather smug so he probably heard us.
"I don't know what to say." She continued and pulled away, turning around to look at him. She waved at him awkwardly, "Nice to meet you. Thank you for taking care of that." She gestured to her suitcase.
Unlike Laurel he wasn't taken back by meeting her, "It's okay." He told her, "We should head to your hotel so you can settle in." He glanced at his phone and flickered his eyes to me, "How about you head to the hotel together with Laurel, have your girl talk moment while I take care of reservations for dinner tonight." He glanced at Laurel again who looked ready to faint, "Do you want a quiet night in or would you like to go out after dinner?"
"A quiet night in." She told him in a small voice which made me shake my head at her.
"Okay, we'll take care of it." He promised her.
Evan waved us off while Laurel and I settled in a cab, heading to her hotel. Once we were alone Laurel turned to me, finally looking like her usual self.
"My god, Zoey!" She squealed, "That boy is hotter in person!"
I hushed her, apologizing to the driver, "Tone it down a bit." I whispered to her, "People are usually not that loud here."
"Sorry." She apologized, brushing me off like I said nothing of importance at all, "But he looks like that and he is actually a nice person. Do you know how rare that is? You've found a unicorn who also shits rainbows."
There was the Laurel I knew. I wished Evan had met this girl instead. He didn't need another groupie who fawned over him, nodding their head whenever he talked. Even if it made no sense whatsoever.
"I told you, he was very...free when it came to his love life."
She rolled her eyes at me, "Because he didn't know he had an in with you. You pretended like he had the plague or something. And when someone, boy or girl whatever, looks like that can you blame them for playing the field and finding someone who actually interests them not only physically but also mentally?"
Seriously, this sassy side of Laurel was why I asked her to come over. I hoped she'd feel comfortable enough around Evan later tonight so he could also meet this girl. I wanted him to like my friends because I sure as hell liked his. I wanted them to get along because who knows if we had a future together, we'd all spend an awful lot of time together.
"Come on, Laurel!" I didn't mean to raise my voice, but I wanted to be right even though I knew I wasn't, "A threesome in a tiny bathroom stall."
She snorted, "No need to flaunt his mad skills to me."
I knew she was joking. I wanted to give her back a smart retort, instead, I laughed.
"Please tell me that boy is at least average in bed. That you've had better."
I shook my head at her which told her enough. She looked exasperated and sighed.
"Okay, fine. Then just tell me he has hot, single friends."
"Nick is getting married and becoming a father soon. Chris is dating a nice Japanese girl and moving in together with her. So, no." I told her and then I realized he still had other friends aside from his usual circle, "Oh, there is Mr. man bun, but he is no Evan or Nick."
"So no."
"Sorry."
Laurel sighed, "Girl, I need an Evan in my life."
Leaning back against the seat, I tilted my head to the side and smiled at her, "I've found a good guy, Laurel."
She smiled back at me, this time a genuine, warm smile, "I think you've found a good guy." She agreed, "But I'll be cautious. I'll give you a full report after my trip is over."
"Thank you."
She reached for my hand and laced our fingers together, "Anything for you."
...
Like promised Laurel was carefully taking Evan in when we met up for dinner later that night. The initial shock of meeting him in person wore off and she was behaving like her usual self. Evan found her hilarious and they got along well. I was grateful for it because Laurel was important to me. Next thing we needed to tackle was my parents, but we still had time to get ready for that. After dinner, we waved Laurel off. She brushed us off when we wanted to walk her back to the hotel. She was taking a cab and getting some sleep because the trip had exhausted her.
Evan and I walked back to our apartment building, hand in hand. We were both smiling, our bellies full of food and our bodies tired because of constant laughter. We had a great time and I didn't want the night to end.
"So what's the verdict?"
"Laurel is giving me a full report when the trip is over."
"Guess I have to be on my best behavior then."
I snorted, "You know very well you've charmed that girl with only a smile."
"Looks isn't everything."
He was right, it wasn't. It wasn't what would keep a relationship together. You could only be entertained for so long before a person would bore or annoy you to death.
"You're right."
He squeezed my hand, "You let me know what she thinks of me?"
"I'm sure you'll pass," I assured him.
He smiled, "I still want to know if she likes me or not." We entered the building and headed straight for the elevator, "Yours or mine?"
I leaned back against the mirrored wall and sighed, "Mine? I'm getting my period either tonight or tomorrow morning."
"Are you testing me?" He asked, probably reading me like a book, "Zo, it's part of life. It doesn't scare me at all. So we'll just cuddle for a few days, I'm okay with that too."
I definitely found a good guy this time, he was a keeper.
"Laurel won't like you." I told him, smiling when I noticed his look dropping, "She'll love you."
He chuckled and leaned in, pressing a kiss to my temple, "Tease."
Leaning closer to him, I wrapped my arms around his waist. Things were great between us and I hoped that one day we'd be like Emily and Nick. It would take a lot of work, but I was certain we could get there.