All heads turned to Adriana, who merely squinted at the brunette standing proudly beside Tyler.
"Kayla? This is the girl you were telling me about on the phone," Jessie asked her brother, breaking the silence that had settled within the group.
"Yeah, I-"
"-do you not know who this is, Ty," Adriana cut off the boy.
"Well, apparently you all know her," Tyler muttered as he looked around the group.
"We kind of go back," Kayla vaguely explained as she glanced around. Spotting Natalia and Anthony, she sent the two a smile. "Natalia, it's so nice to see you again," she exclaimed as she threw her arms around the blonde.
Natalia was stunned, and she didn't know what to do as she awkwardly returned the hug. She was shocked, however, when she threw her arms around Anthony. "You too, Tony!"
"Oh my gosh, it is just such a small world," Kayla exclaimed as she let go of Anthony. "How do you guys know Tyler?"
"He's my brother," Jessie muttered, as she looked between Tyler and Kayla.
"Well, since introductions are out of the way, how about another round," Tyler asked, sensing the tension that seemed to rise around the group.
"Sounds perfect, Ty," Mason agreed, as he grabbed the bartender's attention.
This time, when the shot glass was placed in front of Natalia, she didn't hesitate to gulp the whole thing down.
-
Jessie had seemed to let go of all her previous stressors as she happily danced with Kris in the middle of the club. Natalia was happy to see her best friend happy, but she couldn't bring herself to get away from her own stressors.
Kayla was back, and it irked her to no end. She also couldn't shake the feeling of thinking that it was all planned.
No, I'm going totally insane. Not everything has to do with Chase, Natalia!!
She dragged a hand down her face as she turned to Anthony who sat beside her.
"I didn't know Kayla and Tyler knew each other," Natalia commented, getting his attention.
His eyes met hers as he furrowed his brows. "It's news to me," he shrugged. "They must've met in Vegas. Kayla's sister lives there."
"Hm," Natalia hummed. "I didn't know."
Anthony merely shrugged. "It's a little weird, but it's Tyler's choice if he wants to be with her. It's his life to ruin."
Natalia forced out a laugh at his statement, but still couldn't shake her irritation over the whole thing. Adriana passed her a shot, and she gladly took it as she thanked her friend.
"That's what friends are for," Adriana grinned. "I can't very well let you deal with Ms. Perfect Leggy Brunette without some liquid courage."
"Don't forget completely psycho," Kylie muttered as she blinked her glass against Natalia's and Adriana's.
"Don't let her get to you," Adriana advised as she squinted in Kayla and Tyler's direction. The two seemed to deep in conversation at the other end of the bar. Kayla would laugh occasionally and Tyler seemed to be in complete awe of the brunette. "This is our last night in AZ. Your last night with Rizz before we have to go back to Chi-town. Enjoy it, Nat. We deal with Tyler later- or in my case never."
Natalia silently agreed with Adriana's words, and made the decision to just let her worries bother her later. Adriana was right- she wouldn't see Anthony for a while, and here she was wasting it away thinking about his ex girlfriend and her best friend's brother.
Before anyone could question her, Natalia whirled around towards Anthony and grasped his hand. "Dance with me?"
Anthony raised a brow, and Natalia only sighed as she fiddled with his hand. "It's our last night together before I leave, and I'm already upset that we're here and not in the hotel, so let's try to make the best of it."
"You're lucky I love you," Anthony joked as he stood up and followed Natalia to the dance floor, near where Jessie and Kris were.
"I know I am," Natalia grinned as she sent him a wink.
-
Natalia wasn't drunk, but she also wasn't entirely sober when the clock hit midnight. She had slowly let her worries go to the back of her mind, and it had worked as she was laughing with her friends and with Anthony.
As the song changed, Natalia saw Anthony's lips moving, but couldn't hear what he said.
"What," she yelled.
Anthony laughed slightly as he noticed that she was definitely more drunk than he had thought. "I asked if I could get a kiss," he repeated to which Natalia sent him a cheeky smile.
"Always," she said as she leaned in to oblige to his request.
She pulled away with a smile, but then sensed something wrong as Anthony stilled against her.
"What is it," she asked him sensing something was wrong by the way he seemed to glare at something, but he only continued to look past her shoulder.
Natalia broke from his hold, and looked to where he was looking and saw Tyler and Kayla against a wall having a very heavy make out session. She glanced back at Anthony to see him staring with a blank stare towards them, and that was all she needed to completely yank away from him.
As if snapping out of a trance, Anthony looked back down at the blonde. "Hey, wait, where are you going?"
Natalia ignored him and kept walking towards the exit, but with her tipsiness, she walked uneasily and struggled to find the exit.
"Natalia, seriously. Where are you going," Anthony asks as he follows after her.
"You're still hung up on her aren't you?"
"Wh-" Anthony stopped himself as he realized what she was referring too.
"That's why you didn't want me to go to brunch with her, right? You were worried about letting her back into your life because your feelings haven't fully gone away. Or maybe you just didn't want me to get suspicious. Which was it, huh?"
Natalia finally makes her way to the double doors leading outside and pushes them open quickly. Her mind was running wild with thoughts, but the biggest was the feeling of stupidity. She wanted to blame Jessie- she really really did. After all, she knowingly put them in a certain position after choosing her bridal court, but Natalia knew that she couldn't blame her best friend. Jessie was only trying to help and she could've never predicted any of what happened. The only person she had to blame was herself- always.
Natalia heaved a sigh as she rummaged through her clutch for her phone, ready to just call an Uber and pass out in bed. But as she continued to look through her clutch, she felt someone grab her arm and she looked up in fright.
When her blue eye's met Anthony's warm brown ones, her glare returned as she yanked her arm away from his grasp. "Go away," she childishly demands as she finally finds her phone.
"Just let me explain, okay Nat? I promise it wasn't what it looked like," Anthony begged.
"Then what was it?"
When Anthony seemed to struggle over his answer, Natalia angrily dropped her hands to her side. "That's all the confirmation I needed."
Anthony was hot on her heels as he followed after her. "Look, at least let me take you back to the hotel. You can't get in an uber alone like this."
"No, I'm perfectly-"
"-Natalia, please don't argue me on this one. You can be mad at me later, but your safety comes first," Anthony begged, and Natalia rolled her eyes as she agreed to go with him.
Anthony quickly typed the information into his uber app, and led her over to a bench in front of the club as they waited for their car. Natalia refused to make eye contact or even talk to him as they waited. She simply stared at her heeled feet.
Anthony sighed as he glanced at the blonde. "Just talk to me please. It's killing me to know that you're upset right now."
"And it's killing me to know that you still have feelings for Kayla," Natalia retorted, "and please don't deny it. Your actions back there said plenty."
"Nat, I wish it were easy, but it isn't. You just don't understand-"
"-then help me understand," Natalia interrupted with a yell. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Do you remember what I said the night you asked me to be your girlfriend? I told you that you needed to be open with me if this were going to work."
Anthony leaned over his knees and glanced at Natalia through his peripheral vision. He knew she wasn't going to drop the topic, it just wasn't in her nature.
"My last relationships- if you can even call them that- have been rough to say the least. But it's different with you. I just don't feel the need to share all the harsh details because everything is different."
Natalia rolled her eyes at his vague response that was obviously a cop out. "Whatever," she muttered as she leaned back into the bench and closed her eyes. Now she really wanted to pass out in her bed.
Anthony stood from beside her and kneeled in front of her, making her open her eyes and glance down at him.
"You're drunk, Natalia. I need you to just bear with me, okay? We can have this argument later, but not now when I'm 90% sure you won't remember everything we said."
Anthony almost felt like he had gotten through to her as she glanced down at him, but it was at that moment that the uber pulled up in front of them. Just as quickly as the corners of her lips moved, Natalia got up and moved towards the car.
-
Natalia practically tore open the door of the uber as she made her way through the lobby and towards her room. She just wanted to be alone, but that wasn't possible as she could hear Anthony's footsteps behind her.
"Can you just leave me alone," she groans in annoyance without looking back at him as she opens the door to her hotel room.
Before she could slam the door, Anthony pushes it open and follows after her. Natalia sends him a glare, but then runs in the opposite direction as she felt the familiar feeling of her stomach churning.
Anthony follows her in concern, and finds her heaving over the toilet. He moves to grasp her hair, but she pushes him away as she wobbly stands up and makes her way to the sink.
"You can go."
"I'm not going anywhere," Anthony argues.
Natalia glances at him through the mirror in annoyance, but does her best to ignore him as she picks up her toothbrush and begins to brush her teeth to rid herself of the foul taste in her mouth.
She does her best to ignore him when she finishes and throws her long U Chicago t-shirt over her head and hops into her bed.
"Nat, I really am sorry. I didn't-"
"Just don't, okay? Don't lie to me. I know you saw them and deep down wished that was you with her," Natalia argues as she throws the covers over her head.
"I'm trying to be patient here, but you have to help me, Nat," Anthony starts, puffing out a breath before taking a seat on the end of her bed. "Kayla was my first love."
At this, Natalia threw the covers off her head and sat up to look at him. She instantly began to feel guilty, knowing what a first love really meant- even if the relationship was bad. She should know.
Chase had been a horrible boyfriend, but Natalia had fallen in love with him and loved him through the abuse regardless. Their breakup had hurt her in ways she never thought it would. Yes, she felt relief that it was over, but she also felt sad that her very first heartbreak had happened.
But as Anthony only sat, waiting for her to say something, Natalia's annoyance returned. Was that really all he was going to offer up?
"You're not going to explain anything else? I get the whole first love thing, but don't I get something else? An explanation to what happened back there, or just something?"
"Damnit Natalia, what more do you want me to say," Anthony asked, this time his own impatience rising.
In all her childishness, Natalia throws the covers back over her head.
"I don't even get why you're so upset about this. It doesn't even concern you that Kayla is back. You just always like to jump to conclusions so fast, but maybe that's just the lawyer side in you always wanting to pick a fight."
Natalia angrily through the covers over head head as she stared at him. Anthony was shocked to see not even the smallest hint of annoyance on her face, instead, her blue eyes were filled with sadness.
"It does concern me because I love you and I hate seeing you in pain. Whether it's a stupid baseball injury, or being forced to see your first love again, or whatever else may come up, I want to be there for you."
Anthony felt the guilt creep in as he opened his arms and the blonde quickly crawled over to him. He wrapped her into a tight hug, as she cried into his shoulder. He kissed her head and did his best to comfort her.
"Please don't ever give up on me, Natalia," he whispered as her kissed her head softly and shushed her cries.
——————
A week late, but it's here and nice and long for you guys!! I hate making my babies fight, but hey- they made up in the same chapter lol
With love always,
Gabby