Page 29 of Friends That Heal Us
“Right. So then, when he found out I had taken all our money, he threatened not to pay the mortgage. And I told him that was the exact reason I took the money because I knew he would spin some bullshit like that, and I wasn’t going to be fucked over even more than I already had been. Then I hurried and changed the locks because I didn’t trust him to not fuck with my stuff. That threw him overboard.” She laughs.
The side of my lip rises in confusion. “After everything…that made him flip out more?”
“Yeah. Who knew?”
“Why did that make him freak out?”
“He thought I changed the locks because I was bringing men over to sleep with to get back at him.” She huffs. “I was like seriously that is the last thing I have on my mind and time for. With opening up my studio, and trying to get all our shit separated, I didn’t have time to fuck around.”
“He was upset about you having sex with hypothetical men when he was the one who cheated?”
“Oh yeah. Men are like that, or most anyway. They’re the ones that fuck up, and then when it’s you trying to move on, they turn everything around on you. It’s like they didn’t make you miserable enough in their eyes, so they have to make you even more miserable. Their goal is to make you as miserable as possible.”
I guess I’m lucky Zayn hasn’t been that bad. I haven’t heard from him except when he stopped by the other day. At first, I was shocked that he wasn’t trying to get me back or wasn’t tryingharder. Even though I know it would make me more miserable with him bugging me, a part of me wonders why he isn’t fighting as much as I thought he would. Was I not enough for him? Did he have some spare time on his hands that one day he stopped by, and that’s why he came?
“So then how did you finally sell the house?” I ask.
“He eventually got over himself and said he would, but that he wouldn’t help me move anything out. He expected me to move everything that was his into a storage unit for him.”
“Are you kidding me? Don’t tell me you did that?”
“Hell no,” she says in a raised voice. “I told him I would. Instead, I hired a dump company that hauls your stuff you don’t want away.”
I burst out laughing because that seems fitting for everything else she did.
“They even came into the house and grabbed the shit themselves and hauled it away. I didn’t have to lift a finger. It was a lot of money, but hey, you can’t put a price on that,” she says with a side-eye and a smirk on her face.
“Did he find out?”
She shrugs her shoulders. “Sort of. I never told him what I had done. He paid for a storage unit, dropped the keys off in our mailbox, and texted me to tell me where I could find the key and what storage place and unit it was. Months later, he asked where his stuff was. I never responded. Apparently, he stopped by the house to get his stuff, thinking I was still living there, but the new family was already there.”
“What!”
“I felt bad I said nothing because he started freaking out at the new family living there, thinking it was me playing a joke on him. They called the cops on him because he was trying to enter their home.”
My mouth parts. “Wow, this payback gets better and better.”
“Right. And this was all his doing, and he still blames me. Anyway, a cop called me to explain what was happening and to verify if I had moved out and if all his stuff was moved out too. I told him yes and that I’d been gone for months, and the family living there owned the house. I think they ended up charging him, but I’m not sure with what.”
I cross my arms, shaking my head. All this to sleep with another person. It’s never worth it. I can’t wait to see what karma comes for Zayn and Rya. I do already see it with Rya. But Zayn, who knows when his karma will come? But I know it will.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
EZRA
I walk outto the backyard, inhaling the fresh crisp air. I open the grill and pause for a moment. I’m taken aback at how comfortable I am. I was already comfortable in this house before, but it feels weirder now that Zayn isn’t here and it’s just me. For dinner, I planned to grill steaks for Vi and me. I went to the store after work and bought some steaks, potatoes, and asparagus. I walked right into the house like I owned it, prepared the steaks, and now I’m standing here staring at the grill. Am I overstepping? I would’ve done the same thing if Zayn had been here. Hell, I have done the same thing, when it was the four of us together. But now I’m surprised that I didn’t hesitate at all.
Now that I think about it, every time I came over to barbecue with them, Zay never cooked. It was always Vi or me. I shake my thoughts aside and start the grill. Fuck him, I’m not letting these steaks go to waste.
“Mmmm, smells good,” I hear in the background as I serve us each a plate. I turn around and see Vi walking in, setting down her things.
She gives me a curious look and then asks, “You’re cooking?”
“Yeah.” I grab both our plates and walk them over to the table.
Her eyes widen and her lips part as she stares at the food.
“Does it not look good?” I ask.
