Hailey's POV
I couldn't avoid it any longer. Ian and I needed to talk. I was trying to give him space, but I couldn't hold off another day. My overthinking was driving me insane, and I needed answers. My heart was pounding a crazy rhythm in my chest as I sent the text. I'd never been so nervous about a message before.
Hailey: Care to come over for dinner?
The message instantly went from delivered to seen, and immediately after, those three dots of torment began to wave at me.
FBF: I'll be there whenever you want me.
Carajo {crap}. Why did that single sentence send my heart aflutter? Mierda! Am I falling for Ian? No. No way! I shook my head so fast that I made myself dizzy, trying to get the thought out of my head.
"What's wrong with you?" Tinita asked, peering over my shoulder. "Who's FBF?" She arched her brow, sucking her spoon clean as she asked. She'd been eating a pint of Blue Bell Banana Pudding and is now taking a seat beside me.
"It's Ian," I answered, trying to calm myself. I won't let these emotions run rampant.
"What the heck does FBF stand for?" She arched her brow. "Fuck Boy Forever? Fuck Buddy Friend? Fuck Baddy Fearlessly?" She made her guesses.
"Why does the first F have to be fuck?" I asked her, lightly laughing at her lude thinking.
"Because it would be more fun, duh!"
"It stands for Friendly Boyfriend," I lied.
"Boo! That's so lame," she said, grabbing the throw pillow and tossing it at my face.
Honestly, FBF stood for Fake Boyfriend, but I couldn't tell her that. Although lately it feels more like it stands for Future Boyfriend. I found myself wanting to ask Ian if he wanted to give this relationship a real go. However, with my feelings being so intense already, I didn't know that I could trust myself to not fall in love with him.
"Shut up, it's not. I'm sorry my love life is so lame to you." I stuck my tongue out at her childishly.
"What love life? You refuse to fall in love." She threw another pillow at me, but I caught this one.
"At least I have a guy." That was uncalled for.
"Oye! Not cool," she lightly kicked me on my calf.
"I know, I'm sorry."
"Me too," she said, tapping the tip of my shoe with her own- her way of apologizing. Not wanting to keep this weird air about us, I poked her cheek.
"Bubbalicious," I whispered, reminding her of the time we code named her crush Bubbalicious so we could talk about him in front of him. She laughed, groaning in embarrassment.
"We were so stupid," she said, shaking her head.
"I still am. I can't get over this fear, Tinita. I don't know how." I sighed, kicking my shoes off and bringing my knees to my chest.
"That's why it's called a leap of faith. You just have to jump in and hope for the best." She scooted closer to me, draping her arm around my shoulder and pulling me against her. "And if fuckboy breaks your heart, I've got very sharp knives." She wiggled her eyebrows with a devilish grin, alluding to her chef knives, which she sharpens daily.
"Thanks," I whispered, feeling too confused.
"Okay, let's stop wallowing and start prepping. You're cooking dinner alone today." She pushed me off the couch and towards the kitchen as she spoke.
Christin had gone off to work, leaving me alone to figure out dinner. I had a million things cooking at once, and I had forgotten about the one thing in the oven. It was too late by the time I remembered the sweet potatoes I had been roasting. When I opened the oven door, a plum of black smoke wafted in my face. I coughed, batting at the air before me, trying to air away the smoke. The whole penthouse was smoking up, and I knew it was only a matter of minutes before the smoke alarms would go off.
Just as I went to open the windows, the doorbell rang, and I knew it was too late to fix dinner now. I turned the stove off, not wanting to burn anything else, and hurried to the door. Ian's handsome face greeted me with a small smile before his eyes took in the smoky atmosphere.
"What happened?" he asked, rushing inside to ensure that nothing was physically on fire. That's when the smoke alarms began to go off.
Ian helped me open my windows and my sliding door to vent the place out. The beeping from the alarm, mixed with the burnt smell and stinging of my eyes, made me feel like a failure. This was the one crucial life skill I just couldn't get right. I felt so embarrassed.
"When you invited me for dinner, I didn't realize you would be cooking," he said, giving me an amused smirk. He was teasing me, which normally I would enjoy, and calling it playful banter. Today, however, I was feeling like too much of a failure to be teased over it. It's one of the things I am most self-conscious about.
"What did you even burn?" he asked, looking at the unrecognizable charred crisps of potatoes. I don't know why, maybe I'm extra hormonal today, but my eyes started to mist over. I fought back the need to cry, but I was disappointed in myself, making it all that more difficult to not shed a tear. "Hailey, I'm sorry. I was only kidding."
Ian wrapped me in his comforting arms and held me close for a moment. He pulled back and wiped at my lone tear before he grabbed my wrist and led me to the door.
"Where are we going?" I asked him when he took us out of the penthouse.
"I have something to show you, plus we need food." He smirked back at me as we walked down the hall towards the elevator.
Although we stayed quiet, the car ride itself was not. Ian filled it with music I liked to cheer me up. For the most part, it worked enough to not have me in tears anymore. Of course, there was a lingering feeling of disappointment as we pulled up to the iconic Pier 62 Skatepark, where a taco food truck was stationed.
Ian opened my door like the gentleman he is, holding his hand out for me. I took it, liking the feel of it a little too much. He pulled me towards the truck, where we made our order and quickly received our food. We ate while sitting on one of the ledges in the park. My eyes couldn't help but watch all the skillful skaters here. They were grinding along the rails, riding over the ramps, or dropping into the bowl.
"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings earlier, Hailey. I really am sorry. You just always tease me, so I was only trying to be playful with you." Ian finally spoke, looking ahead.
"I know. Normally, I wouldn't care. In fact, I like it when you do, it's just- I don't know. Cooking is something I have always wanted to be good at but have failed miserably," I admitted, looking down at my feet.
"I get that. It's not the same, but when I was younger, I wanted to be a professional skateboarder. I think I was like in third grade and my mom got me a skateboard and would take me to the park. Of course, I was terrible at it, but I was determined. It wasn't until other kids started making fun of me that I got deterred," Ian smirked, as if he found the memory of it sort of funny. Which is surprising, because who looks back on a memory of being teased fondly?
"So you gave up?" I asked, wanting to know the rest of this story. What point was he trying to make?
"No, my mom wouldn't let me. She said those kids don't have anything to do with my goal. So, everyday she would take me to the park and make me skate. She taught me not to give a rat's ass about what anybody has to say about me. It hurt, but after a while I learned to tune them all out." He stared out at the skaters with a wide smile.
"So now you're some amazing skater, then?" I arched a brow at him. I get what he was trying to say and what he was trying to do, but how would showing off his skills help me?
"Not at all. I am okay, but I still fall on my ass. That's the thing about life- no matter how much you work at something, sometimes you just fall flat on your ass. Today was a setback, but it shouldn't discourage you, Hailey." He grabbed my hand, squeezing it tight. Suddenly the song "El Amor" by Tito "el bambino" began to play in the one earbud I had in my left ear.
Not cool, God. He's in love with someone else. I shouldn't be falling like this for him.
"Let me see these not-so-great skills, then." I gestured for him to join the others, figuring he would come up with some excuse not to. He doesn't want to be embarrassed, no one does.
"Hey, kid!" He called over one of the preteens who was sitting to the side. He just surprised the hell out of me. "Let me borrow your board. I'll give you $20, and I promise I won't do any crazy tricks that would break it."
The kid thought about it for a moment before he wearily held his hand out for the cash while holding the skateboard out with his other hand. The exchange was quick, and I watched as Ian positioned the board to drop in the bowl. He dropped down, but I couldn't see from where I was sitting. I quickly ran towards the edge and saw him weave his way around. The son of a bitch was being modest again.
He looked fucking hot on a skateboard, zooming by everyone. But fuck me if he didn't look sexy as hell when he caught air and grabbed his board. Before falling back into the bowl. A few tricks later, he climbed out, handing the kid his board back. I crossed my arms, raising my brow at him.
"Liar, you're totally good." He just laughed, showing me just how handsome he was. I love his laugh and his smile. Shit. I just said I loved it.
"Okay, maybe a little." He pinched his fingers together. "I want you to keep cooking, Hailey. Your cooking is the meal I want to eat the most. I promise I will eat anything you cook, even the burned bits. So please don't give up." He cupped my cheek with his hardworking hand, gently rubbing my cheek with his thumb. I leaned into it, loving the feel of it. "I'll just make sure to keep a fire extinguisher handy." He winked at me with a playful smirk.
"Jerk," I pushed him, but I loved it, unable to hold my smile back.
"Just for you." He leaned down, giving me an unexpected kiss. It stole my breath away. I was going to ask him to kiss me again when my phone rang at the same time as Ian's.
Liv: Come for dinner tonight?
"It's Liv," we both said in unison.
When did Liv become such a cockblock?