Forever Bonded (BWWM Pregnancy Romance) (6 page)

“Oh
stop making that face. It ain’t that bad,” Aniyah said as she glanced at Zoë’s
reflection in the ornate mirror in front of them.

Zoë
sighed and patted down the multiple layers of lace that made up the gaudy dress
she was wearing. “Yeah right,” Zoë said with a sigh. “I look like my mom.”

“And?”
Aniyah laughed. “Zoë, your mom wore an Ines DiSanto on her wedding day. Looking
like her ain’t exactly the worst thing in the world.”

“But it’s
so damn frilly. And look at how long this train is. Who needs a train this
long?”

“I
guess it is a bit…” Aniyah paused with her finger pressed to her chin as she
tried to come up with the right word.

“Tacky?”
Zoë finished for her, spitting out the first fitting adjective that came to
mind.

“Okay,
you’re right,” Aniyah agreed, shaking her head. “It’s pretty bad. Try on that
other one I picked out. The strapless one. I got a good feeling about it.”

“Oh
come on,” Zoë objected. “This has gotta be the 10th one you’ve made me try on.
I thought today was about finding
you
a dress. You’re the one getting married here. Not me.”

“I
know, but this is the last one. It's going to look great on you, trust me on
this. Just look at the detail in the beading.”

Zoë
sighed and grabbed the hanger from her friend as she made her way back inside
the changing room. With a slight struggle, she pulled the downy monstrosity she
was currently wearing off of her body and wiggled into the next one.

This
one, however, was far better than the last. After zipping up the back and
adjusting the fabric around her waist, Zoë took a step back and gasped when she
caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. Aniyah was right. It fit her like
a glove. The design was simple yet elegant, with beautiful sheer accents and a
fitted bodice that perfectly hugged her curves.

“So?”
Aniyah called out through the door. “How does it look?”

Instead
of responding, Zoë stepped out of the dressing room and did a slow twirl for
Aniyah to see herself.

“Giiiirl,”
Aniyah exclaimed with wide eyes, clamping her mouth in shock. “You look...wow.
Just wait until your future husband sees you in that. He’s gonna lose it.”

Zoë’s
smile faded at the mention of her “future husband”. For reasons she still
wasn’t willing to admit, all it made her think about was Nate. She hadn’t seen
or spoken to him since his quick dash from her place the night before, and when
she tried to call him she only got his voicemail.

It was
more than a little obvious that he was avoiding her.

Aniyah
noticed Zoë’s vacant expression and sighed. “You still haven't heard from him?”
she questioned, reading her mind.

Zoë
shook her head.

“Ugh.”
Aniyah sucked her teeth. “Y’all are the most exhausting individuals I know.”

“What?”
Zoë frowned at her. “Now just how am I the one at fault here? Nate was the one
acting all sketchy last night. Not me.”

 
“Oh please. Don’t act like you don’t
know what he was so worked up about. I’m too hungry to deal with your denial
right now.”

“I’m
not in denial,” Zoë shot back. “I
really don’t understand why he acted like that.”

“Uh-huh,”
Aniyah replied, rolling her eyes. “In that case, you’re naïve, and that’s
really just as bad. Look…there’s nothing complicated about this. Of course Nate
was going to react like a wounded puppy after finding out that you’re
considering marrying someone who isn’t him. Honestly, I’d expect nothing less.”

Zoë
flinched as though she’d been slapped. Aniyah’s words reiterated everything she
already knew to be true, but she was far too stubborn to admit it.

“I know
you two,” Aniyah continued. “I’ve watched you tiptoe around your feelings for
each other my entire life. Y’all have broken up and gotten back together more
times than I can count. It's a never-ending cycle with you two. All I know
is…this is the kind of dress you wear for a man who really loves you.” She
paused to give Zoë a chance to consider her words, meeting her gaze in the
mirror. “Not the one you settle for.”

Chapter twelve

Nate
sat at his desk and drummed his fingertips against the towering stack paperwork
in front of him. He'd been staring at the same document for almost 20 minutes
now, not actually reading it so much as using it as an excuse to seem busy
should anyone walk by his office.

Nate
was in a funk. Ever since he'd heard the news about Zoë and Evan, he felt as
though he’d been operating on autopilot. No matter what he did, he just
couldn’t shake the feeling of resentment that had taken up residency inside of
him. It brought attention to the very thing he’d been trying to avoid the most:
that he still had feelings for Zoë. Strong feelings. Feelings he wasn’t ready
to have snuffed out for good.

Nate
clenched his jaw in a weak attempt at blocking out the thought, but his efforts
proved futile. His agitation weighed him down like a ton of bricks, and no
amount of self-rationalization would make it lift.

All
Nate could think about was the fact that he’d never be able to find his way
back to Zoë now. When they dated other people in the past, it was always
abundantly clear that they’d fall back into their usual routine eventually.
Maybe not right away, but eventually. Significant others came and went with the
seasons, but they remained each other’s constant.

The fact
of the matter was, Nate didn’t want to be just friends with Zoë. Those were
nothing more than hollow words they’d used in the past to avoid acknowledging
their true feelings for each other.

Nate
was just about to head into the break room to refill his coffee mug when his
phone rang, offering him a distraction from his thoughts.

“Nate?”
Audrey questioned as soon as he picked up. “I’m not interrupting you at work am
I? I figured you’d be on break by now, but I called your cell and you didn’t
answer.”

“Nah,
it’s all good,” Nate clarified. “I’ve just been having a bit of an off morning
and I’m a little backed up on things. I’ve got a deadline coming up and I’m
nowhere close to meeting it.”

“Well I
just wanted to hear your voice,” Audrey said. “I already can’t wait to get back
home. I miss you so much. I swear…this long distance thing is getting harder
and harder.”

“Tell
me about it,” Nate replied, although he didn’t sound all that convincing.

Nate
thought back to Audrey’s visit. While he’d spent the week with her, he’d have
been lying if he said he wasn’t consumed by thoughts of Zoë the entire time.
Not that it mattered. There was no one-day for them. Zoë had Evan now, and
while he definitely wasn’t Nate’s favorite person in the world, it wasn’t like
he was the worst possible guy she could end up with. It was obvious that he
made her happy, and Nate wasn’t about to be the one to ruin that for her.

Besides,
it wasn’t like he was doomed to be alone or something. He had Audrey, and she
wanted nothing more than for him to want her back. He had to stop wasting his
time clinging to a possibility that no longer existed before he lost her for
good. As difficult as it was, he had to find a way to let Zoë go for once and
for all.

“Anyways,
I’m at a show for Balenciaga and I have to go into hair and make up,” Audrey
spoke up. In the background, someone could be heard calling out to her in a
thick French accent. “Talk to you tonight?”

“Yeah,
sure thing,” Nate said, eager to get off the phone with her. “Have a good
show.”

As soon
as Audrey hung up, Nate exhaled a shallow breath and fidgeted with the tiny
velvet box in front of him, taking a moment to inspect the simple diamond ring
that sat inside of it. Nate was no fool. He knew there were people who would
call the ring an unusually rash purchase for him, especially given its steep
price tag, but he didn’t see it that way. To him it was nothing more than a
promise to the one woman he actually did stand a chance at having a future
with.

When
Nate’s phone rang for a second time, he stuffed the box back in his jacket
pocket and answered it without looking to see who was calling.

“Nate?”
Aniyah questioned as soon as he picked up. She sounded uncharacteristically
nonchalant, which in her case, almost always meant that she was up to
something.

“Yeah,
what’s up?” Nate replied, shuffling around the paperwork on his desk to appear
busy when he saw his boss saunter from his office en route to the break room.

“Oh, nothing,”
Aniyah said just a little too quickly. “I was just calling to see if you were
free tonight. I was thinking we could all get together like old times. It’s
been awhile. Maybe a movie night at Zoë’s?”

Nate
sighed inwardly. That didn’t seem like a very good idea to him, all things
considered, but he didn’t have a good enough excuse on hand to say no.
“Alright,” he replied, reaching up to rub a kink from his neck.

“Cool,”
Aniyah said, completely glossing over his indifference. “How does 8:00 sound?”

“That
works.”

Aniyah
said something else Nate couldn’t quite hear and rushed to hang up before he
could change his mind. As soon as he heard the line go silent, he groaned and
rested his head on his desk.

It was
going to be a long day.

Chapter thirteen

Zoë
stretched out across the length of her sofa as a very old episode of some
sitcom played on the television in front of her. There were a plethora of
snacks and Blu-Ray’s spread out across her coffee table, and she’d spent the
entire afternoon cleaning house in preparation of Nate and Aniyah’s arrival.

When
Aniyah first brought up the movie night idea to Zoë, she had been hesitant to
agree to it after the awkwardness that had ensued between her and Nate a few
days prior. It seemed like an accident waiting to happen, but Aniyah seemed to
be under the impression that a couple summer blockbusters and some junk food
were all the remedy they needed to smooth things over.

Zoë
sighed and looked down at her phone. For someone who was so adamant about this
happening, Aniyah sure didn’t seem to care about being on time for it. At this
point Zoë was pretty sure Nate would arrive before she did, and he was always
at least 45 minutes late for everything.

Zoë
perked up when she heard a knock. She approached her front door and stood on
her tiptoes to squint through the peephole, exhaling a deep sigh when she saw
Nate standing on the other side of it with a bag of Chinese food in hand.

“Hey,”
Nate said when Zoë let him in, entering the kitchen without so much as looking
her in the eye.

Zoë
leaned against the island and gave him a slow once over. “Is this your idea of
a peace offering?” she questioned as he pulled out each box of food, failing to
contain a smirk.

“That depends,”
Nate said, glancing up at her skeptically. “How’d I do?”

Zoë
took hold of one of the boxes and peeled back the paper lapels to peak inside.
“Pretty good,” she said, giving him a satisfied nod as she inhaled the sweet
aroma of orange chicken. “You know me well.”

Zoë
loaded two plates with all the fixings, handing one of them to Nate. When she
was finally satisfied with her portion, she grabbed a bottle of Merlot from her
wine rack and followed him into the living room.

“Aniyah's
not here yet?” Nate questioned.

Zoë
shook her head. As though on cue, her phone vibrated on the coffee table,
signaling a text. “Speak of the devil,” she remarked, taking a bite of her
food.

Zoë let
out an exasperated sigh as soon as she read over the message. Aniyah couldn’t
make it, but Zoë had a sneaking suspicion that she’d never really intended on
coming to begin with. The writing was on the wall. She and Nate had been set
up. The only thing that surprised Zoë was that she hadn’t seen it coming.

“Let me
guess,” Nate spoke up. “She’s bailing.”