...
"Uncle Zay was kissing his girlfriend. He was like—" Bailey stopped talking to imitate Zay kissing Samara. Her and her twin sister giggled.
"Sweetie who is Uncle Zay's girlfriend?" Demi asked.
Bailey shrugged. "I don't know mommy."
"But Uncle Zay must love her a lot, because he was hugging her for a long time," Blair cut in. Samara eavesdropped from the kitchen. She thought she was gonna faint. These little girls were telling all her business.
"Well it's not nice to walk in on adults. You should always knock before entering..."
"Sam, come on. We're going down to the basement!" Zen called out. "It's getting too noisy up here." Samara turned her attention back to the group.
"Okay. I'm coming," she said sliding her phone off the table. Samara followed behind the girls as they made their way into the basement. When Samara reached the last step she was left amazed yet again. They had walked into a huge entertainment center. She didn't remember this from her first visit. There was a 60 inch flat screen TV mounted on the wall, a beautiful lounge wrap around sofa, a few reclining chairs, and a snack bar. She took everything in as Zen led them to another room that was smaller in size, but just as big in personality. The room was filled with a few pieces of artwork hanging from the wall, two big comfortable cozy sofas, a few blankets, four furry bean bag chairs, a TV, and a mini fridge. Everyone quickly grabbed a seat.
"Welcome back to my little hang out spot," Zen grinned. "I know it's been a while since we've been down here together."
"Yeah. It's been too long," Zen's friend, Angel, chimed in. The other girls nodded their heads in agreement.
"Zen, do you have bottled water in there," Samara asked pointing to the mini fridge in the corner.
"Oh. Yeah," she said sitting up. "There's juice and soda in there too if anyone wants that." Everyone else claimed that they were good. Samara stood from the sofa and walked over to the fridge.
With Samara's back now turned to everyone else Zen said, "Are my eyes deceiving me or are you wearing Zay's old jersey number?" Samara looked down at the shirt. For a second she forgot that she was wearing it.
"Oh. Yeah," she replied, thinking nothing of it. She grabbed a bottle of water and made her way back to her seat.
"The question is what are you doing wearing it?" Lovie asked. Samara took a quick sip of her water before answering.
"Zay just let me borrow it."
"Why?"
"Does it really matter?" Samara replied. "It's just a shirt. Relax."
Before Lovie could give her rebuttal Angel asked, "So. Are y'all together?"
"No," Samara smiled. We're just best friends."
"So what I'm hearing is he's fair game?" Angel teased.
"Uh. Excuse me?" Zen's neck swiveled in Angel's direction.
Angel looked at Zen. "I'm sorry Zenny, but we're not in high school anymore. I think we can all finally admit that your brother is fine!" she laughed.
"O-kay!" another friend chimed in.
"Unh unh. Back off Zara," Angel grinned. "I called him first." The two friends laughed.
"Y'all ain't right. Y'all know Lovie and Zay use to date," Amber added.
"Thank you," Lovie smiled. "And we'd probably still be together if I didn't have to move, because of my dad's job." She looked over in Samara's direction. Samara just ignored her because she wasn't phased. She knew where Zay's affection lied and it wasn't with any of them and least of all, Lovie.
"Well," Zen said speaking up. "It doesn't matter, because Zay is off limits. So that settles that," she grinned. She gave a quick look over in Samara's direction as if to say, "I gotchu". Zen knew that if her brother gave Samara his shirt, whether to borrow or to have, he was serious about her. She was not about to let any of her friends think they stood a chance with Zay when, in her eyes, he was so clearly spoken for.
"Zen do you know something? Is he seeing someone?" Angel asked.
"All I know is that my brother has his eye on someone special. And y'all know he's always been very private about who he's into or who he's with."
Lovie looked in Samara's direction. "You're his best friend. Who's the lucky lady? Or did he not tell you?"
"Didn't you...just hear Zen? He's private about his love life."
"So I take it you don't know," Lovie smirked. "Must not be as close as you think," she mumbled. Samara wanted to laugh, but kept it in. If Lovie knew how close they really were she'd be livid.
"Just leave it alone," Samara cautioned. "This isn't really the time or the place."
"That's what I thought. You're finally seeing things for what they are. It's like you said yesterday, you're 'not my competition'. I'm glad we agree on something."
All of the girls sat silently. They weren't quite sure what was going on, but none of them felt like challenging Lovie, because it would just ruin the night. Samara looked over in Zen's direction. "I think I'm gonna call it a night." Samara stood from her seat, grabbed her belongings, and headed towards the door. "G'night y'all. I'll holla at y'all in the morning."
As Samara headed upstairs she smiled to herself. She had no problem letting Lovie believe that she was doing something with that snarky attitude of hers. It was easy for her to maintain her composure, because she knew that she would be sleeping beside Zay tonight. When she finally settled her body next to his, like she had done every night for nearly two months, it was easy for her not to view Lovie as competition, because Zay wasn't choosing between two women. He already had one, and that was Samara Valencia Hayes. There was no need to defend what had already been established.
