Balance, Baby

Chapter 23

I was sitting next to Mille, we were at the hotel waiting for my parents to show up. On the plane ride over, her and Judah switched seats. So, I've spent the entire time telling her what was going on with Judah and I. I wasn't too keen on explaining everything to her so she kept trying to pry every so often. So, she found out pretty much exactly what happened and why. Remind me to never sit next to her for that long again.

"Hey," Cisco and Judah walked up.

I hadn't really seen Judah since we broke up. I think we both focused on the 'avoid each other' part. He looked good, his shirt was unbuttoned and he was wearing swim trunks. He also had on dark shades. I did allow myself to look down at his abs, ignoring my better judgment. I glanced at his face, regretting it instantly. His eyes bore into mine. He smirked slightly but it dropped just as quick as it appeared. I felt one of the corners of my mouth raise to an instinctive response. I looked down, looking at my feet, studying my flip flops. I painted my toes, for the first time in a while. They were white.

"Babe!" Millie got up and walked over to Cisco. I watched them hug, Judah walked over to the bench I was sitting on. He sat on the opposite end, avoiding eye contact. I should honestly be doing the same, but I couldn't help stealing glances.

I heard Cisco tell Millie that their stuff was all in their room. I remembered how it felt when Judah texted me right after we broke up. It was solely an informational message. He told me he was getting a separate room at the hotel, so I was staying in the nice one that we booked together. But I didn't reply. Right now, I wished I had. Maybe it wouldn't be so uncomfortable right now.

I glanced over at him again, catching him snapping his head to the floor. He was looking at me when I looked up, but he looked away quickly. I smiled softly, happy with the fact that he was even looking at me. I missed him, obviously. But it wasn't like I missed him that bad. Right?

I guess he caught my smile, because he took it as an opportunity to scoot closer to me. He was about a foot away now, he didn't look at me as he said, "I saw you checking me out."

I furrowed my eyebrows in slight anger and confusion, looking directly at him, "That's the first thing you say?"

"Shit, you're right," He pursed his lips and kept avoiding eye contact. 'Well at least he's not taking it so hard,' I thought to myself. He looked cute, trying not to laugh. I was unimpressed and I let it show, turning my attention forward. He eventually sighed and spoke again, "Ky let's try to act normal, for the sake of the trip."

I looked at him yet again, "What do you mean by normal?"

"I just meant like, be civil. I don't want to walk on eggshells either, you know?" He explained himself.

I looked away as my face softened slightly, "Yeah, just don't flirt with me anymore."

"My bad, I'm just a fish," His voice was low. I immediately remembered a couple months ago when I told him to not flirt with me: 'Asking you to not flirt is like asking a fish not to swim, isn't it?' I had laughed. We were on the couch in the apartment. He answered with 'Pretty much,' and nodded, 'I'll do my best-'.

I cracked a small smile and looked over to see my parents walking up. Cisco and Millie met them half way and said hi to each other. It felt like I was in a different reality. Nothing seemed to feel as it should.

I stood up and walked over to them. I was wearing a green sundress, it was very flowy and long. So, my belly was hidden enough. I smiled as I hugged both of my parents muttering pleasantries.

"Come on over here, son!" My dad was loud, inviting Judah over with a wave. 'Son.' It wasn't surprising, he always called Judah his son. But for some reason it hit just a bit differently now.