DO I WANNA KNOW? II wilbur soot

VII.

"wow, uh, it's been so long," sam, my ex, said.

"yeah," i mumbled, hoping he'd take the hint and leave. i didn't feel like talking to the person who'd cheated on me.

"im sorry, who are you?" willl entered the 'conversation', sensing my unease.

"i don't see how it's your business but i'm sam. me and tiana used to date," he said, pointing at me.

"yeah, before you cheated on me," i said without thinking. anger filled my mind just by the sight of him. it kept going back to the night when i found him with his coworker, after going to his place to surprise him.

"you should leave," will said sternly.

"you're not my boss."

"no, but i could punch you in the face right now." wow. wilbur had a few inches over him, making him appear intimidating, and more threatening than sam. the sight was almost funny. i did not think he had it in him.

"yeah, okay." sam, thankfully, started backing away. he turned to me. "we'll speak soon." with that, he exited the arcade.

"dick," i said under my breath, which will caught. he turned to me.

"are you okay?" he asked, his eyes staying on mine.

"yeah, yeah. thank you," i said sincerely.

"yeah, of course." he paused. "so he's your ex, correct?"

"unfortunately. he was horrible. clearly, still is horrible." i sighed. before i could realize it, will had his hand on my shoulder.

"it's alright. let me know if he bothers you again, yeah?" a genuine smile revealed itself on my face.

"yeah."

with that, we went back to the group. everyone was watching ash and leandra compete in some shooting game. zoe didn't miss the little exchange we had with sam, so she came over to me before i could reach them. 1 "hey, what happened?" she asked.

i sighed. "just my ex."

"oh, yikes," she said, earning a laugh from me.

"you can say that again."

"good thing will was with you, huh?" she said, raising her eyebrows.

"shut up," i said, but couldn't repress the giggle that escaped my lips. i could feel my cheeks redden once again.

-----

we went back to the hotel soon after that. it was late, but i wasn't really tired. as we were entering the hotel, i turned to leandra and zoe. "hey, are you guys tired?" i asked, hopeful.

"not really, to be honest," leandra said.

"yeah, me neither," zoe agreed. "are you?"

"no. i was thinking if you wanted to hang out in a room," i suggested.

"yes!" zoe exclaimed, excitedly.

"like a girls night," leandra agreed.

"yeah!" i smiled. "should we go to mine?"

they both hummed in agreement. behind us, mark was eavesdropping apparently.

"what are you up to?" he asked, catching up with us and walking next to me.

"you're not invited," leandra told him light-heartedly.

"oh." he pretended to be on the verge of tears. "okay, i guess."

"what a drama queen," i joked.

"who's a drama queen?" will joined, walking next to mark.

"mark, of course," i replied. "we're having a girls night and he's sad that he's not invited."

"aw, don't worry mark, we can hang out with you," he said, gesturing to himself, joe and ash. mark stifled a laugh.

"thanks, i don't know what i'd do without you," he said, trying his best to sound sincere, but we all quickly burst into laughter. until we remembered that we were still in the hotel lobby and should quiet down.

***

"so. spill," zoe said, looking at me, as soon as we were settled on my bed, comfortable clothes on, fizzy drinks in our hands. my playlist was on shuffle, "wish you were sober" by conan grey, softly playing in the background. i was taking a sip of my coke when she said that, so i swallowed before answering.

"spill what?"

"come on. what's up with you and will?"

my eyes widened. i knew they suspected something, but i didn't think they'd immediately mention it tonight. "uh, nothing?"

"tiana. we have eyes, you idiot. we have seen your banter and, dare i say, flirting," zoe continued. "and the way he immediately helped you out with your ex? that wasn't random."

"i'm sure he would've done that for anyone else." i didn't really believe that he could like me, so i got defensive. truth be told, i would want him to like me.

zoe groaned. "maybe! but it's not the same!"

"tiana, you've caught his eye. he's not like that with us," leandra agreed.

i sighed. "how can you be sure? what if we've been misreading the signs and it turns out to be nothing?"

"we do know him quite well."

i look down at my hands holding my drink, contemplating everything they've just said. could it be true? could he actually like me? and if so, what happens after? after all, i don't know him well. he could end up like john. i sigh again. "alright. well, thank you for saying all that. i guess you can be right."

"of course we can be. we are," zoe said, earning a laugh from both me and leandra.

"okay can we change the subject now? let's play some classic sleepover game like never have i ever or something," i suggested, quickly changing the subject. we played some of that, along with some would you rather, and discussed the most random things that came to our minds, while music was still playing from my long forgotten phone. the girls left around 3am. thankfully, the band had decided not to wake up early the next day, since they'd be tired from the show. so we'd sleep in, then go out to see london later. i fell asleep instantly after laying in bed that night