Love Thy Neighbour (Friend-Zoned 2)

What the fuck are you doing?

I have no idea, brain. Just roll with it.

Realizing I missed out on Trick, I walk over to him and his eyes widen. I grab his cheeks, pull him forward and smack a kiss on his mouth too. I announce a little dramatically, “I love you all. A lot. ”

I turn to Ash and we have a silent conversation.

His eyes narrow. What the fuck are you doing?

My eyes widen and I play with my wedding ring. Oh god, I’m so bad at this shit.

He slightly nods to his side. Get over here, girl.

Sitting in the vacant seat by Nik, I shake my head discreetly. You are on your own, buddy.

Ash dips his chin and places both hands on his hips. I know he’s this close from going all caveman on me, but he somehow pulls it together. He looks around the table and says, “I bet you’re wondering why I’ve gathered you all here today. ”

Lola looks up at Ash and chuckles, “That was a kickass line, Ghost. ”

Mimi laughs and looks to Lola, “I know! It was all mega cool villain-like. ”

Tina giggles and whispers, “Sorry, Ghost, but it totally was. ”

They all look around that table smiling like a bunch of fools and I’m so nervous that I blurt out, “Please, go on, Dr. Evil. ”

The whole table erupts into laughter. I look up and even Ash is losing his fight to be sincere. We all laugh til we cry and I’m so glad tonight is going this way. I prefer laughter than tears any night of the week. When it’s clear we aren’t going to get over our giggles, Ash announces loudly, “I got married two days ago. ”

And the conversation all comes to a screeching halt.

No one says a word for a good minute. I’m pretty sure I hear crickets chirping in the background too.

Ash explains, “The girl I was telling you all about, the one I was dating, I realized I love her too and didn’t want to be without her, so I proposed and we got married the same day. ”

I look around the table to find almost everyone’s gaping at Ash. Only Mimi and Nik look at me and gape. Tina exclaims, “Ghost, honey! That’s great! Who is she?”

Ash shifts from foot to foot, and I smile at his sudden nervousness. He clears his throat and confesses, “Well, she’s here…right now. ”

Lola looks a little glum when she says quietly, “Okay. Bring her in so we can meet the lucky lady. ”

Trick booms, “Holy shit!” He looks around the table in shock and shouts again, “Holy shit!”

Ash looks over to me, his expression pleading. I breathe deep and stand up, moving to my husband. When I reach his side, I say quietly, “Hey guys. ”

Tina, Lola, Trick and Max all look at me wearing blank expressions. They don’t get it.

Mimi and Nik smile big. They get it.

Unsure of where to go from here, I take hold of Ash’s hand, linking our fingers. I look up to my husband with a tender smile which he returns, and standing on my tiptoes, I gently kiss his mouth. He wraps his arms around me and I run my hands up his back.

Through our kiss, I hear Tina and Lola gasp in obvious shock.

Max says slowly, “No. Freakin’. Way. ”

Trick yells out once again, “Holy shit!”

When we pull back from each other, I look into Asher’s eyes and peck his mouth once, twice, three times and whisper, “I love you. ”

He pulls me close, kisses my forehead and whispers against it, “Best thing that ever happened to me. ”