Just Say Yes (Just Say Yes #2) (8 page)

“What?”

“First off, you said the word
shit
, and secondly, I was tossed ten feet by a man everyone is describing as the size of an NFL linebacker and I survived. I am pretty sure I can take being manhandled by someone as tiny and puny as you.”

Jess put her hand over her heart, her mouth dropping open like she was offended. “Why, you giant, Amazon wench!” she yelled, looking up at me. “How dare you?”

Jess was petite. I don’t think she even weighed a hundred pounds soaking wet and was over six inches shorter than I was.

Jess, Sasha, and I were quite the trio. Me being tall, blonde, and slim, Jess was petite with dark mocha skin and black curly hair. Jess was cute, bubbly, and never had a bad word to say about anyone. She never cussed and was the sweetest person I’d ever known.

Then there was Sasha. Sasha had been gothic for as long as I’d known her and wore dark clothes and makeup. Her stick straight hair was styled with perfect bangs that just reached her eyebrows. It was never the same color. Currently, it was black with purple streaks. I wasn’t sure I even knew what her natural color was. She was absolutely gorgeous, with her pale blue eyes and dark hair combination. In fact, she reminded me exactly of the character Kenzi from my favorite Syfy show,
Lost Girl.
They had the same look, attitude, and style.

“Hey, Morticia!” I hollered at Sasha, who was still on the phone with Ben. “Plane’s leaving without you.” Jess and I gathered our purses and moved toward the line.

When she finished her call, Sasha joined us. “Morticia? Zoey, really? That was so high school,” she laughed.

It was our turn to board the plane and we slowly made our way down the aisle. Why did it always seem like people went in slow motion once they made it through the door of the plane? We found our numbered row and stowed our purses under the seats in front of us. We chatted excitedly about our trip until the plane was ready to take off.

As the plane slowly taxied toward the runway, I sent Andy a quick text.

We’re getting ready to take off. I’ll try to call you tonight when we land. Love you.

I was about to shut my phone off when he messaged me back.

Miss you already. I love you.

I wanted to have a great vacation, but I felt bad for leaving. We just started our relationship and I felt like I was leaving him at a bad time. We should be working on fixing what had gone wrong, but I was on a plane leaving the country instead.

The pilot’s voice came over the speaker, telling everyone to power off all devices. I shut off my phone, threw it in my purse, and found my book. The three of us talked while the plane took off, but once we were in the air we made ourselves comfortable for our flight.

The pilot gave us the all clear to turn any devices back on so I pulled out my phone and powered it up, along with my iPod. I needed to keep my mind occupied, so I put in my earbuds and opened my book to the last page I’d read.

Luckily, my book was good and kept me engrossed all the way to Phoenix where we had to change planes. Unfortunately, we were forced to run to catch our connecting flight to Cabo. By the time we made it to our next terminal, I thought my hip was going to give out on me. As soon as we were in the air, the flight attendants offered us drinks so I asked for water and popped a pain pill.

We landed at Los Cabos airport around six that evening where my aunt and uncle were supposed to pick us up. “Zoey!” a voice called to me while we waited for our luggage. I turned around and spotted my aunt Maria and my uncle Victor in the crowd. I went over to them and embraced them both.

“It’s been too long. I’ve missed you guys,” I cried. It had been a few years since I’d last seen them. I’d never been to their house before in Cabo and they hadn’t been to Sacramento since my grandmother died.

Jess and Sasha wheeled our luggage over to where we stood and I introduced everyone. As Uncle Victor loaded our belongings in the back of their van, Aunt Maria said she planned a huge dinner for us that night.

We got on the road to their house. I turned on my phone and sent Andy a text.

Hi, Sexy. We’re here. On our way to the house now. I’ll call you later. They have a big dinner planned so it might be a while.

I waited for a few minutes to see if he would text me back, but he didn’t.

The five of us talked on the way to the house about the things we wanted to do while we were in Cabo. Because we were vacationing in February, my aunt suggested we add whale watching to our excursions. It sounded amazing to me, and it would be calm and relaxing.

Relaxation was exactly what I needed.

It was a busy time of year in Cabo, so we would have plenty to do and new friends to meet. We would definitely have an exciting time if we went out on the town, which we planned to do the Friday before Jess and Sasha left.

We arrived at the house and wheeled our luggage up the sidewalk toward the entrance. It was a traditional cream-colored Spanish style house with a reddish tile roof, located out in the country. There were several lush plants and cacti landscaping the front yard and tiled porch area. The inside of the house was large, but it had a warm, cozy feel to it, filled with bright colors that reminded me of my parents’ house.

We rounded the corner near the kitchen and I smelled the mouthwatering food my aunt started preparing before they came to pick us up. “Aunt Maria, dinner smells delicious.”

“I made molé for you, Zoey. Your mom mentioned it was one of your favorites.”

Oh, yum.

“What’s molé?” Sasha asked, looking very confused and a little grossed out.

I laughed as I tried to explain it. “Well…the molé sauce has several different ingredients in it, including plantains and chocolate. It sounds like an odd combo, but it is the best thing you will ever eat. It’s filled with chicken and you wrap it up in a tortilla to eat. Trust me. You will love it. And my aunt makes the best rice you’ve ever tasted. We’re in good hands, I promise.”

After the girls and I unpacked and settled in, we all sat down to dinner. “Zoey, your mom said you were in an accident a couple of weeks ago. What happened?” my uncle asked.

I explained what happened and my aunt Maria, being the wonderful, concerned woman she was, forced me to stand up and show her my remaining bruises.

“Oh, Mija,” she cried, with a pained expression on her face. “You could’ve been killed from hitting your head like that. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Tia, I’m fine. I have a hard head. I’m not even taking pain pills anymore for it, just when I need them for my hip.” I jokingly knocked on my head. “See, hard as a rock.”

Thankfully, she smiled and changed the subject to a much better topic. “Your mom also says you have a new boyfriend. Is that true?”

Dang, was my mom the town gossip or what? I laughed at the thought. “Yes, I do. His name is Andy. He’s originally from New Zealand.”

She seemed pleased. “Good for you. You deserve to be happy.”

After dinner, we helped clean up then my uncle made margaritas for everyone. We sat around the fire pit on the back patio talking in to the night. We were drinking and having a good time when I realized I forgot to call Andy. I excused myself and went to my bedroom to find my phone.
Shit, it’s after midnight.
Should I call?

Well, he did say to call anytime and I
did
tell him I would call him later. My finger hovered over the button on my phone for several seconds before I finally pressed it. He answered on the third ring. His voice was low and groggy so I knew he’d been asleep.

“Hey, I’m sorry I woke you up,” I said quietly.

“I said to call anytime and I meant it. How are you doing?”

“Good,” I stated. “The flight was decent. We ate dinner soon after we arrived. Now we’re having some margaritas.”

“Sounds like your vacation is off to a good start then,” he said in his deep, sleepy voice.

I heard James meow in the background. “Are you and James at my place or yours?”

“Mine. I moved him over here while you’re gone.”

“Probably a good idea. Hey, I’ll let you go, since you have to work tomorrow and I woke you up. I wanted to say goodnight and tell you how much I love you.”

I heard him moving around, probably trying to get comfortable. “Okay, send me some pictures tomorrow when you’re out so I know you’re enjoying yourself. Goodnight, love.”

Well, he sounded better than before, half-asleep, but better. We ended the call and I rejoined everyone on the patio. I still couldn’t help feeling like I drove an invisible wedge between us.

It all started after the accident. I was getting better, but he wasn’t. He was distant, broody, and just not himself. I would deal with it another day, when he had more time to get used to the fact that I would be gone for a while. Hell, I needed time to adjust to it too.

The next day we drove in to Cabo and made reservations for all the excursions we wanted to go on while the girls were there. We booked trips for whale watching, horseback riding, snorkeling, and decided to take a tequila boat tour too.

With no set plans for the day, we wandered around town and did some shopping. I picked up souvenirs for Jake and Alex, and Sasha chose Señor Frog’s for lunch. We asked a woman at the next table over to snap a few photos of us on our cell phones. I added a
“Wish you were here!”
message to a picture and sent it to Andy.

He didn’t respond, so I assumed he was probably just busy at the shop. We finished lunch and did some more shopping, then headed down to the beach to hang out for a while.

The weather was warm and sunny, much nicer than the cold weather we left in Northern California. The ocean was an amazing shade of turquoise, the sky crisp blue, and clear.
What a beautiful day. Wow, when was the last time I thought something like that?

We lounged at the beach for a while and decided to pack up to head home. Wearing a bikini, I was getting a bit self-conscious of the people staring at my bruise-riddled body. We had just climbed inside the car my aunt let us borrow while we were there, when my cell rang with Andy’s ringtone, “Sex on Fire.”

Jess and Sasha looked at me with amused expressions on their faces. “It’s Andy,” I said laughing.

“Yeah, that ringtone is fitting,” Sasha said. “Nice choice.”

I laughed as I answered the call. “Hello?”

Silence
.

“Hello?” I said again.

Silence
.

I listened closely and heard the unmistakable sounds of the shop in the background. I said “hello” a few more times, but he still didn’t say anything.

When I realized what happened, I chuckled and ended the call. “I think he just butt-dialed me.”

At least he finally called me back.
Yeah, that’s not funny, Zoey.

Throughout the day, I sent him a few more pictures, but never heard from him. I still hadn’t by the time we arrived home later in the evening. It irritated me, so I typed out a text to him.

Hope you’re enjoying the pics. Let me know when you’ve had enough. Thanks for the butt-dial. I guess at least you called me.

My feelings were hurt and with how he’d been acting before I left, on top of the one night that went so very wrong, I hit send before I changed my mind.

He called me right back that time, but I let it go to voicemail. Let him see how it felt to be ignored by the person you loved the most. I turned the ringer off and set my phone on the dresser, then went out to eat dinner with my friends and family.

During our meal, I began thinking back to how he’d been acting since my accident. He would go from loving one minute, to distant, and then push me away. It was almost as if he didn’t want to be around me at times, but then there were instances where he was being sweet, holding my hand, and being affectionate. I dwelled on the night I’d tried to make things right between us and I ended up kicking him out of my apartment instead.