“No worries,” he interjected. “It’s cool. I promise I won’t go off on you like you did me back in the day.” That devilishly handsome smile returned as he ran his fingers through his inky, black hair. “You okay, though?”
Embarrassed, I only nodded.
There was an awkward silence while I wavered back and forth between bypassing him and going inside the gift shop, and actually thinking I should try talking to him.
“Listen,” we both said in unison.
He smiled again.
“You first,” I said, folding my arms over my chest.
AJ sighed and relaxed a little. “Alright, I’m gonna just put this out there. I think it’s ridiculous that two people who share as much history as you and me can’t even speak to one another.”
I cannot even put to words the sense of relief that I felt when he spoke those words, mostly because I wasn’t totally sure that I deserved his forgiveness. “Agreed.”
He smiled a little easier now. “I know there are probably a thousand things that you and I should be talking about, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume that you don’t wanna rehash any of that this weekend any more than I do. So, for the sake of Terrell and Maisha, let’s just put our differences aside and get through this wedding.”
I nodded and took another deep breath.
“Truce?” He asked, offering me his hand.
I stared at it lingering there in the air, again paralleling our first meeting over six years ago, but this time I didn’t leave him hanging. I placed my hand in his and tried to ignore how much I missed his touch. When we separated, I had to clear my throat to fight the emotions that I felt brewing in my gut.
My eyes shifted to the bottle of green tea in AJ’s hand because I couldn’t quite look him in his eye.
“The minibar in the room is expensive as hell, so…thought I’d come down here and grab something instead,” he explained.
I nodded. “I um…I actually don’t know what I came down here to get, but…” I shook my head, suddenly deciding that I’d keep my twenty dollars and just head back up to the room. “You going to the elevator?” I asked, aiming my thumb over my shoulder in that direction, smiling a little.
AJ returned the gesture. “Yeah, this was all I came down for.”
With a nod, I decided to head back up with him. We walked side by side, silent again, but not because we felt uncomfortable. I can’t say why he was quiet, but I was too overwhelmed to speak – overwhelmed by the feel of his arms around me a moment ago, how easily he’d just forgiven me without even actually saying the words…and by how much I missed him. I’d never admitted that even to myself before. I’ve been verbal about regretting how abruptly I left, but never specifically about leaving him behind. Now, after seeing him again and remembering what we used to have, I couldn’t deny these feelings.
As the elevator doors closed, I leaned against the back wall and folded my arms over my chest. AJ gripped the bottle of juice in his hand and ran his thumb rhythmically over the cap. The charge between us was even harder to ignore now and I had a feeling that was why he was fidgeting a little.
“You all set for tonight?” He asked.
“Yeah, I think so. I can’t wait to see Maisha’s dress. She’s being all secretive about it.”
AJ smiled and nodded. “Terrell’s already called me three times to talk about absolutely nothing. I think he’s just nervous.”
I laughed, trying to imagine someone of Terrell’s size and stature being nervous.
“Weddings tend to do that to people, though,” I added. “Congrats on your engagement, by the way…” I said, my sentence trailing off at the end. Maybe acknowledging his impending wedding would seem strange to him.
AJ’s smile seemed forced. “Thanks,” was all he said back.
“You’re looking good, though,” he mentioned casually as we crept to the second floor. I wasn’t sure how to take the comment, so I turned to face him. That smile on his lips made me lose my breath.