Page 41 of Waves
Ezra was so sweet I could hardly handle it sometimes. I kissed the bare skin of his back and soaked up his delightful scent. Ezra didn’t stink the way most people did. There was a very subtle smell to him, yet so distinct he resembled nothing but himself. I’d say he smelled even better than the ocean itself, which was probably the highest compliment a seal could give.
Spending time with Ezra was quite possibly the one thing I loved to do above all others, even more than swimming and eating (and I really loved to do both of those). He only got more appealing with all his quirky gestures and snorting laughter, and on top of all that, he had an incredible amount of patience. Really, he was so much smarter than me, but he never treated me as if I were inferior. He always became so enthusiastic when presented a chance to teach me about something new, like cameras, for example.
The last time I paid attention to these things, the latest development had been the one-hour photo. When I asked Ezra about this, instead of him explaining why such a service was now defunct, he spent at least an hour showing me all the different functions of the camera on his phone. I must say, I didn’t get the lure at first, but the camera was quite fun. I became a bit of a shutterbug playing with his phone but seeing all the photos I took was only half the fun. The best part was when Ezra attempted to scroll past many, many pictures of me. He stammered something about how he wasn’t trying to be weird, I just appeared very content while asleep, or cuddling on the couch with Ishmael, or doing anything, apparently.
By the next afternoon, we enthusiastically piled into the car. Well, not Ishmael. He made it very clear he wanted to go with us, and Ezra had a hell of a time trying to get him to calm down. Ishmael milked our guilt for all it was worth.
We finally arrived at Mary’s, where I became the designated cooler-carrier once we got out of the car. Ezra brought something called hummus... I didn’t even know, but Ezra swore it was fantastic with pretzels, crackers, and vegetables. He ate the oddest things, even by human standards, but he hadn’t poisoned me yet.
In the backyard under a small canopy, Mary snapped a flimsy tablecloth onto a large card table then she stopped to wave. “Hey, glad you could make it,” she yelled at us.
I smiled to hide my disgust. If there was one thing I would never understand, it was the love affair between humans and plastic.
“Ezra, be a dear and help Eric. He’s been drinking since we got up this morning. I’d prefer if he didn’t light the grill,” Mary quickly said while she pointed to him.
Eric had a beer in one hand and a spatula in the other. He almost dumped the beer, then corrected himself and waved the spatula instead.
“He even got some veggie patty things just for you if you want to check them out,” she added.
“Oh, that was nice of him,” Ezra mumbled. He took a step away then stopped and looked at me.
“And I need someone large and sober to help me move the lawn chairs,” Mary quickly added while she linked her arm around mine and started to lead me away.
“Okay, have fun,” Ezra chuckled before he resumed crossing the yard.
I waved to him, evidently not getting a vote in this, not that I really minded helping. I followed Mary across the yard, assuming we were cutting through the house to the front porch, but she stopped us in the kitchen. “This is an interesting place to store outdoor furniture,” I chuckled.
Mary shushed me and peeked around the room then to the exits. “I lured you here under false pretenses,” she whispered.
“Please, tell me there really is shrimp.”
“Yes, we have shrimp,” Mary said while rolling her eyes. She looked over her shoulder again, and once satisfied we were alone, she resumed speaking. “Listen, Ezra can never, ever know I told you this. He’ll be pissed in a way that I’m sure you haven’t seen yet.”
“Then, don’t tell me!” I quietly insisted.
“Just listen!” Mary let out a sharp breath and rubbed her brow. “I’m only telling you because I’m worried about him, and well, I like you. I know we haven’t spent a lot of time around each other, but Ezra crows about how wonderful you are every time I’m with him, and I’ve seen for myself that you’re a really nice guy.”
My cheeks burned at the thought of Ezra bragging about me to his friends, so I simply nodded and waited for Mary to continue.
“You remember Thom, right?” Mary asked, her face slightly scrunched.
Of course, I did. I mostly remembered how much I didn’t like him. “More or less, I guess.”
Mary hesitated, gripping the edge of the kitchen counter before launching back into the subject. “He’s... he’s not a good guy like you, Kai.”
“No surprise there,” I grumbled in agreement.
“I don’t know what Ezra has told you and what he hasn’t since he still gets tight-lipped over the Thom subject. I mean, he’s a pretty private guy, even with me.”
I nodded along. I noticed as much myself.
“But one of the last times they were here—you know, as a couple—we had this epic party. Eric and I had just gotten engaged, and everyone here was shitfaced from celebrating. I mean, I still don’t remember some parts of that night. Anyway, Ezra was talking to some guy who was a friend of a friend. They were literally only talking, and Thom threw a fit when he saw. I’m talking screaming and not just at the other guy, but at Ezra, too. Thom was obviously wasted, but Ezra was sober enough to be absolutely mortified by the whole situation. I tried asking Ezra about it the next day, but he played off the whole thing. He claimed Thom was as drunk as anyone else that night, so he said things he didn’t mean and did stuff he didn’t remember, too. Ezra seemed to let it go, but they separated shortly after.”
“Well, at least that rake’s not a problem anymore,” I said in an effort to assure her. I might not be perfect but I liked to think of myself as a gentleman.
“Except... he is.”
“Pardon?” I asked, my voice sharper than I intended.