Break In My Heart

41. The Art of Touch

"And that's why The Princess And The Frog is the best Disney princess movie," Tyler concluded as we walked down the block and approached my apartment. We'd been walking back from Mickey's for about fifteen minutes, and we would likely already be in the warm sanctuary my room offered and out of the freezing cold if it weren't for the slow pace I was walking in. I loved hearing Tyler go on his Disney rants, and this was no exception. "I mean, not only is the representation great, but the music? Amazing. The storyline? Top-notch. It also helps that Naven was sexy as hell. If he were real and into it, I'd definitely smash. No offense, though."

I put my hands up in surrender. "None taken. In fact, I'd be more offended if you didn't. Make him your sugar daddy, and by proxy, mine too. Besides, his accent is sexy too. He could talk me to sleep every single night for the rest of my life."

He chuckled as he used his elbow to slightly nudge me. "Yeah, but I'd take your Italian over his accent any day." A slight gein tugged at the edges of my lips as I gently nudged him back. Throughout our time at Mickey's, Tyler had continued to become more talkative and playful. I could almost physically see the shield that he'd built around himself crumbling away like fractured eggshells. The slow transformation back into the boy I knew before his mother came and wrecked everything caused butterflies to fill my stomach and excitement to fester in my veins.

I was pulled from my thoughts when my phone vibrated in my pocket. When I pulled it out, Ian's name flashed across the screen telling me that he was requesting a FaceTime. I'd been so wrapped up in Tyler's laugh and beautifully terrible jokes that I'd completely forgotten that Ian was asking Lelani out tonight. "It's Ian," I announced before I held my phone out so that we were both in the frame. "Ready?"

He nodded. "Yeah. How do I look?"

"Perfect," I instantly said before I clicked "accept". "Hello–"

"She said yes!" Ian screamed so loud that we got looks from people who were walking bye us.

I quickly turned my volume down as a huge smile spread across my face. "She said yes, she said yes! She! Said! Yes!" Ian cheered as he started doing a cringey victory dance and in the background, I could see Lelani laughing. In her arms she was holding the panda Ian had gotten her.

"Congrats man. I'm so happy for you two," Tyler gushed.

"Yeah, you two are super cute. Congratulations!" I agreed.

"Thank you," Lelani said with a chuckle as Ian continued dancing.

"Ooh, ooh, and look at this!" Ian said before he showed his own blue stuffed triceratops with the word "yes!!" messily written on it in Sharpie. I couldn't help the "awe" that slid past my lips.

"Ok you two are officially super cute together," I announced as Ian wrapped his arm around Lelani and pulled her closer.

"I'm just glad I can officially call her mine," he said as he looked her in the eyes.

"Yeah, he was complaining about other guys looking at you."

Ian's attention snapped back to me. "Addi!"

Lelani raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, so he's the jealous type, huh?"

"Super jealous," Tyler added just to add fuel to the fire.

"Guys, I–"

"Don't worry, Ian," Lelani said with a chuckle as she slung her arms over his shoulders. "I think it's kind of cute."

Ian smiled at her before he leaned down and kissed her. I cringed and made overly dramatic gagging noises, but if they seemed to notice they didn't show it. Tyler chuckled before he joined in.