Page 41 of The Need to Know

He perked a brow, hanging on to my every word. “No?”

“I went through this period where I was just in a bad place. I didn’t think anyone loved me, I didn’t think what I did mattered, I’d dropped out of school and I just kept thinking ‘what’s the point?’ So, I ate really bad and just let myself go. One day I went into a gym and I felt better. What really turned me around was loving myself, because it wasn’t until I loved myself that I realized the kind of love I deserved.”

Ezekiel smiled, amused. “I like that.”

“So, kinda like Travis did in the movie in a way.” I grabbed my champagne and took a big gulp. You’re doing the most, Nas! “I’m glad this isn’t a date because I’m blabbering.”

Ezekiel frowned, studying me. “I’m glad it’s not a date, because you wouldn’t be this open, this honest, this unguarded—relaxed. Most importantly, the conversation wouldn’t be this good. No pressure. No bullshit.”

He was being nice. I was totally rambling. “I’m talking too much.”

Ezekiel shrugged. “I like what you’re saying.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I want a link to your blog. I like how you interpret these movies beyond just liking or disliking them.”

“Okay.” I chuckled. “You talk now. Please. Save us.”

He laughed, and I could tell he wasn’t weirded out about my word vomit.

Good.

“What’s your favorite movie?” I asked.

“Vanilla Sky, it’s kinda devastating and sad though,” Ezekiel admitted.

I’d never seen it, but I knew it starred Tom Cruise. “Really? Then why do you like it?”

Ezekiel grew quiet for a minute to think. “I don’t know. Probably the same reason you like Taxi Driver. It makes you confront your loneliness, and Vanilla Sky makes me confront my choices.”

I grabbed my phone and made a note to watch it. “I’ll add it to my list.”

Quickly, I went back to the food, until I could take no more. I was stuffed. I’d eaten a lot, but I wanted to keep going because it all tasted so good. Only my body and stomach knew its limits.

Beyoncé’s “Rocket” was playing on the speaker. Leaning back on my arms, I stretched out my legs and just rejoiced in my contentedness.

Ezekiel grabbed a wet wipe and cleaned his hands before gathering my foot. He briefly admired my pastel pedicure set. “Clean hands for clean feet.”

In the next few seconds, he began massaging my foot and I couldn’t contain the moan that escaped from my lips. Mmm.

“Ohh, that feels good,” I let him know.

He smiled softly and kept working his magic. A girl could get used to this. I felt so good and full, I didn’t want to move.

“Ugh, I gotta work this all off at the gym tomorrow.” I groaned.

“Tell me the time and I’ll meet you there,” Ezekiel insisted.

A gym buddy wouldn’t be so bad. Paisley and I sometimes went together when our schedules were in sync. With the radio gig, or her dating life, sometimes she went at night opposed to my afternoon runs.

“What made you drop out of school?” Ezekiel asked suddenly, before I could answer about a gym meetup.

Beyoncé was going on and on, and Ezekiel was really working my foot with his strong, secure hands. Everything felt so easy and right. It wasn’t a hassle to open up. “I couldn’t find my niche. I didn’t want to study a career path that only equaled money, because that wasn’t enough to me.”

“No?”

I shook my head. “I just think that we should cherish the things money can’t buy, like happiness, love, and time. The essential goods for the soul, you know?”