Page 126 of The Compass Series

STELLA

D amian’s friends were magic.

Connor and Aaliyah took my anxiety and turned it into a carnival ride. Meeting them was a highlight and somehow made me feel a little less on edge about the wedding in the morning.

“We need to go out for a rehearsal dinner!” Connor said after I finished getting fitted for my dress, and Damian had been fitted for his suit.

“We don’t need a rehearsal dinner because we aren’t having a rehearsal. We’re getting married in the backyard tomorrow. It’s not a big deal,” Damian dryly stated.

I couldn’t help but smile at the whole dynamic between him and his friends. He was so different from Aaliyah and Connor. They were like the bright, vibrant house on a block while Damian was the home dressed all in black. Complete opposites, yet somehow, they worked so well together.

Maybe a person like Damian needed friends who held a bit of light within them. Otherwise, he’d drown in the dark.

“Uh, we totally need a rehearsal dinner,” Aaliyah chimed in. Her tight coils of hair were wrapped up in a perfect bun, and her smile was contagious. “You know what I’m thinking?” she asked Connor.

“Oh, I know what you’re thinking.” He nodded.

“In-N-Out Burger!” they shouted together, tossing their hands up in the air.

“Oh my goodness, and can we get that one thing that we drove past in our rental car today?” Connor asked.

“Donuts!” they hollered in unison. It was as if they spoke in incomplete sentences and knew exactly what was being said. It was the most adorable thing.

“We aren’t doing any of that,” Damian deadpanned.

It amazed me how unmoved his friends were by his dryness.

They remained their bubbly selves through and through.

We ended up going to a nice sit-down restaurant, seeing how Damian was so anti-fast food.

He must’ve never tried In-N-Out Burger’s animal-style fries. A true masterpiece.

“You know, Aaliyah and I started out as roommates, and look at where we are now. So, no matter how wild a situation looks, maybe yours will work out just as well as ours,” Connor said. If he wasn’t the most hopeful romantic, then I didn’t know who was.

Unfortunately, I was the dream destroyer. “While that’s true for you, I actually have a boyfriend.”

“What?!” Connor spat out, having no semblance of a poker face. “You have a boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

“And he’s okay with all of this?”

“It was actually his idea.” I shrugged. “He’s the one who pushed me to do it.”

“Sounds like a money-hungry man,” Damian muttered.

I shot him a look. “Says the man who’s only following through with this arrangement for the money.”

He shot me a dirtier look. I was almost tempted to stick my tongue out at him. Childish? Yes. Dramatic? Also yes.

I stuck my tongue out at him in my mind, and somehow, that felt oddly satisfying.

“Don’t mind Damian. He has bad table manners. How long have you been dating your boyfriend?” Connor questioned.

“Four years, going on five.”

He narrowed his eyes and pointed a finger at me. “So, what I’m hearing is it’s not that serious,” he joked.

“Ignore him,” Aaliyah said, placing a comforting hand against my forearm. “He’s been watching a lot of romantic comedies with me.”

“Oh my gosh, I get it. Every night is my romantic comedy movie night,” I explained. “I watch and re-watch one every day. Don’t even get me started on Hallmark movies.”

“Dear God,” Damian groaned, rolling his eyes. Why did he have to make everything so grumpy? I felt as if we were having an actual good night.

“What’s wrong with that?” I asked him pointedly.

“Nothing. Never mind,” he said.

“Don’t take Damian’s snide remarks to heart. He judged me for my rom-com addiction, too,” Connor tossed out, easing up the slight nerves that Damian gave me. Why did I care what he thought anyway? We had yet to share one pleasant interaction with each other. Clearly, we were far from a match.

“Why are you so grumpy toward me all the time?” I asked Damian. I couldn’t help but take his remarks to heart.

“For the love of God, don’t start crying.” Damian scoffed.

“Damian! Stop it,” Aaliyah scolded her friend. He looked at her and then muttered an apology and excused himself to the restroom.

I sat back against the booth’s backing in complete dismay. “I’m sorry, but what is it with your friend? He’s such a jerk!”

Connor frowned. “Yeah, he can have quite a chip on his shoulder at times.”

“A chip? Please. He has a whole party-sized bag of Lay’s potato chips sitting on his shoulders. He’s the outcome of Scrooge and Cruella de Vil having a love child.”

Aaliyah smiled. “I mean, he has their grimaces locked down. But, I swear, he’s truly a gentle soul. He’s like hardened hummus.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“You know when you leave hummus sitting out too long, and the top layer hardens over? But when you puncture it, there’s nice soft hummus beneath it? That’s Damian. He’s hardened hummus that you just have to poke a bit to get to the gooey insides.”

“That’s the oddest comparison ever,” I told her.

“Yeah, sweetheart. It’s really odd,” Connor agreed.

“I’m sorry.” Aaliyah’s eyes watered over.

“I was just thinking about the hummus I had left out a few days ago. When I woke up and couldn’t eat it because it went bad, I still shoved my pita chip into the hardened surface of it and cried when I got to the gooey middle.

And ever since then, I’ve been craving hummus. ”

Connor’s eyes filled with emotions. “Don’t cry. You know I’ll cry if you cry.”

“I’m sorry, but it was so good!” Aaliyah said, wiping at her tears.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the pregnant woman’s emotions that hit her husband just as deeply. I swore it was as if they were one heart placed between two souls.

“It blows my mind how in touch with your emotions you both are, and somehow Damian is your best friend.”

Connor looked in the direction of the bathroom and then back at me. He rolled up his sleeves, then clapped his hands together. “Okay, well, while he’s gone, we can give you a crash course on how to deal with Damian.”

“Oh, I like this idea! Like How To Damian 101!” Aaliyah exclaimed excitedly as if she wasn’t just having a mental breakdown over hummus.

“Like number one: never back down when he growls or huffs or grimaces. He uses these forms of aggression to push people away. Stand tall and huff right back if you have to.”

“That’s a solid one. And two: don’t let him disrespect you.

Make it known when he hurts your feelings.

He’s so blunt that he doesn’t always realize it.

But if you notify him that you were hurt by his words or actions, you’ll see the flash of realization in his eyes.

Then his following actions will showcase his apology.

Sometimes, he’ll even say it, but he often apologizes through his actions.

He’s very much a show-not-tell kind of guy. ”

“Number three: he has past trauma that he won’t talk about, but he does fear abandonment. So, he keeps people at a distance,” Aaliyah whispered as she noticed Damian exit the bathroom.

“And number four!” Connor said, leaning in toward me. “Tell the fucker to fuck off sometimes. Ninety-nine percent of the time, he doesn’t deserve to be told that. But there is that one percent when he needs to be put in his place. He respects people who stand up for themselves and stand up to him.”

“Yeah, and don’t forget that he’s hummus,” Aaliyah said, tapping the side of her noggin. “Just break him down a bit, and you’ll get to the good stuff.”