Aria smiles and ducks her head, breezing past me toward the patio door, but she pauses next to me, and her fingers softly squeeze my forearm. “It’s nice to see you. You know, in person.”
“You too,” I say, looking down into her eyes, more green than hazel in the afternoon light. She bites her lip, trying to hold back a smile. Then she gives me a little nod and heads inside. My heart is raging in my chest, a battering ram trying to bash my ribs to pieces. Every step she takes amplifies the pounding until I’m almost surprised she can’t hear it.
The words want to spill out of me so badly. Which words doesn’t really matter. Anything to get her to stay. I shouldn’t. I know better… but maybe I don’t fucking care.“Hey, Aria,” I call out. She turns, still smiling and nibbling her lip. Something inside me roars in triumph.
“It’s been a long day. I might just send out for Chinese and watch a movie. If you want to join…” She blinks at me, her expression unreadable as I trail off like a chicken-shit teenager. If that wasn’t the most half-hearted, pathetic, non-committal—
“Only if you can promise me some super slutty chicken lo mein.”
I grin at her, my blood pumping like I’m sprinting uphill. “I figured that’s just a given with takeout.”
“Then I’m in.” She smiles at me, and time stops. One heartbeat. Then another. Aria nods her head, and I can’t tell if the color on her cheeks is from the sun, or something else, but then she disappears, padding inside on bare feet.