“My first time was supposed to be with you,” he said in a trembling voice. “Instead-instead it was with a man who I despised.”
“Who?”
Before Ari could answer, the phone on my desk rang. I held up a finger to tell him to hold that thought.
“Yes, Julieta?”
“I just got a call from someone who lives in your neighborhood, Mr. Wheeler,” she said. “Your house is on fire. The fire department is there now trying to put out the flames.”
“What?”
“She says it’s bad. Real bad.”
“Damn. I’m on my way.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Let Vice Principal Miller know why I’m not in the office.”
I slammed down the phone and grabbed my car keys from the desk.
“What’s wrong?” Ari ran after me.
“The house is on fire.” Saying it sounded so trivial. It was just a house, but it wasn’t. It was years of savings and mortgage and love that went into making it not just a house but a home. Growing up, I’d never had a loving home, so I had done my utmost to create one as an adult.
I sprinted to the parking lot, Ari at my heels. Double damn. He would lose everything too.
“My sketchpad.” He slipped into my car beside me. “My computer. I can’t lose them.”
“Let’s hope it’s not so bad.” What else could I say to reassure us?
“You don’t understand, Shaw. All my designs are on it. Designs I sell to an agent.”
“What are you saying, Ari?”
“My sketches aren’t just doodles. I sell them. And they pay good money for the designs. It might seem like I’m not working, but I’m not hurting for money. I can’t lose my stuff.”
I clasped his hand in mine and held on to it. “Whatever happens, we’re in this together.”
Twenty minutes later, I pulled up in my street, and it was as if we had landed in a real-life movie. A fire truck was parked before the house. Men in light brown suits and masks carrying hoses tried to contain the flames. An explosion from the side shattered the window to Ari’s room, and flames poured out, licking at the walls of the building. It was all gone. Everything.
“Oh, my god!” I jumped out of the car. Ari wasn’t far behind, his hand fisting the back of my shirt. That touch was possibly the only thing that grounded me as I stared at the rubble of everything I worked so hard for to accomplish.
“It’s Judd,” Ari said in a whisper. “It has to be Judd.”
“Because you interfered. You caused all this. I told you to leave it alone, and now look…look what you have done.”
“I’m sorry. I—”
“You’re always sorry after the fact, Ari. Always. But that’s not going to put a roof over our heads.”
“I’ll make him pay,” he whispered, even as my whole world burned to the ground.
“Stay out of it,” I snapped. “For god’s sake, just stay out of it and let me handle this.”
I stalked over to a large guy who was barking orders. He must be the man in charge.
“Sir, you need to step back.”