AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Goddammit.
I'm in love with Aria Reed.
My footsteps feel heavy as I walk up onto the back deck. Since admitting it to myself, it feels like there's been a weight lifted from my chest, yet I don't know what I'm supposed to do with this information. Do I tell her? Do I give her the space she thinks she needs? I pushed her away when I should have washed away her worries.
As I reach the French doors that lead into the first floor of my house, my phone starts to vibrate in the pocket of my sweatpants. Reaching inside, I pull it out and sigh when I see Austin's name on the screen. I weigh my options carefully. It can't be a coincidence that he's calling me after Aria just ran off. If I ignore his call, he's going to rip me a new asshole. But if I answer his call, he's probably going to do the same.
It's really a lose-lose situation.
"That was fast," I say into the speaker as I answer the phone and hold it against the side of my face. I wander across the deck and drop down onto the outdoor sectional that looks out at the ocean.
Austin is silent for a beat. "What?"
Oh, shit. Maybe he doesn't know.
"Nothing, I thought you were someone else," I lie in an attempt to cover it up. I really need to start thinking before I speak. "What's up?"
"Who did you think I was?" Austin questions me with a touch of curiosity in his voice. "Actually, tell me later. I was calling to tell you I'll be in town for a few days. Did you want to grab drinks or something tonight?"
I shake my head even though he can't see me. "I think I'm just going to stay in tonight."
"Then I'll come by your place. I can grab food from somewhere."
Austin fucking Reed. He never could take a hint or read the room. The last thing I want is for him to come hang out while I'm dealing with this shit with his sister. "By staying in, I mean I don't want any company."
"What's going on?" he questions me without hesitation. Austin has always been very in touch with his feelings and if someone else isn't feeling the best, he wants to talk it out. He's emotionally regulated and mentally healthy. I'm not saying I'm not, but somehow he has a way of always looking at things objectively and from an outsider's perspective. If I need sound advice from anyone, Austin is always my go-to person… except for right now, when it has to do with his little sister.
I don't know what to tell him. "It's nothing."
"Bullshit," he argues, not willing to let it go. "I can tell when something is going on. If you don't want to talk about it, I won't push you to, but you know I'm here if you need a sounding board."
I'm silent for a moment. I trust Austin more than any of my other friends or family. He's my best friend and I don't want to fuck that up. I don't want to lose him while I'm already in the process of losing his sister. "It's not something I can talk to you about."
There's a pregnant pause. He doesn't speak a word for the longest time and I find myself glancing at my phone screen to make sure our call is still connected. "It's about Ari, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Fuck," he mumbles into the speaker. I hear some commotion in the background but don't bother asking where he is. "My flight lands a little after four. I have to get my car and then I can pick up food and stop by."
Staring out at the ocean, I close my eyes, my nostrils flaring as I inhale deeply, feeling my lungs expanding as I take in a massive breath. There's no sense arguing with him, especially since he knows something happened with Aria. "I'll see you then."
"Yep," he says in a clipped tone before abruptly ending the call. I sigh as I lock my phone screen and resist the urge to throw it over the side of the deck. He didn't speak a single word about it on the phone, so I have no way of knowing how this is going to go. It can go one of two ways: really well or poorly. He's either going to be understanding or put his fist through my face.
I probably deserve the latter at this point.
***
It's later in the evening and I just spent the entire day doing nothing productive. It was our one day off from skating, so there wasn't anywhere I needed to be. There were at least a dozen times throughout the day that I picked up my phone, opened my messages, and stared at the thread between Aria and I. I wanted to text her so badly, but I couldn't do it. Not after the way she left. What was I supposed to do? Beg her to come back? Go find her?
I wasted the day being stuck in my head instead.
My doorbell rings and I slowly get up from where I've been vegging out on the couch. I flip on the light in the foyer and pause inside the door that leads into the kitchen. I see Austin standing on the other side, holding a bag of takeout as he peers through the glass window. His gaze catches mine and I motion for him to open the door and come in. He usually doesn't wait for me to answer the door if it's unlocked.
This feels like a bad sign.
Austin begins to let himself in, so I walk into the kitchen to wait. I reach into a cabinet and pull out two glasses and set them down on the massive island that occupies the space in the center of the room. Austin walks in just as I'm grabbing a bottle of whiskey and I set it down next to the cups.
He raises an eyebrow at me as he lifts his arm and puts the bag on the counter. "Well, the whiskey tells me everything I need to know," he says with a frown as he reaches into the bag and pulls out two Styrofoam containers. He pops them open, revealing rice and empanadas. Austin walks past me, grabs two forks from the drawer, and moves around to the other side of the island. I watch him, tilting my head to the side as he sits down on one of the stools and slides a container of food in front of himself.
