I grinned as I recognized Ari’s voice. She slipped under my arms.
“Brian . . .”
I caressed her cheek even though I recognized her tone. She wanted something. “Tell me, honey.”
I ignored Blaze’s and Amelia’s grossed-out expressions as Ari and I rubbed the tips of our noses against each other.
“We were thinking about throwing a party . . .”
“Okay,” I grumbled despondently.
The deck was stacked against me, which was why I gave in so easily.
Ari ran her fingers through my hair to ruffle it as she gazed at me with her cat eyes.
“Okay? Just like that, without putting up a fight? If I’d asked you, you’d have told me to go to hell,” Blaze exclaimed.
Ari smiled. “It’s the way I ask him, Blaze,” she revealed.
“Yeah, it’s the long eyelashes.”
“And the great tits that you don’t have, Blaze,” added Amelia, inappropriate like always.
Blaze jumped up as the bell rang. He’d been really elusive lately. In fact, I thought he was seeing June on the sly.
“Wanna study together?” he asked before heading out.
“Brian’s with me today,” interjected Ari.
“Leave them alone, Blaze. They’re making me nauseated,” Amelia said.
Blaze and Amelia disappeared as Ari threw her arms around my neck.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea, I have to study today,” I said.
“You always have to study. Can you at least make up another excuse?”
“It’s not a lie, it’s true.” My voice barely cracked.
Would there always be this divide between us? Would the day ever come when I could tell her everything?
“We’ve been together for two years, Brian,” she muttered under her breath.
“I know. But I can’t today.”
“Then promise me you’ll come to the party this weekend. Do it for me. Don’t say you will and then not show up.”
I nodded absentmindedly. “I promise.”
“And promise that you’re not gonna go home trashed.”
“You know I can’t drink. We have games.”
She suddenly had a dark look on her face. She fiddled with the ponytail, which fell on her back before she started talking again. “I’m referring to getting beaten up if you get into it with James.”
I heard an annoying whistle, which made it impossible to think reasonably. “Why do you call him by his first name?”
“Brian . . .”
