He gulps, willing away the fireworks that are ricocheting through his middle. Willing away the rising attraction. “For you? Of course.”
Griffin turns to look out the window, and inside he’s telling himself off. It’s not that he shouldn’t be enjoying his time with Aria; it’s the obvious swelling of what was once a crush becoming a genuine attraction. She’s now a real-life woman—one who is even more interesting than the public version he’d already grown a soft spot for.
Stay in the friend zone. Friend zone only.
Griffin was sure that Aria did not sign up for this arrangement looking for a date.
Chapter 8
Aria
Aria meant it when she said Griffin was being generous for offering the ride. After one too many strange rideshare experiences, her security team made her promise never to use one again, and if she were to have done it tonight and they’d found out, they would take to following her around everywhere again. Nights like tonight where she can pretend to—somewhat—be a regular person are nice. Like shedding the Aria Wilder persona for a little while and just being herself.
Griffin sits beside her, his giant palms planted on his wide knees.
Aria rests her head back onto the leather seat, closes her eyes, and lets out a long, slow breath. When she opens them, Griffin sits grinning at her on the other side of the seat.
“Tough life, huh?”
A lazy smile crosses Aria’s face, then she shrugs. “There are perks. But...”
Again, Aria is overcome by the impulse to keep her professionalism before her like a shield, to be grateful for the fans, delighted by her success. But for a moment she wonders whether Griffin is someone she could be honest with.
“It’s not all fun and games.”
Aria nods. “What’s the hardest part for you?”
Griffin reaches an arm across his chest to massage his shoulder. “Aside from getting beat up every weekend during the season, it’s how it takes over your whole life.”
Aria, too, feels like she’s been consumed by the public-facing version of herself. There’s so much more to her, but all of her people—her agent, Kelsey, the record label—don’t seem interested in including the other parts of her in her professional work.
“It’s like getting boxed in.”
Griffin turns and looks out the window, even though beyond the glass is only the dark of night. “You have to show up and be that same person every day.”
“Did you always know you wanted to be a football player?”
“Well, it wasn’t exactly family tradition. Everyone else is a doctor, nurse, or some sort of tech in the field. But I was always a big kid. I grew fast, and football came easy to me.” His cheeks turn slightly pink. “Sorry, I’m not trying to brag—”
“You’re safe with me,” Aria cuts in. She really does mean it. It’s surprisingly interesting hearing more about Griffin. Despite his success, he seems so down-to-earth. So genuinely kind. “And I know what it feels like to always watch yourwords. To worry about saying the wrong thing or being misunderstood and being canceled or shamed online,” Aria says.
Griffin casts his hands across the front of him as if he’s presenting the hypothetical headline: “Griffin Hayes, star tight end, also an arrogant devil?”
Aria laughs. “You know they would.”
It’s the truth about being famous. Every word can be pulled out of context and circulated online with no regard for the meaning or intent behind the words. It further reinforces the pressure to be one person with canned talking points, to never stray too far from the script.
“I guess to be entirely honest, football is really the only thing I’ve ever been good at,” Griffin says.
“I’m sure you’ve got plenty of hidden talents in there.”
Griffin’s face drops momentarily before he pulls in a breath and speaks. “What about you? What’s the hardest part?”
“There’s plenty of hard.” Aria considers telling him about her real struggle—the new album. Even though she feels remarkably comfortable with him and they have become fast friends, she just met him. They barely know each other. “Definitely the same stuff you mentioned, but also the restrictions. There are so many times I’d love to just spontaneously head out for coffee with Bailey or go shopping. But again, security has to be notified. Sometimes I manage to get out on my own, but there’s so much freedom and independence lost.”
“I got it easy in that department. I’m just too big for most people to kidnap.”
Aria’s cheeks crease into a smile so deep it starts to hurt. “A perk, for sure.”
