Page 37 of Saving Wyatt

He shook his head and dropped his leather briefcase down by the armchair as he did every day when he was back from work. "I'm okay for now. I probably slept funny, but I just wanted to be safe."

"Are you sure?" I asked and put my backpack on the sofa too.

Ari glanced at it, then at me, and I couldn't help but feel a little weaker under his gaze.

"Are you going somewhere?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah. I...uhm...the Lodge has a spare room for a while, so I thought I'd go there."

"What?" Ari said, unzipping his winter coat. "Why? You don't like it here?"

Was it me or did he sound sad?

"No, of course I do. But I don't like feeling like...like a burden," I said.

"You're not a burden!"

"Thank you, but it's not just that. I don't want to be in your way⁠—"

"You aren't in my way," he replied.

"Of course you'd say that, but my presence here is obviously affecting you guys. Warren hasn't been home all week, and I wouldn't want my being here to cause any problems."

"Problems? What problems?" he asked. "He's a grown man. He's probably chasing after a skirt or something."

I grimaced. "Oh. I assumed..." I said and stopped before I put my foot in my mouth.

"You assumed what?" he asked.

I shook my head, trying to dismiss the question, but Ari stepped in front of me and insisted.

It was hard to resist him when he was so close, when his lips were mere inches away from mine. When the smell of his sweet perfume made me salivate.

"I just assumed you two were...an item," I mumbled.

"A what?" Ari said, his brows knotted in confusion for a moment, then he started laughing. "You thought your brother and I are in a relationship? Oh my God! That's so funny."

"Is it?" I mumbled.

"It so is. Warren is so straight he can't even look to the side. And I'm definitely not interested in him."

Was it me or had the way he phrased that meant he was interested in another man?

Maybe I was projecting again, but the way he gazed into my eyes made me feel all weak and breathless. He made me feel seen in a way I hadn't felt in a very long time.

"Why would you think we're together?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. The way you are when you're together. How worried you were when he wasn't answering his phone."

"I worry about all my friends," he said.

"You also mentioned leaving Greece for love, so I assumed..."

Ari laughed. He laughed like I'd just told the biggest joke.

"Oh goodness. No. I didn't leave Greece for Warren. Not that there's anything wrong with him, of course. But I didn't even know him back then."

I nodded, feeling my cheeks turn red from the embarrassment.