40. Lucia
forty
Lucia
Ella
Welcome back, everyone, to the land of cold and snow
Ari
I hate hot weather, but I already miss Florida
Knox
I’d much rather be back here
Harlow
I’d much rather have you here, too *kissing emoji*
Cole
Please go be newlyweds somewhere else
Knox
Bedroom would work just fine for that
Cole
I hate you
Rory
Just meet me in our bedroom, then *winking emoji*
Harlow
Gag
Lucia
Seems like the Pierce siblings are in typical form
Lane
I missed their constant bickering
Ari
That’s weird
Lane
But I’m Liv’s weirdo
Olive
You are, baby
Lucia
Oh my God
I’m too single for this shit
Ari
Can they all just go fuck and leave us alone?
Josh
Hang on
Wait a second before you all start ripping your clothes off
Ella
We haven’t all hung out together on a casual night in since Lucia and Ari stopped hating each other
Lucia
We didn’t hate each other
Ari
We just didn’t like each other
Ella
Yeah, yeah
You’re friends now, and that’s all we care about
Josh
Anyway
Why doesn’t everyone come over to our place tomorrow night?
We’ll have a little fun before the season starts
Harlow
We’re in
Knox
We are?
Harlow
Yes
Wife makes the rules, Slick
Rory
We’ll be there, too
Olive
Same with us
We can have my parents or Paul watch Sage, probably
Lucia
I’ll be there
Ari
Me too
Ella
Perfect!
We’ll see everyone tomorrow night
I lightly laugh and shake my head at our friends’ antics as I set my phone down beside me on the sofa. I’m curled up under a blanket, watching one of my favorite romcoms.
“Oh, I love this one,” Ari smiles as he joins me out in the living room, a giant bowl of popcorn in hand.
“You like 13 Going On 30?”
He shrugs. “I watch and read romances. Sue me.” I chuckle as he sets the popcorn bowl on the coffee table before he eyes my end of the sofa. “Make some room, Torres.”
“Don’t you usually sit on the other end?” I ask, scooching over anyway.
“You’ve got the blanket.”
I smile as he sits down beside me, and I adjust the blanket to cover us both. Ari leans back against the cushions, arms draped across the top of the sofa.
He peers down at me and smirks. “Nice hoodie, Spitfire.”
“It’s mine now, Casanova,” I state.
“Looks better on you anyway.”
The admission is small, but it still sends my heart racing.
The things I’m starting to feel around Ari are making me nervous. It’s hard to care, though, when he shows me this soft and sweet side of himself.
I used to think he was shallow and cocky.
I was right about him being cocky, but Ari has more depth to him than I ever imagined. The version of himself he shares with the world isn’t all he is. He’s so much more, and I love getting to be with this honest version of him.
We get absorbed in the movie, and slowly, he lets his arm fall from where it rests on the back of the sofa, letting it come to drape around my shoulders. He shoots me a soft smile, and I lean my head on him.
It feels dangerous, sitting with him like this.
I just can’t find it in me to care.
I’m going to enjoy the moment for what it is.
“It’s been way too long since we’ve done this,” Harlow exclaims, sipping her glass of wine.
Currently, the ten of us are all spread across Josh and Ella’s living room, mostly on the furniture. Ari and I, though, took spots opposite each other on the floor so there was enough room for everyone.
“It’s nice to get everyone together again,” Ari adds. “Especially with Lucia and me not wanting to kill each other.”
I bark out a laugh. “It’s a wonder they’re all still friends with us after we made every get-together over the past two years completely miserable.”
“Oh, hush,” Rory chides. “It wasn’t miserable. We were all just waiting it out until you realized you’d be good friends.”
“But,” Lane smirks, “it is nice to have a much quieter time for once.”
“Fuck off, Brooks,” I laugh.
“At least we get to relax tonight before the season starts this week,” Knox says.
“About that…” Josh says, trying to tamp down a smile. “Ella and I thought of a fun game.”
“If you tell me it’s Monopoly, I’m leaving.”
“As if any of us would play Monopoly with Brooks again,” Cole laughs.
“What the hell did I do to get shit on so much tonight?” Lane asks emphatically.
“It’s not Monopoly,” Ella cuts in.
Olive looks at her in curiosity. “What is it then?”
“It’s a scavenger hunt. Something a little different than what we usually do.”
“Oh, I love scavenger hunts!” Harlow says happily.
“You love everything, Lo,” I laugh, and she just shrugs.
“Anyway,” Josh says. “Ell has your first clue. See if you can work it out.”
Ella hands the clue off to Olive, and the rest of us gather around to see what’s written.
I don’t really understand why we’re doing a scavenger hunt randomly, but at least it’s something different to break up the monotony.
“What’s it say?” Rory prods as Liv reads through it.
“Where is the only place where today comes before yesterday?”
Harlow groans. “I didn’t know they were going to be riddles.”
“Shit,” I breathe. “I’ve never been good at those.”
“Nobody is good at riddles.” Cole rolls his eyes. “How the hell do we figure this out then?”
“It’s a dictionary,” Ari says out of nowhere, and we all turn to look at him in disbelief.
“A dictionary?” Lane asks.
“Put the words in alphabetical order, and today comes before yesterday.” He shrugs like he’s not just revealed himself to be some sort of riddle genius.
“Check the bookshelf!” Liv yells.
We all cross the room to the bookshelf they have on the far wall, and I catch Ari’s attention while we do. “Didn’t know you were good at riddles, Casanova.”
He smiles at me softly. “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, sweetheart.”
I don’t have a chance to reply before Knox finds the dictionary—who has a physical dictionary anymore?—and pulls out another clue.
He reads it out loud. “Take off my skin. I won’t cry, but you will! What am I?”
“What the fuck kind of clue is that?” Rory grumbles. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Ari sighs next to me. “It’s an onion.”
“Ohhhh,” Harlow drawls, understanding dawning on her.
“You’ve been holding back on us, Morgan,” Lane laughs as we all make our way into the kitchen.
“I’m smarter than I look.”
I elbow him playfully. “You already look smart in those glasses, Ari.” He smiles at me brightly.
Cole is the first to find the bag of onions on the counter, so he reads the next clue. “I have no life, but I can die. What am I?” He mulls it over for a moment. “Sounds like Knox to me.”
“You’re a dick,” he huffs.
Lane looks at Ari. “Alright, Mr. Genius. What is it?”
Ari laughs and shakes his head. “A battery.”
Rory checks one of the kitchen drawers and finds the next clue on a pack of batteries. “What loses its head in the morning but gets it back at night?”
“Oh, I know that one!” I yell excitedly. “That’s a pillow!”
The group turns to Ari for confirmation. “She’s right.”
“Probably the guest bedroom, then,” Liv says, so we all walk down the hall and enter the room.
On the pillow lies yet another clue. Ari picks this one up.
“On a bus sits a 31-year-old pregnant woman, a 42-year-old policeman, a 54-year-old man, and a 65-year-old driver. Who is the youngest?”
We all look at him, confused, but Cole is the first to speak. “What kind of riddle is that? They already gave us the ages. The woman is the youngest.”
“It’s not the woman,” Ari says. “This is one of those riddles to trick you into thinking the answer is easy. The woman is pregnant, so the youngest would actually be her baby.”
“So, the baby of the pregnant lady,” I state back. “Where do we find th—”
I cut off and whip my head around when it clicks into place, finding Josh and Ella standing in the doorway. They’ve taken their sweaters off, revealing the T-shirts they had underneath that read Mommy and Daddy.
Ella rests her head on Josh’s shoulder with the brightest smile I’ve ever seen. “Surprise.”
As the rest of the group puts it together, I dart across the room and throw my arms around them. “Oh my God, guys!”
Everyone joins in now for a collective group hug.
“I thought you took a break from trying,” Cole says.
“We did,” Josh smiles. “And Ella ended up pregnant anyway.”
“How far along are you?” Harlow asks excitedly.
Ella rests her hand over her belly. “Seven weeks, but we couldn’t wait to tell you guys. I’m due in the middle of November.”
“You can have the baby after we win the World Series, then,” Ari chuckles. “Congratulations, guys. We’re so fucking happy for you.”
Josh gazes down at his wife with hearts in his eyes. “Our little miracle.”
They did it.
Josh and Ella are finally pregnant.
They finally get what they’ve been wanting.
I look over at Ari to see how he’s reacting, but I’m surprised to see his eyes on me.
His breathing is heavy, and the look on his face is like he wants to consume me.
I’ve never seen that from him before, but the air between us is charged, and my pull to him is magnetic.
I close the distance between us, and he throws his arms around my shoulders.
Brushing his lips over my ear, Ari whispers, “We’re celebrating them a bit longer, but we’re getting out of here as soon as possible.” He pulls his head back a little, and I can feel the heat from his eyes. “I really need to get you home.”
All I can do is nod and agree.