Chapter 38 Ari #2
“Me?” said Ari, feigning innocence. She wasn’t being mean-spirited, she just liked having a rival to bounce off.
It was fun. Feuds had existed since the dawn of creation, and knowing someone was praying for her downfall gave her a reason to work harder.
The animosity between them made them both play better.
The fabled rivalry raised the stakes of every game.
“What kind of fucked-up psychological warfare is this?” Thandie asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Language, honey,” her grandpa warned.
“Do you really think I would go to all of this effort just to throw you off your game?” said Ari.
“Actually, I don’t care why you did it, because I’m going to enjoy every single minute of destroying your team on the rink regardless,” said Thandie, glaring at Ari as she pointed a dessert spoon in her direction.
“Okay, here’s the cheese fond—oh,” said the waitress, who’d just arrived at their table with a trolley topped by a large copper-colored fondue pot.
“Don’t worry, sweetie, you can go ahead,” Drew’s grandma said, shooting an intense behave glare at all three of them.
The whole table sat in silence as the waitress laid out their food, the tension palpable.
When she was done, they all gave her polite, slightly embarrassed thank-yous before going back to where they’d left off with Thandie, directing her annoyance at her brother.
“Of all the people in the world, her? When did you even meet each other?” asked Thandie, annoyed but curious.
“New Year’s Eve, at Klaus’s party,” Drew said, speaking up at last. Ari looked over at him. He had a strange look in his eyes. She wondered if he was thinking about the same moment up on the roof that she was thinking about. That kiss at midnight and everything that had happened since.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Thandie asked.
“It’s complicated,” Drew said.
“Oh, I’m sure it is,” Thandie said, forcing her fork into a chunk of bread, dipping it into the fondue, and taking an angry bite.
“Well, for the record, I approve,” his grandma said, patting Ari on the shoulder and giving her a kind, reassuring smile.
“If you make Drew happy, you’re perfect.
Right, honey?” she said, looking over at her husband, who was having a lovely time dipping different vegetables into the fondue pot.
He took a bite of cheese-coated potato and looked up, nodding in agreement.
“Absolutely. You look better than you have for months, kid,” their grandpa said, examining Drew with what looked like relief. “I know you’ve had a tough year. You deserve to be happy.”
Ari’s heart sank. Drew’s family was so sweet that she felt bad lying to them.
They were already going through so much.
His grandma’s illness, Drew’s abrupt life changes, and having to keep secrets from Thandie.
She didn’t want to be responsible for bringing another lie into the picture if it had the potential to hurt someone.
So, she looked over at Drew, trying to communicate the fact that they needed to give it up, but he looked just as conflicted as she was.
“Are you actually happy, Drew?” asked Thandie, her tone genuine for a moment.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to crush your little leg-breaking girlfriend at the quarterfinals,” Thandie said, glaring at Ari before turning her head back to her brother.
“But, Drew, if you’re genuinely happy…” There was a searching look in her eyes as she examined her brother’s face.
Their grandparents were looking over at her with hopeful expressions, as if Ari was the solution to their grandson’s problems. And as she realized that Thandie might be willing to put aside her long-held grudge for the sake of her brother’s happiness, Ari realized that they’d gone too far.
She couldn’t bear the thought of lying to his grandparents when they’d been nothing but kind to her.
So, she slowly detangled her hand from Drew’s.
He looked down and then over at her. He looked guilty, too.
As if he’d just realized that their game of pretend wasn’t as harmless as he’d hoped it would be.
“Drew,” she said quietly as they looked over at each other. They didn’t need to say anything to know they were going through the same thought process. They had to end this before anyone got hurt.
“It’s not … it’s not real,” he admitted. “We were just pretending to date.”
“What?” said his grandparents in unison.
“Drew. I hope you’re lying, because if you made this up as some sort of dumb joke, I am going to disown you,” said Thandie, getting annoyed again. She hadn’t changed one bit since she was fourteen years old, Ari thought. It was kind of endearing.
“Andrew, what are you talking about?” his grandpa asked, more seriously. Ari stopped smiling. She looked over at Drew; his whole body had deflated.
“We’re not actually dating, it was just … mutually beneficial to pretend we were,” he admitted.
“But you told us you met a girl you liked on New Year’s Eve all the way back in January,” his grandma said, confused. “Have you been pretending all this time?” she asked, looking at Ari, whose face no doubt betrayed her surprise.
He’d told his grandparents about her back in January? She caught his eye, and then he looked away. She’d been thinking about him ever since then, too.
“This is the girl you met on the roof, right?” his grandpa asked, looking between them.
“She is,” Drew said, lost for words. “But it’s complicated. I mean—”
“You don’t have to pretend that you don’t like each other for Thandie’s sake,” said Drew’s grandpa as he looked at Thandie with a fond, loving smile.
“Et tu, Brute?” she asked, looking at her grandpa in mock betrayal.
“We’re not really together,” said Drew, finally admitting the lie. “It was all just pretend.” Drew glanced over at Ari. She held his gaze for a moment and then looked away. The table was silent.
“You don’t look at each other like it’s all just pretend,” his grandma said with a curious eye.
“You’re right. It looks pretty real to me.” Drew’s grandpa nodded.
Ari and Drew locked eyes for a moment. It did feel pretty real. But that didn’t mean anything.
“Well…” said Ari, not sure what to say, “Drew and I are just friends. It wouldn’t—”
“It wouldn’t work out,” Drew finished, not looking her in the eyes. Which was good, because she could feel hers starting to sting.
“There are at least a dozen reasons why it wouldn’t end well, right?” she said, trying too hard to sound chipper as she leaned back and began to pull her chair out.
“Ari,” Drew said as she stood up and plastered on a smile.
“I’ve got to go to … training,” she lied.
She and the team didn’t have anything else scheduled for the day except resting after the afternoon’s big game.
But it had been a long day, and this wasn’t how she wanted to spend her evening.
“I’m sorry for intruding on your family dinner.
It was lovely to meet you,” she said, looking over at his grandparents. Then she glanced over at Thandie.
“See you on the rink,” Thandie said, but there wasn’t an ounce of venom in her words this time. It seemed like she was just as exhausted as Ari was.
“Let me walk you out,” said Drew, standing up. But Ari’s eyes continued to sting, so she shook her head.
“No, I’m good. I can take care of myself,” she said, tucking her chair in and rapidly blinking away the tears that were just a few seconds away from falling.
“We’re not together, remember?” She watched a wave of disappointment wash over his face, but his feelings weren’t hers to worry about anymore.
So, she put on her coat, picked up the bag, and began to reach for the scarf she’d walked in wearing. But as she looked at the embroidered name on the scarf, she realized that while it fit perfectly, kept her warm, and smelled like home, the scarf wasn’t hers to keep. And neither was Drew.