Chapter Twenty-Two #2
“Definitely not,” Liana said immediately, “as long as you don’t mind driving through the West Side.”
“Oh, well, I figured I’d drive to my place, and you guys could just walk across the park.”
Liana’s eyes widened, a solid reminder that Judah’s dry sense of humor was not for everyone. “He’s kidding,” Ari said wryly.
“Thank God.” Liana rested a hand over her heart, and then her gaze lifted over his head as she spotted someone she knew.
“Oh, Ollie, there’s Jacob! He looks like he wants to play with you and give Auntie Leelee a break.
Looking forward to hearing you sing!” she added over her shoulder as she walked Oliver over to his friend, leaving Ari alone with Judah.
“Hi,” he said quietly, the word stealing all of his breath.
“I should’ve guessed you’d be here.” She rolled her eyes. “Can’t have a party without Ein Klein Hotmusic.”
“Arielle—”
“How was Mexico?” she asked brightly, the fakest of smiles pasted on her face. “I don’t think we’ve spoken since then.”
Ah, so that was how she wanted to play it. Okay, then. “Yeah, glad to see you’ve recovered from your mysterious illness the Shabbos I came to Akiva’s.”
“Oh, the Shabbos your child bride stayed in my apartment?” Her eyebrows rose, perfect arches in her lightly tanned skin.
“Yes, that would be the Shabbos you apparently said something to her about kissing,” he shot back. “Thanks for that.”
“You’re welcome for that, considering I had to hear how well it worked out for you.”
That shut him up. Somehow, it hadn’t occurred to him that she’d heard them, even though in retrospect, of course she had. She’d been in her bedroom, and given that it was Shabbos, she wouldn’t have been watching TV or immersed in her phone. His stomach twisted with guilt.
And just as quickly, that guilt turned into irritation. “Shouldn’t you be pleased, seeing as you were the one who told me to move on as soon as possible?”
“That is not what I—”
“Hey!” Liana threw an arm around Arielle’s neck, pulling her close. “Time for s’mores! And Judah, I hear Brielle’s looking for you.”
“Then I guess I’ll go find her.” Judah smiled tightly. “I’ll see you two later.”
“Sounds good!” Liana said cheerfully, steering Ari toward the table of graham crackers, marshmallows, and Hershey bars.
He watched them go. But Arielle never turned back.
As soon as the girls were out of Judah’s eyeline, Liana yanked Ari down to the grass.
“Hey!” she protested. “I thought we were getting s’mores!”
“How long has something been going on between you and Judah Klein, exactly?”
Crap crap crap crap crap. “There’s nothing going on between me and Judah Klein.”
“Oh, don’t insult my intelligence. I heard the two of you, and what’s more important, I saw you. That was not the tension of two people fighting because he was a jerk to you at a wedding a billion years ago. What the hell is going on?”
“Nothing’s going on.” Arielle sighed and hoisted herself up to get them cans of seltzer from the drinks table. She handed one to Liana and cracked hers open as she took a seat next to her. “He has a girlfriend, as you know.”
“But something was going on at some point?”
She stared at the surface of the can, listening to the bubbles float to the surface. “Does it matter?”
“Does it—Arielle Rose Becker, since when do you keep secrets from me? Especially about guys?”
Ari exhaled sharply. “Since the guy was Judah Klein, okay? He’s singing under your chuppah. Do you really want to think about where that mouth has been?”
Liana blinked. Once. Twice. “I’m sorry, are you telling me you have hooked up with Judah Klein?”
“Actually, if you recall, I wasn’t telling you anything.
” Ari took a long drink, then rested the can against her forehead.
In truth, she wasn’t quite sure why she was resisting telling Liana.
They didn’t keep secrets, especially where guys were concerned.
But Judah was different. It didn’t feel like fun gossip. It felt like …
Well, it didn’t matter what it felt like. In the end, it was little more than a fun week over a month ago. That it somehow loomed larger—that it somehow felt like everything—was a problem she’d take to her grave.
“Ari.”
Oh, crap. When had that tear even formed? She quickly swiped it away and was horrified when another simply rolled down her other cheek instead. Suddenly, she found herself swept into a hug, and after a few seconds of remaining still as stone, she finally let herself melt into it.
A few minutes, a couple of tissues, and two of the promised s’mores later, Arielle finally relented.
“It really wasn’t planned,” she said grumpily, eyes fixed on the bonfire.
“One second, we were arguing at Aleah’s wedding; the next, we were kissing.
I probably never would’ve even thought about it again if he hadn’t come to that meal at Akiva’s apartment right before his party. ”
“Liar.”
She was, indeed, a liar. “Shut up and let me have this.”
Liana grinned as she swiped a graham cracker crumb from her lips. “Fine.”
“Anyway, it was a long wedding, and we were both stuck there until the end, and there may have been some more making out.”
“Sure. May have been.”
Arielle narrowed her eyes. “Listen, Miss ‘I’m in a functional relationship that’s actually going somewhere’—don’t judge me.”
“I am not judging!” Liana insisted, holding up her hands. “I would never judge. I just cannot imagine Judah Klein making out with … anybody. He doesn’t seem like the type to, well, enjoy himself. Ever.”
“Right? And it’s not like I didn’t think the same thing. Honestly, the only reason that first kiss even happened is that neither of us really made the first move. It just sort of … happened. Like magnets.”
“Judah Klein is a magnetic kisser.”
“Judah Klein is an extremely magnetic kisser, unfortunately.”
Liana smiled ruefully and squeezed Ari’s ankle, which would have been a very sweet gesture if it didn’t remind her of Judah doing that exact same thing on her couch the morning after the party. Such an innocuous move, with such dangerous results …
“You don’t know that it’s serious with Mira, do you? I mean, she’s not here with him,” Liana pointed out.
“It’s a Lag Ba’Omer party at which he’s hired to sing. I don’t think that requires girlfriend attendance.”
“Still, you can’t convince me Judah’s the kind of guy who just goes around kissing girls at weddings. There’s something there.”
“I thought so,” Ari muttered. “We also may have done more than kissing.”
Liana was an expert at arching an eyebrow so high it could dust a ceiling fan, but she was in rare form even for her. “When?” she demanded. “Before Mira, I assume. Please tell me it was before Mira.”
“Of course it was before Mira.” Ari was a lot of things, but she wasn’t a cheater. “It was at Akiva’s party.”
“I didn’t even see you.”
“Do you think we fooled around on a table in the middle of the bar?” Ari snorted. “Please. I lured him into one of the upstairs bathrooms like the classy lady I am.”
“Are we talking, like, under-the-shirt action? Or are we talking like I should never, ever use one of those bathrooms ever again?”
Ari said nothing, taking a noisy sip instead.
“Arielle Becker.”
“You promised no judgment!”
“I’m still not judging you! I’m impressed!
And admittedly, extremely curious as to what you managed up there, but I will not ask.
” She fixed her gaze on Ari. “Wow, okay, so you hooked up that night, and a week later he goes away for Pesach and meets Mira, and that’s the end of that? Did you even speak in between?”
So much for keeping that part to herself. “Um, yeah, we did speak that week. Like, a lot. And ‘speak’ is definitely a euphemism.”
“Oh my God.” Liana’s jaw dropped open. “You little liar. The night of the storm you told me you got stuck at a guy’s apartment—”
“I did get stuck at a guy’s apartment! That was not a lie!”
“Yeah, but the guy was Judah. That is, at the very least, a massive lie of omission.” Her expression changed quickly from ire to wonder. “Judah Klein has tefillin dates.”
“Well, technically it was not a tefillin date because I went to his place; his tefillin was already there.”
“Technically, you slept in Judah Klein’s bed.”
“I also sat on Judah Klein’s face. The sleeping part is really the least of it.”
“You—” Liana huffed out a breath. “I really should never doubt that there’s a man alive you cannot bring to his knees. Literally.”
“Did you doubt it? Wow. That’s actually pretty offensive, Lee.”
Liana shook her head. “You are amazing. How was it? I must know. I know I should apologize for asking or pretend I care that it’s none of my business, but I actually just have to know.”
“Does Gideon know you’re this big a perv?”
“Gideon’s already had sex; he doesn’t get an opinion on my perviness. And don’t change the subject. I’ve earned this.”
Ari sighed deeply. “Honestly? I don’t even know what to say about it. It was just fooling around. Or at least it was supposed to be. But”—she took a deep breath—“he’s so … God, I mean, the way he looks at you, you know?”
“No, I definitely don’t,” Liana said with a smirk. “But I can tell you I will not look at him the same way ever again.”
“It was like I was this wonder to behold, like he couldn’t believe he got to touch me. And he actually cared that I felt good. I’ve hooked up with a lot of guys, and no, I don’t need you to confirm that; I’m well aware. But I’ve never felt so fucking worshipped.”
She thought of all the times he’d just stared at her, like he wanted to commit every inch of her to memory. The times he told her she was beautiful, as if it were a universally accepted fact. The look in his eyes when he first saw her in lingerie. God, if she could bottle that look …
“So, magnetic kisser and worshipful in bed. This is fascinating.”
Ari rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t make herself shut up. It felt so good to finally talk about it rather than trying to lock everything up in a box and hide it in the back of the closet. “Also, shockingly, wonderfully filthy.”
Liana’s eyes widened. “I can’t tell if you’re just making fun of me now.”
“Talks dirty at least as well as he sings. And it was just so … fun? I had such a good time with him, even when we weren’t fooling around. I did a fucking Lego with him, for God’s sake.”
“Sacred!”
“I know! And I thought for sure I’d be bored by the end of the week—I honestly did—but instead it was like…”
Liana’s eyes softened. “Like you were excited to be coming home to him?”
Oof. “Yeah,” Ari said quietly. “Like that.”
“Ari.” Liana reached over and squeezed her hand. “You’re allowed to have feelings for a guy.”
“I know I’m allowed to have feelings for a guy,” Ari lied, “but Judah’s not a guy.
He’s … a stupid fucking celebrity. People pay him to perform.
He always looks goddamn perfect. He has a fucking sponge organizer in the meticulous apartment that he owns.
And most importantly, he’s with someone else.
And she’s thin and pretty and sweet and tznius, and if he wanted someone like me, he wouldn’t be with someone like her, okay?
I’m not the girl you take home to your parents or show off at fancy Pesach programs.”
“I’m happy to bring you home to my parents any day,” Liana said with a sniff. “And that’s his loss.”
Ari laughed and wrapped her arms around Liana’s elbow, pulling her close and resting her head upon her best friend’s.
“If it weren’t for all the stupid things in the way, like your fiancé and our unfortunate heterosexuality, I’d snatch you up in a heartbeat, Liana Baila. You’re gonna be a great wife.”
“Soon by you, Ariella Rachel. Soon by you.”