4. Aria
CHAPTER FOUR
Grabbing my latte, I turn around inside the coffee shop looking for my best friend Brynn just as my phone starts ringing in my purse. I pull it out and see my brother’s name on the screen at the same time I spot Brynn. She’s across the room, sitting at one of the tables along the wall made of windows. I catch her gaze and hold my hand up to show her my phone before I answer the call.
“Hey,” I say as I step out of the way of a group who steps up to the counter. My brother and I talk regularly, so his call isn’t completely unexpected.
“What are you doing?” Austin asks me in greeting.
“Getting coffee with Brynn. What’s up?”
“I went out with Leo last night,” he tells me. I can’t tell if he’s in a bad mood or what, but his tone is a bit clipped. “He’s not happy about skating with you.”
“Yeah.” I laugh softly, shaking my head. “I already told you that.”
“If he’s an asshole in any way, I need you to tell me.”
I roll my eyes as I hold my phone against my ear. “I’m a big girl, Austin. I don’t need you to fight my battles for me.”
“Well, you’re still my sister. I don’t care if we’re in a nursing home and someone is an asshole to you then. I’ll still defend you.”
My brother has always been there for me. When we were young, our mother left our father and it made the two of us form a close bond. We moved to a brand-new town and didn’t know anyone. Austin is only a year older than me, but he doesn’t treat me like I am any different. He always treats me like his equal and always looks out for me.
“Did you really call me to tell me to snitch on your best friend if he’s mean to me?” I can’t help but laugh. “Please, Austin. You need to get a hobby or find something better to do.”
“Leo can be a dick sometimes.”
“And so can you. Like right now, interrupting my coffee date with Brynn.” I pull my phone away and glance at the time before holding it up to my ear again. “So, I’m going to go now.”
“How is she?” Austin asks with a hint of amusement in his voice. “I haven’t seen her in quite some time. Does her ass still look as good?—”
“I’m hanging up now.”
Austin laughs and I pull the phone away from my ear as I abruptly end the call. He’s absolutely ridiculous, but I love him all the same.
Brynn is staring out the window, like she’s lost in thought when I walk over to the table. On the other side of the glass, you can see people walking down the street. Idyll Cove isn't a very busy place. It's more of a sleepy little town where people move at their own pace.
It's comfortable. It's home.
Brynn and I met five years ago on the night we both turned twenty-one. I was living in Charleston at the time and we were both out with our separate group of friends. Brynn and I have the same birthday and we ran into each other outside of a bar when we both got separated from our friends. We ended up stumbling down the street, barhopping through a row of dive bars. Things got a little fuzzy by the end of the night. We ended up back at Brynn's apartment where she ended up getting sick. Brynn fell asleep on the bathroom floor, hugging the toilet, and I woke up in the bathtub.
It was quite the night, but it was what started our friendship. Brynn and I instantly hit it off that night and we've been close friends ever since.
"Okay, I need the details immediately," Brynn says as I sit down across from her. She props her elbows on the table and rests her chin on her balled-up fists. Her brunette hair hangs in curls past her shoulders and her bright blue eyes meet mine with an expectant look on her face.
I take a sip of my latte and set it down on the table. "There's not much to tell. We skated together this morning and agreed to be partners."
"But how was it?"
Brynn is my best friend, so naturally she knows everything there is to know about Leo Wells.
I shrug with indifference and adjust myself in my seat. My feet are planted on the floor and I shift and cross one leg over the other instead. If she wasn't my best friend, I would be embarrassed at how much I've talked to her about Leo. She knows that I'm not particularly fond of him, yet I still can't seem to keep my thoughts about him to myself. Thankfully, she's the only one I've confided in about him.
"It was good."
Brynn purses her lips and lifts her head as she folds her arms and rests them on the table. She doesn't look convinced. She looks like she doesn't believe a single word I said. "You're a terrible liar, Ari."
A sigh escapes me and I circle both of my hands around the warm cup. "It was like we had been skating together for years. I don't even know how to explain it. We were completely in sync." I pause for a moment, contemplating whether or not I should tell her the whole truth. "He almost kissed me after we finished."
Her eyes widen and her lips part slowly until her mouth forms an O and she covers it with her hand. She drops her hand and plants them both on the table. "No fucking way. What do you mean almost? What happened that he didn't kiss you?"
"One of the coaches came in while we were in the middle of skating and neither of us realized it. Leo's lips were literally about to touch mine when Coach Kincaid started clapping." I let out a deep exhale and shake my head as I play over the whole thing that happened a few hours ago. "I don't think he saw anything other than the two of us standing close. You know how some of the performances end, so I think it looked normal."
"Thank God," she lets out a breath of relief before her soft laughter floats through the air. Freckles cover the bridge of her nose and are peppered over the tops of her high cheekbones. "I told you, girl. He might act like he doesn't have a thing for you, but he totally does."
I shake my head in disagreement. With the exception of the one night we shared together, there's no way he feels anything for me other than dislike. “I promise you he doesn’t. We both got caught up in the moment, which is easy to do when you have adrenaline and emotion mixing together like that. I didn’t even attempt to stop him.”
Brynn laughs again and sits back in her seat as she picks up her drink and takes a sip. “You didn’t stop him because you wanted him to kiss you.”
I raise my eyebrows at her and I feel the heat prickling my skin as it threatens to travel across my cheeks. “Maybe,” I admit, dropping my voice to a quieter tone. “It doesn’t change the fact that he ignored me the past few months after we hooked up.”
“Oh, totally,” she agrees, nodding as she crosses her arms over her chest while holding her cup in one hand. “He’s a complete douchebag for ghosting you. Not cool and unforgivable, unless he does some apologizing and makes it up to you. Honestly, it's probably a good thing he didn't kiss you."
"You're right," I tell her as I have an enlightened moment, like a whole damn epiphany. "Who knows where it would have gone, and then that's just showing him he can do whatever he wants. Like I'm just here for whenever he wants something from me."
Brynn leans forward, setting down her coffee as she nods again eagerly. "We don't reward ghosting behavior with sexual favors. I swear to God, Ari, you better not give in to this man." She gives me a knowing look. "If you guys are going to skate together, you're going to have a lot of moments like this one. You cannot hook up with him or sleep with him until he makes it up to you. You're not just here for him to fuck around with when it pleases him. We only accept queen treatment here. He can go fuck himself with that fuck boy shit."
I can't help but laugh after she finishes her entire pep talk. I'll give it to her, she made some really good points. I don't know if I consider Leo a fuck boy, but I get what she's saying. And she's right. I can't let him think that any of this is okay. "The thing is, I don't even like him, Brynn. Like, he annoys me and pisses me off more than anyone else."
She tries to fight a smile and rolls her eyes. "Right. Whatever you say, girl. If you want to be delusional today, I can do that too."
Tilting my head to the side, I purse my lips and raise an eyebrow. Brynn is definitely a ride-or-die type of friend, but I'm not being delusional. "Seriously, it's so stupid. I'm not being delusional. I'll admit that I'm attracted to him, but that doesn't change how I feel about him personally. He has the good looks, he just doesn't have the right personality."
"Yes, girl, be shallow," she encourages, laughing softly. Brynn's entire face lights up as she smiles brightly. "You're not lying, though. He is hot."
"Aria Reed?"
Brynn lifts her gaze to look behind me at the deep voice that just spoke my name. I slowly turn around, following the direction of her eyes until I see the person standing behind me.
"Well, if it isn't Griffin Carr."
I rise to my feet as a smile creeps across my lips. Griffin closes the distance between us and sweeps me into his arms as he half swings me around. Griffin and I dated while we were in high school, but that was almost ten years ago now. We broke up the summer before my senior year. Griffin had graduated and was going to university in England and we agreed we were better off as friends. We kept in touch at first after he moved, but then our contact kind of dissipated.
He smells like pine trees and he hugs me tightly before we break apart. Griffin's dirty blond hair is combed to the side and he's wearing a black crewneck sweatshirt with a pair of gray washed pants and loafers. He always had a good taste in fashion and was always well put together. I see not much has changed in the past ten years since we last saw each other.
"How the hell are you?"
Griffin smiles, revealing his pearly white teeth. "I am great. How about you?"
"I'm really good," I tell him before sweeping my arm to Brynn. "This is my friend, Brynn. Brynn, this is Griffin. I think I told you about her before?"
"You guys are birthday twins, right?"
Brynn nods and holds her hand out to Griffin. "Nice to meet you. I've heard a few things about you."
"Good things, I hope?" he says as I sit back down across from Brynn. She motions to the other seat at the table and Griffin pulls it out before sitting down with us.
"Of course," I assure him with a warm smile. There wasn't anything bad anyone could say about Griffin Carr. Everyone loved him—except for Leo. "What brings you back to Idyll Cove? Are you still skating?"
Griffin was one of the best figure skaters in our area back in high school. He and Leo were always swapping places of who was winning the gold medal. Leo was a poor sport, so Griffin naturally became his rival. I personally think he hated how likable Griffin was. He was at the top of his class and graduated with honors. Even though he was an exceptional figure skater, he never wanted to do it professionally.
"I came back to visit family. My grandmother had a little health scare, so I figured it was time to come back." He pauses for a moment, folding his hands on his lap. "I don't skate anymore, unfortunately. I didn't have the time to keep up with it, and you know it was always just a hobby for me."
"It looks like you've been doing really well for yourself."
Griffin smiles and raises his eyebrows at me. "So have you, Ari. Look at you, living your literal dream right now. It's so amazing, I'm so proud of you."
He's nothing short of genuine and it warms my heart. "Thank you, Griffin. I wasn't sure it would happen, but here we are."
Brynn is sitting in silence, watching the entire interaction happening between us. She knows about Griffin, although there wasn't a whole lot to say. Our relationship was your typical happy high school relationship. It wasn't anything deep or long-lasting. There was never any drama or fights. We shared a few sweet moments together and a few kisses, but it never went any further than that.
"So, Griffin," Brynn breaks into the conversation as there's an elongated pause. "How long will you be staying in Idyll Cove?"
He looks at her with a soft expression. "I'll be here for about a month and then I have to get back to England."
She nods with a look of understanding as I take a sip of my lukewarm latte. "I'm sure your girlfriend is probably waiting for you to come home."
I half choke on my drink and break into a coughing fit. Brynn raises an eyebrow at me, silently telling me to get my shit together. Griffin looks extremely amused and I'm not sure if it's from me almost inhaling my drink into my lungs or from Brynn and her forward statement.
"Actually, I don't have a girlfriend waiting for me at home," Griffin admits with a chuckle. He's not uncomfortable with any part of the conversation and I'm grateful for that. Brynn isn't exactly afraid to be forward with people and she tends to lack a filter.
Brynn tilts her head to the side. "Boyfriend?"
I fight the urge to kick her under the table as Griffin laughs a little louder and shakes his head.
"Nope. There's no one at home waiting for me, other than my cat who is currently staying with my neighbor."
"Interesting," Brynn says with a mischievous smile as she looks back at me. "Would you believe that Aria is also single?"
This time I do kick her under the table. She jumps in her seat as she winces and cuts her eyes to me. She mouths What the hell? and I glare at her. She's meddling and needs to knock it off. That ship with Griffin sailed many moons ago. I don't have any interest in dating anyone right now. I'm better off being single. Griffin has an entire life across the ocean. My life is here and I will not be doing long distance with anyone.
"That is very hard to believe," Griffin agrees with her before he turns his attention back to me. "Have you lost your charm, Aria?"
Now I look at him with my eyebrows pulled together, half glaring at him before I relax my facial features. "Never. I don't have the time to date anyone right now."
"Do you have time to maybe get dinner with an old friend sometime?"
A small smile pulls on my lips. "Are you asking me out, Griffin Carr?"
"Not on a date," he says with a wink.
"Well, in that case, I would love to have dinner with you."
Brynn laughs quietly to herself, but she doesn't say anything as she pulls her phone out of her purse and pretends to be busy on it.
"Perfect." Griffin glances at his watch and his mouth turns downward into a frown. "Shit. I'm sorry, Ari. I hate to run, but I’m meeting my mother at Freckled Hen for a late lunch."
"You don't have to apologize," I assure him as I rise to my feet as well. Griffin is about half a foot taller than me, so I still have to tilt my head back a bit to be able to look him in the eye. "Brynn and I were getting ready to leave anyway."
Brynn lifts her head up to us after she hears me say her name. For a moment, she looks confused, like she has no idea what is going on. I silently try to send her a message from my own brain, but obviously that doesn't work. I motion with my eyes instead and kind of tilt my head toward the door.
"Oh, yeah, right," Brynn says quickly as she ducks her head to hide her grin and collects herself. She straightens up, grabs her coffee, and then pushes her chair in. "I forgot we were planning on going shopping."
We weren't. We didn't talk about going shopping. I'm relieved she picked up on my hints and is going along with it. Brynn is usually good with that. If I ever need to get out of a situation, she always has a way out. Brynn is a problem solver—she usually has a solution for everything.
"What's your number?" Griffin asks me as the three of us walk to the door together. The sun ducks behind a cluster of puffy white clouds that hang above in the bright blue sky. Griffin stops on the sidewalk and turns to face me and Brynn. "I'll text you, that way you have my number and we can figure out what evening would work for dinner."
I tell him my number and he taps the digits on his phone screen. My own device vibrates in my purse and I pull it out to check the screen.
Unknown
Hey, it's Griffin.
"Got it," I smile at him before I save his number with his contact information. I lock my screen and put my phone back into my purse. "It was good seeing you, Griffin. I'm glad you stopped to talk to us."
Griffin nods. "Until next time." He grins sheepishly and looks at Brynn. "It was nice meeting you."
Brynn and I both bid him farewell and we stay by the front of the coffee shop as we watch him disappear down the street. He stops beside a sleek white sports car and drops down into the driver's seat.
"Looks like we have some shopping to do," Brynn says in a chipper tone as she links her arm through mine. "You need something cute to wear for your date."
"It's not a date, Brynn," I remind her at the tail end of a sigh. We fall in step beside each other and walk around the corner of the building as we make our way closer to where we both parked. "I'm not interested in him like that."
"Oh, I know," she says with a sly grin as she turns to look at me as we reach my car. She's parked in the parking spot directly behind me. "That doesn't mean you can't make this fun. Think about it… you've been all flustered because of Leo. This is the perfect opportunity for a distraction."
I frown as I slip my arm from hers and fetch my keys out of my purse. "I feel kind of bad. Almost like I'm using him."
"Girl, you're not using him if he's on the same page." She pauses for a beat, grabs her own keys, and unlocks her car door. “You were upfront with him. You told him you don’t have time to date anyone. Go to dinner with him, have fun, and just see where it goes. He's leaving in a month, so I don't think he's looking for anything long term either."
I stare at her for a moment as I realize what she's suggesting without coming out and saying it. "I don't know, Brynn…"
She puts her hand up. "Stop it right there. You're already overthinking it." She locks her car again and walks over to my passenger's side door and pulls it open. "We're going shopping. You're going to make plans with him and you're going to have a great time. You don't have to commit to anything other than dinner."
"Okay, no more overthinking," I agree as I offer her a smile and walk up to the driver's side. I get into the car and Brynn follows suit, both of us meeting inside. "I'm just going to go and have fun."
"That sounds like the perfect plan."
I turn the car on and put it in drive before pulling away from the curb. Brynn rattles off a few stores in the mall that she thinks we should stop at, but I'm only half paying attention to what she's saying. I'm driving on autopilot, heading in the direction of the mall, except I'm not thinking about shopping. I'm not thinking about dinner with Griffin.
I'm thinking about Leo.
And I fucking hate it.