Chapter 11
The last person leaves the gym. I walk to the punching bag in the rear, which gives me a good view of the front door. I usually lock it so I don’t worry about someone walking inside. But Aria hasn’t left.
I’m unsure what’s keeping her from leaving, and I’m not going to find out. If I spend a minute alone with her in a room with no one around, I couldn’t stop myself. The last time I was alone with her, I saw how upset she was when I ignored her when she went to hand me the gift. It was like something was dying inside me. The look of sadness that crossed her beautiful face broke me.
I was conflicted.
A part of me wanted to tell her the truth, and the other part wanted her to hate me so I had a reason to stay away from her. Not make her a little origami swan like a lovesick fool. I wasn’t thinking when I left it for her. I had fallen asleep in the office and then woke up thinking of her. The way swans do when they find their fated mate.
I had to make it right that night. I couldn’t let her pay me back for buying her lunch. She looked thin. Tired. It wasn’t my business, but I couldn’t let her go home thinking I didn’t want any part of her because I did. I didn’t want anyone to have the image of her in their eyes. That part of her while she was still here was mine .
I hated when guys gave her hungry looks. The way Mike did when he was fucking her with his eyes when she walked in that day. Anger fired up my blood, and I took the opportunity to show him. So when he looked at himself in the mirror, he remembered who did it.
Ari was innocent in that way. The way a woman is when she doesn’t know how dirty a man’s mind can be when he wants something he isn’t supposed to have.
She is vulnerable. You can smell it a mile away.
The light from the office bounces off the mirrors when the door opens. I hold the bag to keep it from moving and quickly move behind the pillar, waiting for her to leave so I can shower, lock up, and head home. I reach into my pocket for my phone and notice it’s already half past eleven.
I wonder why she stayed so late. Maybe she got caught up with something Javier told her to do, or she had a test. I caught her studying during her break. Her work ethic is flawless, and I don’t mind. I know she is smart and dedicated. Her timing is impeccable. It was the fact that I couldn’t stop thinking about her since she walked through the front door.
She walks out of the office, shuts the light off, looks up, smiles, and waves. I turn around and grab my stuff, ignoring her like I always do when she tries to engage in conversation with me. I should stay away from her, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. It was worse when she looked away disappointed because I didn’t reply or acknowledge her. The light that would dim in her delicate features. My chest grew tight, and the anger would burn like a black flame.
All I wanted was to destroy. To scream in the silence of the noise.
I pick up the gym towel and car keys, glance at my phone with my headphones still on, act like I’m distracted by something on the screen, and wait with my back turned until she leaves.