Ari doesn't say a word, but her eyes begin to well up with tears.
"Honey, maybe you and I should step outside and let these two have some privacy," Emma says.
"No!" Ari states. "Stay here and hear what he's got to say. Then, Emma, you can tell my brother all about it," she threatens.
Rebel flinches at her words, then reaches for Ari's arm and pulls her over to the couch. "Sit," he says. "There's no need to involve Ice in this. Just let me explain."
As she sits down, she looks at her watch and says, "We've been here long enough. You can start explaining any time, Rebel. I'm not going anywhere." She crosses her arms and adds, "Yet!"
Emma and I do what Ari says and sit down. Finally, Rebel begins to explain, "Today, we finally got a lead on my mam and da. I was pumped, anxious, and unable to sleep. So, I came downstairs to get something to eat. Ciara came down after me."
"Why is she even here in the middle of the night?" Ari asks.
"She is dating my brother, Damon. I assume she was in his room."
Ari seems to accept that reply and silently gestures for Rebel to go on. He says, "She came down half-naked and tried to get me to take her back to my room, but I refused. I never touched her and I didn't instigate this." He says pleadingly, "I swear!"
He waits for Ari to say something, but she remains quiet, apparently in deep thought. Then he adds, "Babe, do you really think I'd be so stupid to do something like this with your brother upstairs? He'd fucking kill me!"
Ari still doesn't say a word, but I think his last words make sense to her. I mean really, Rebel isn't suicidal.
Emma watches her curiously and when Ari doesn't say anything to Rebel, Emma says, "Ari? I believe he's telling the truth. If there's only one thing he's said tonight that makes perfect sense and totally backs up his story, it's the fact that he wouldn't be stupid enough to do this with Caden in the house."
She looks at Emma and finally speaks, acting as if Rebel wasn't even in the room. "But how do you know, Emma? How do I know I can trust him?" she asks.
"Has he ever given you any reason, ever, to mistrust him?" Emma asks.
"No."
"And do you think he would be stupid enough to take the risk?"
"No," she says as she looks over at him.
"Then I think you have your answer. You need to give him the benefit of the doubt and not make assumptions about things that didn't happen."
Still looking at Rebel and crying silent tears, she says nothing. He pulls her into his arms and says, "Babe, I love you. I would never do anything to fuck up what we have. Ever."
"I love you too, Rebel," she says, hugging him back.
They hug for a few more minutes and then Rebel says, "So what the hell, ladies? What're you doing here?"
I laugh and say, "That's a long story." I pause and then add, "I'll let Emma tell you."I’m not taking the flack for this one. This move was all her. Even though she pulled it off brilliantly, it’s all on her.
Emma rolls her eyes at me. Before Emma can explain, we hear someone coming down the stairs.
"What the fuck is all the noise about?"
It's Ice. Let the fireworks begin. I laugh to myself. When he gets to the bottom of the steps, we see that he is also wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants that hang low on his hips.Holy fuck!My mouth begins to water and then I remember my place. I may not be able to touch, but nobody can stop me from looking.
"Fuck, Emma!" he says when he sees us.
"Hey, Cade," she says with all the confidence in the world. I actually expect “surprise!" to come out of her mouth next. I'm just waiting for him to blow up at her—at all of us, for that matter. But he totally surprises me. He walks over to Emma and carefully pulls her up from the chair. His arm wraps around her waist as he pulls her in close.
He leans in like he's going to kiss her. But instead, he says, "I'm not gonna ask why you're here. I'm not gonna ask why you've pulled my sister out of school and brought her with you. I'm not gonna ask why you didn't give me so much as a notice that you were coming. But if I wasn't so fucking happy to see you right now, I would put you over my knee and spank your ass!" He leans in and kisses her.
Hot damn!
When the kiss is over he turns to Rebel and asks, "Did you know about this?"
