Aria reaches out and squeezes his wrist. “I’m kidding!”
Her skin is soft against his, and Griffin momentarily loses his train of thought. “Thank you,” he says. “For helping me through this PR stuff.”
“It’s only fair since you taught me how to throw a football.”
Griffin smiles, then sips his tea. It might seem like a fair exchange, but he is realizing that simply being in her company feels like an added bonus.
“But thank you from me too,” Aria says. “Very few people in this world understand what it’s like to be in the sort of jobs we are, and it’s been really nice to be with someone who I don’t have to explain myself to. You just get it, you know?”
Griffin can’t help but smile at Aria saying he makes her feel understood. “It’s a pleasure,” he says.
He sips the remainder of his tea, and when the tea runs dry, he feels a flash of sadness. The cup echoes inside as he sets it down on the table. Aria’s eyes join his on the empty cup.
“Can I bribe you to stay with me with another cookie?” Aria’s eyebrows pull together in an adorable knot.
A bubbling excitement passes through Griffin’s middle, something he can’t remember ever experiencing. “You don’t need to bribe me. I wasn’t planning on leaving.”
Aria’s shoulders drop so much that Griffin sees it happen.
“I know this is an ‘arrangement,’ but you’re pretty fun to be around,” Aria says.
“Fun, huh? I’m definitely not pegged as the fun one on the team.” Griffin can’t help but think of all the times the other guys gave him a hard time for his meal prepping or his penchant for a quiet night in.
“Oh yeah, no wild nights out for you?”
Griffin scoffs. “Hardly, and if so, under duress.”
“I guess it tracks. Midwest golden boy, quiet nights in. But what I mean is that I never would’ve stopped to play yesterday afternoon without you. Where you saw an opportunity to enjoy ourselves, I saw an opportunity to finish a task faster so I could do more work.”
Griffin shrugs. “We can balance each other out some, but I’m not all fun either.”
“Whatever you are, it’s something good.” Aria’s cheeks turn pink, and she looks away. “Sorry if that came out weird. You know what I mean.”
Griffin reaches over the table and squeezes Aria’s hand. The last thing he wants is her to feel uncomfortable, and especially so around him. “Hey now, anything goes between best friends, right?”
Aria looks back over, a reenergized glint in her eye. “It does. And I think we’re starting to do a really good job with the whole thing. We’re amazing as best friends.”
Griffin’s shoulders and chest lift as if his good fortune in meeting Aria has precluded him from the effects of gravity. “We really are incredible friends.”
“It’ll make the rest of this so easy.” Aria grins like they’ve cracked the code.
Griffin returns the look.
Maybe they have. Maybe they have cracked some wild code and found another human who just gets them. A person they can be themselves around.
Whether for PR purposes or just life in general, making a new friend is always a wonderful thing.
Chapter 16
Aria
Aria locks herself in her studio on Monday morning, promising to use the hours leading up toThe Late Night Showfilming to work on her new album. It would be more fitting to call it “the label’s album,” seeing that they’ve already sent over a list of concepts they’d like to see reflected in the lyrics. She sits on a stool, a foot on the support beam, and her guitar held across her chest. She’ll shower later and get dressed up in one of the dresses her stylist sent over forThe Late Night Showfilming, so for now it’s sweatpants, thick socks, and no makeup.
Before she starts any work, Aria pulls on her favorite cozy cardigan, part of her writing ritual.
She strums at the guitar, and bit by bit, she puts a melody together. It’s reminiscent of a hit from two albums back, “Love Found.” Aria sighs. She knows the record execs will love it, so she forges on, but the song feels hollow. Her heart squeezesat the thought of trying something new, like it’s a friend she misses already.
Eventually, she reminds herself.Eventually.
