A pain that sounds like “if only.”
If only the kiss had been the start of more.
Chapter 32
Aria
In the week that’s passed since the animal adoption event at the park, Aria has kept her head down. Although the musical inspiration is coming only in fits and spurts, she’s started her new workout regimen with her trainer in preparation for the album tour. It may seem early, but Worldwide Records has already made their intent to drop the next album “as soon as humanly possible” once it’s ready, so Aria needs to be in top shape. The workouts are kicking her butt currently, another sign it was probably best to start now, so she’s also spending a decent amount of time in a warm bath.
A couple days earlier, she’d bemoaned her suffering to Griffin when they took some shelter dogs out for a walk in the park—cosplaying pet owners for an afternoon.
“How do you endure this for a living? I feel like my muscles are breaking after every workout.” Aria hobbled for the first quarter mile before she got warmed up.
“Technically they are because muscle fibers have to break and reattach to grow muscle,” Griffin said, sounding terribly like a professional athlete know-it-all.
Aria threw him a look through slitted eyes. “Not the support I was looking for.”
“Stop in for a cookie on the way out after we bring the dogs back?” Griffin’s face turned sheepish. “Admittedly I’ve stopped in once or twice after practice since you clued me in to them.”
Aria took great pleasure in converting Griffin to a cookie regular, knowing full well the one from her special coffee shop was the best in town. An hour later, the pair emerged from the coffee shop, this time each with their own sweet treat.
“How’s Sunday’s game looking?” Aria asked between bites as they walked back toward their cars.
“Eh. The Panthers are formidable. Especially the defense. So we offense players need to really look out.” Griffin bit into his cookie, taking down almost a quarter of it at a time.
“You’ve got this. I can’t wait to see you guys win.”
“I’d offer you the box tickets, but I let Elliott take mine for this week. He has a whole crew of family flying in from Atlanta.”
“No worries. I’ll be able to see each of your long eyelashes in HD on my big screen.”
Aria wished she had reworded that last one. It sounded a bit too loving and adoring and a little bit outside of the friend zone they had agreed to play within.
Griffin had pulled her under his arm in the friendliest of bear hugs and said, “Your faith in me will take me the extramile, no doubt. That and the promise of another one of these ASAP postgame.”
This evening, as promised, Aria sets herself up on her comfortable couch under the cathedral ceiling and turns on her massive TV. She has her favorite soda, popcorn, and a minibar of her favorite candy as treats for her viewing.
Much like Griffin, she’s on a “performance enhancing” diet as part of her physical preparation, but she’s far less happy to follow it than he is.
The game kicks off at 2:00 p.m., and by 2:15 p.m., Bailey is posted up beside Aria, hand in the popcorn bowl, asking which one on the field is Griffin. Aria points him out, instructing Bailey to look for the jersey with the number 13 on it.
“So things are good between you?” Bailey asks between bites.
“They’re great. There’s zero funny business, but we’re having a ton of fun in the friend zone.”
Bailey presses her lips tight and pops her eyebrows knowingly.
Aria catches her doing this and slaps at her playfully. “Cut it out. That’s not helpful.”
Bailey raises her hands as she backs away. “Sorry!”
“We’re being adults about the whole thing.”
“My mistake,” Bailey says.
The first half of the game isn’t pretty for the Wardens. They’re down 14–0, and the offense can’t seem to hit their stride. Aria mutters under her breath, cursing the Panthers.
“The QB really needs to step up,” Aria says. “He’s getting intimidated by the defensive linemen.”
