Page 58 of American Love Story

Ari sighed heavily then spoke. “My uncle does not want me to stay with him anymore.” He could barely talk at this point. “Yin was over here, and he, and we?—”

He started crying then, and he didn’t need to say what happened for me to figure out what was going on. I felt the skin tighten on my face, so fucking angry for Ari, as I felt the humiliation in the agonized cries over the phone.

When he spoke again, he sounded completely miserable. “We were just kissing. Now he’s saying I can’t take the car because he helped me pay for it and with the insurance.”

That motherfucker.

“Ari, I’m coming to pick you up. You can stay with me until we figure something out, okay?”

There was more breathing on the line, but this time it sounded a lot like relief. “Yes, please.”

I turned around and started walking to the door, Easton right behind me. When I shook my head at him, he mouthed “I’m coming with you” with a very stubborn set to his jaw.

I nodded, unable to deny my own relief at not having to deal with this on my own. “We’re leaving now, be there in fifteen minutes.”

I was about to hang up when Ari spoke again, his voice strained again.

“Can you look out for Yin? He ran out of the house when my uncle started threatening us and told him to leave or he was going to call the police. He left his phone here. So he may just be walking home, and it’s freezing outside. It was snowing before.” He sniffled again. “He was so freaked out when he left; I’m scared he’ll get hurt.”

Fuck.

“Okay. We’ll keep an eye out for him. See you soon.”

Only after ending the call with Ari did I realize that I’d saidwe. I quickly tried to think of a time that I’d used a plural pronoun to refer to someone other than the guys or my mom. I could not come up with a single one.

“What happened?” Easton asked, his voice alert and worried.

When I turned, I saw him standing there ready to go, coat, hat, and scarf already on. His keys and my gear in his hand.

My instinct very much called for me to handle this myself, but I pushed it down and let myself be glad that Easton was here right now. I took my coat from him and explained as I quickly shrugged it on.

“His uncle caught him and Yin, and apparently kicked him out of the house,” I said, my voice tight with frustration.

“Shit. Is there anyone you want me to call? How can I help?”

There it was, no hesitation. Something was happening and he was here to help.

“Thanks,” I said, gripping his hand for a second, as we walked to the elevator. “Actually, could we go in separate cars?”

He tensed at my words and I could tell he thought I didn’t want him with me. “It’s just, Ari’s worried about Yin. He ran off so fast when the uncle came that he left his phone. There’s no bus route or anything around there and Yin doesn’t drive.”

I could see the tension around his eyes ease as I told him the reason. A look of determination replacing the doubt that had been there a second ago.

“Of course. I’ll follow you, but I’ll go a bit slower so I can look out for him,” he answered as the elevator doors opened. “If anything comes up, just call me.”

As we got to the garage and we were about to head to our cars, I had to stop and grab his hand. “Thank you.”

He gave me a look that said, “What did you expect, asshole?” and didn’t give me time to respond as we quickly got into our cars. I pulled out into the snowy afternoon, the roads slippery and messy, starting to panic that something terrible would happen between Ari and his uncle before I got there. I tried not to let anger and frustration at Ari’s uncle take hold and focused on getting there as quickly and safely as possible. I could only imagine the things that the man had said to him, the humiliation of having that done to him in front of Yin. And poor Yin must’ve been terrified.

I sighed as I turned onto the road to the house and decided to call Ari again to let him know I was on my way. He answered after one ring.

“I should be there in a few minutes, Ari.”

“Merci, Patrice. I’m waiting at the post office that’s down the street from my uncle’s house.” He could barely talk from how hard his teeth were chattering. How could that man do this to this to Ari? After everything he’d already gone through.

“Did you see Yin? I’m scared that he’ll get lost, the snow is so heavy. I can’t see anything.”

I hesitated then, only realizing now that maybe Ari wouldn’t like Easton being involved in this.