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Chapter Thirteen
Aria
“Hey, good morning,” Zoey said to me when she emerged from her bedroom on Sunday morning.
I looked up from the omelette I was cooking and nodded at her. “Morning.” I dropped some mushrooms, cheese, and tomatoes into the omelette. Then I pushed slices of oranges and mangoes through the juicing machine and moved to the coffee percolator.
Zoey looked over at the small dining table where I’d set out a basket of pastries and another of bagels and cream cheese, along with three places for us. “Wow. Are we expecting an army to join us for breakfast?”
I carried the glass pitcher of orange and mango juice and the hot pot of coffee over to the table and sat them in the middle. “It’s Lily’s birthday. I wanted to do something nice for her.”
“Something nice and maybe also distracting from whatever happened last night?” Zoey guessed.
I slid the omelette onto a serving plate next to the pieces of bacon and tipped my nose up at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sureyou don’t,” Zoey said with a roll of her eyes.
I paused at the table. I felt stress build in my body, so I concentrated on my breathing.
In through the nose.
Hold.
Out through the mouth.
I wasn’t trying to keep my friends at arm's length, nor was I trying to be rude. I was just trying to figure out in my head what exactly had happened last night. That, and I knew if I talked about it, I’d fall to pieces again.
After Logan had dismissed me so horribly, I’d bailed on Lily’s celebration and come home to bed where I’d cried for hours. I barely got any sleep as I replayed every second of my reunion with Logan in my mind—from the initial glances to the way he’d made love to my mouth against that wall, to the moment he walked away.
So, this morning, I wanted to make it up to Lily by making her breakfast.
I felt Zoey hug me from behind. She rested her chin on my shoulder and muttered, “I get that maybe you can’t talk about it right now, but we’re all ears if you want to.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. “Truly, I appreciate you.”
Zoey pressed a kiss to my temple and went to pour herself a coffee. “Oh, you’re going to have to set a fourth place, by the way.”
I drew my eyebrows together in a puzzled expression. “Why?”
My answer’s hulking form dominated the space as he walked over to us with Lily wrapped around him.
“Joe, hi. This is a surprise,” I said as my mouth dropped open.
“Hey, Aria, good to see you again.” He looked down at my breakfast spread. “This all looks amazing. Did you do this?”
“Yep.” I nodded. “This is Lily’s birthday breakfast.”
“For me?” Lily said with a gasp.
“Happy birthday. I know it’s not much . . ..”
“Aria, are you kidding me? I love it!” Lily extricated herself from Joe and threw her arms around me.
Joe pulled the chairs out for both Lily and Zoey and both women sat down, side by side. He squeezed Zoey’s shoulder while he kissed the top of Lily’s head. “Happy birthday, Lil.”
“Thank you.”
I watched this small exchange with curiosity and noticed how smiley both women were towards our guest. Then it clicked that Lily and Joe had come out of Zoey’s bedroom. I slid into my chair opposite them and beside Joe. “So, what exactly went on with you lot last night?”
