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Mary came back with our drinks, only staying long enough to take our dinner orders before flitting away again as quickly as possible. Good. We couldn’t exactly pretend to be a couple in front of her. That would be too much. It was bad enough I’d let her assume that, but I wouldn’t push it further or outright lie and say Aria and I were together.
“How’s Jaycee?” Aria asked Shelby.
Shelby smiled. “She’s really good. She’s adjusting to her diagnosis and doing well with her medication. She’s been dancing with us a lot lately.”
“Who’s Jaycee?” I asked, eager to take my mind off the drama in my head.
“She’s one of the girls on my dance team. She got diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis recently, so I’m helping her through it since I know what it’s like to have a chronic illness.”
“That’s awesome,” I said.
Shelby launched into a story about the girl and her role on the dance team, and as much as I wanted to listen and participate in the conversation, I was hopelessly distracted. Aria looked so good tonight despite my idiotic comments earlier. Her blonde hair was up in a bun on top of her head. It was one of those styles that was supposed to look messy, but paired with her dress, it gave it a more intentional look. My eyes traced the curve of her neck and the wings of her collarbone, taking advantage of the fact that she was intently engaged in whatever Shelby was saying.
Before I knew it, Mary came back, placing plates of food in front of us from the tray she’d set up on the side of our table. “Do you need anything else?”
We all shook our heads as we looked around the table, and I shrugged. “I think we’re good. Thanks.”
Mary smiled at me, but before she could say anything, Aria reached forward and stole one of the fries off my plate. “Thanks, babe.”
While it wasn’t out of character for Aria to do that to me or Paul under normal circumstances, it definitely seemed timed to make a statement in this case. She wanted it to seem like a total girlfriend move. Especially coupled with her adding thebabepart at the end. Man, if that didn’t make my chest hurt just hearing it. Even if it was all for show.
Mary’s blush returned and she hurried away without a word.
The rest of us gaped at Aria, but she waved us off. “What? I was helping. Making sure you didn’t have to let her down easy, right?”
“Right,” I said, shaking my head at her.
“Good lookin’ out, sis,” Paul said with a laugh.
Oh, how little he knew.
We made it through the rest of dinner without incident, Mary being totally professional and brief in all of her interactions. I almost felt bad, but I guessed I always did when I ran into a girl I’d dated briefly. Unless the date had been a total drag, they usually wanted to keep it going toward the relationship zone. And why wouldn’t they? Dating was a means to find a long-term partner for most people. Just not for me.
Outside, we said our goodbyes to Paul and Shelby, watching them walk back across the street toward Shelby’s apartment. Aria gestured to her car with her lips pulled into a thin line. “I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess.”
“Yeah, sure,babe,” I said with an exaggerated wink. If nothing could come of the connection between us, the least we could do was try to play it off like it wasn’t killing us both.
Her lips twitched up into a begrudging smile as she backed up. “Show’s over,bro.”
I stood on the sidewalk and watched her get into her car, driving away without hesitation. Something was brewing; I felt it. Aria sure wasn’t making any of this easy on me, and if I wasn’t careful, I was going to break all my rules for a chance to be with her. And that would be bad. Worse than this. I was sure of it.
