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10
ARIA
His eyes bulged as he stared back at me. “You think I’m aliar?”
“I do.”
“How do you figure?”
My bravery faltered a touch as his eyes bored into mine, but I took a step closer, sure I was right about this. “I think you lied to me the night we kissed. I didn’t think that kiss was weird. I thought it was amazing. And I think you thought so too. But it scared you.”
“Aria.” My name fell off his lips like a sigh, and he closed his eyes. “Don’t.”
“I also think you lied to me on Valentine’s when you made the same excuse for why we shouldn’t kiss then.”
His eyes remained closed, his face tipped up toward the night sky. “Don’t do this.”
“And,” I said, stepping closer still, stopping inches from his broad chest, “I think you’ve been lying to yourself about your feelings for me for a long time.”
At this, his brown eyes flicked open and found mine. “I know how I feel.”
“How do you feel, Will?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he stared down at me. “Aria. I can’t. Please. I’m begging you. Leave this alone.”
“I can’t leave it alone, Will.” My voice had risen to a much higher level than was necessary for how close we were standing, but I didn’t care. I kept going. I had to keep going. “You see, I’m not perfect. I’m pushy. And I want you to be honest with me for once in our lives!”
Before I could continue with my rampage, he swallowed me up, pulling me hard against his chest and crushing his mouth to mine. I was momentarily frozen, seeing only a close-up of his face before I let my eyelids flutter closed and sank into his embrace.
Blood coursed through my veins like an awakened river, surging through me from the force of years of longing. Even though it had been more than a decade since I’d last felt his lips on mine, it felt so normal, so comforting, so familiar. His clean and manly scent—the one that had long been washed out of his hoodie—enveloped me as he held me close and kissed me like it was the last thing he’d ever do.
He tore his mouth from mine but didn’t let me go, and I almost protested before I felt his lips searing a path down my jaw to my neck and then back up. When our mouths met again, I raised up on my toes to meet him with just as much urgency. There was no sidewalk beneath our feet. There were no cars and houses surrounding us. It was only us. Together. Locked in this moment that I was sure I wouldn’t forget for as long as I lived.
When I was about to give myself over completely to the passion of his kiss, he did the thing that was quickly becoming my least favorite move on the planet. He abruptly let go and stepped back, leaving me breathless and reeling on unsteady feet.
“Now what?” I panted.
“Paul.”
I scowled. “Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously. You never freaking listen to me when I tell you he’s the reason we can’t do this.”
“My brother should have nothing to do with this,” I whisper-shouted at him, realizing maybe too late that my parents were right inside our house—awake this time. “What happens between us is betweenus, Will.”
“He has everything to do with this. Do you have any idea what he thinks of me?”
“He thinks of you as his best friend. Who better to be with me than the guy he trusts more than anyone else?”
Will let out a bitter laugh and shook his head, pacing away from me. “It’s not like that. That sounds cute and everything, but guys aren’t like that.”
“Don’t patronize me.”
“I’m not,” he bit out, then sighed. “I’m not trying to patronize you.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“I’m just saying. It’s a guy thing. Trust me, he doesn’t want to think of his little sister being with anyone, let alone one of his friends. If he had any idea how I felt about you…” I quirked a brow when he trailed off, but he rolled his eyes and pressed on. “He wouldn’t be happy about this, Aria. He sees me as a jerk who never has a second date because I’m afraid of commitment. That’s not the kind of wholesome relationship he wants for you.”
