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16
ARIA
Ispent all day trying to figure out how to approach Paul. In between arranging contracts with vendors and meeting potential clients, my mind zipped through all of the possible outcomes depending on how I went at him. If I charged in guns blazing, we’d fight for sure, but I wouldn’t stop until he understood my points. On the other hand, if I put on the puppy dog eyes and let him in my heart, told him the truth behind all of our feelings, he might have a better response.
When I made it to the apartment Paul shared with Will—after warning Will to steer clear unless he wanted to join us—I had mostly calmed down. And I hoped Paul had, too. Because the calmer approach had won the battle of attitudes I’d waged all day, and it was what I’d hoped would happen.
I knocked on the door, taking a deep breath and smoothing my hands over my smart, business-casual dress. As soon as I’d wrapped up my last meeting of the day at the coffee shop on Main Street, I’d rushed right over here. I wasn’t willing to put this off long enough to go all the way home to change.
Paul opened the door, his eyes darkening when they landed on mine. “Well, if it isn’t my traitorous baby sister.”
“Well, if it isn’t my idiot big brother,” I snapped. Oops. Looked like the guns blazing routine won out after all. Wait, no. I could still turn this around. I dropped the fists that had flown to my hips and opened my hands in front of me. “Hang on. Do-over.”
“Do-over?”
“Yes. Come on. Close the door and then open it again, but this time don’t be a jerk. I’ll do the same.”
Amusement flashed in his expression as the corner of his mouth twitched. Then he scowled. “It’s not that easy.”
“Do it, Paul.”
With a heavy sigh, Paul slammed the door in my face. For a quick second, I wondered if he wasn’t going to open it again. But then his voice came from the other side, a hint of humor in his tone. “What, you’re not gonna knock? You think I’m a psychic or something?”
I grinned, despite myself. He was still my big brother. Even though I had my girlfriends, he’d always been one of my best friends, too. Him and Will. We were so close in age that it often led to bickering and nonsense, but at the end of the day, we were close. Close enough for this to go well.
Reaching up, I knocked on the door, beaming at him when he opened it with a look of feigned surprise. “Hello, brother.”
“Oh, wow, Aria. What a surprise,” he teased. “What brings you over on this lovely Tuesday afternoon? Would you like to come in for a spot of tea?”
“Shut up,” I said with a groan, hitting him in the chest as I pushed into the apartment.
He closed the door behind me–with much less force than before–and turned to face me with a guarded expression. “Lemme guess, you’re here to defend your boyfriend and tell me I’m the jerk when he’s the one who went behind my back.”
His tone was cool, to be sure, but it was much better than when he’d first answered the door. I pursed my lips and took a calming breath. “Sorta, yeah. Because he is my boyfriend… and you were a jerk.”
Paul rolled his eyes and went into the kitchen, leaning against the counter with a petulant huff. “Aria, this is insane. You know it is, right?”
“Which part?”
“The part where I’m supposed to suddenly be cool with my best friend being with my sister. There are unwritten rules about this kind of thing. It’s like a bro code or something.”
I gasped. “That’s so dumb.”
“I didn’t make it up. It’s totally a thing. Friends don’t mess around with their friends’ sisters. It’s weird.”
Taking a step closer, I took the chance to get real with him. “Paul, that’s the problem. You’re looking at this like it’s no big deal to us, but it’s a huge deal. We’re not just casually dating. We love each other.”
“Yeah, he said that. But, Aria, come on. The man has been insisting for years that he wants nothing to do with a real relationship. You’ve heard him. I know you have. He’s been like that since high school. No plans to ever get married, no plans to be a one-woman man. Is that really the kind of guy you want to be with? It’s not the kind of guy I want you to be with, that’s for sure. Whether I think he’s a good dude or not doesn’t change that.”
“Well, could you maybe consider that he didn’t want all that stuff with anyone but me? Is that so hard to believe?”
My brother looked at me then, his face softening. “Look, obviously I think you’re amazing. If anyone could turn a commitment-phobe into marriage material, it’s probably you. But you can’t blame me for worrying that it won’t stick. And you deserve better than that.”
“Is that really the issue here, Paul? Because I feel like you’re using all of this as an excuse.”
His brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, I think you’re probably worried about the same thing Will’s worried about.”
