“I told you that I’d destroy you if you touched her, you motherfucker.”
“You’re f**king insane. She’s just some girl. If you ever get signed—and that’s a big f**king if at this point—you’re going to see this for what it really is. You’re going to leave her, or she’s going to get tired of you cheating on her. You’ll look back on this moment and know I was f**king right.”
“That just shows how different you and I really are, Donovan. Because I love Ari. I respect her. I’d give her the world, the moon, the stars, the whole f**king universe. When I get signed, and I really do mean when,” I growled, shaking off the guys who were holding me, “I’m coming for your ass, just to prove you wrong.”
Chapter 48: Aribel
I already had organic chemistry homework.
It was a bit of relief to be back on a normal schedule again. The break had seemed like some kind of strange dream, something someone else had gone through and not me. I’d lost my virginity, lost my boyfriend, been kissed by a rock star, and been propositioned by someone whose relationship with me bordered on an arranged marriage.
At least some things always stayed the same—like homework. I had a tough class schedule this semester, and I needed to make sure that I stayed on top of everything. There was an introductory study session later tonight. I couldn’t decide if it was better to get involved from the get-go or try to do everything myself…like normal.
A knock at the door kept me from deciding. My heart rate shot through the roof as I wondered if today would be the day that I’d have to face Grant. I’d decided that I would do it this weekend. I’d let him break my heart this weekend.
Cheyenne came out of her room and jumped when she saw me. “I thought you were going to a study session!”
I narrowed my eyes. “I decided not to.”
Shelby and Gabi appeared a minute later. They were equally surprised to find me sitting in the dining room. They shot questioning looks at Cheyenne.
“What’s going on?”
“We’re having some people over to watch a movie,” Shelby said.
“Some people…as in?”
Gabi sighed. “I invited McAvoy over. We saw a lot of each other over break, and well, I guess we’re kind of together.”
I just stared at my friends. McAvoy…and that probably meant Vin and Miller and…
I shot out of my seat. “Are you saying Grant is going to be in our house?”
“No!” Shelby and Cheyenne said at once.
Gabi was shaking her head. “We told them not to bring him, but we thought you’d be gone.”
“You can’t just hide this stuff from me! I don’t want to be blindsided that his friends are going to be here in our house!” I started packing up all of my papers and throwing the stuff into my backpack.
The guys started knocking again, and Shelby rushed over to answer it.
Cheyenne gave me a pleading look. “Please don’t freak out about this.”
“Freak out? Why would I freak out? It’s every day that my roommates invite over my…whatever. This is stupid,” I grumbled. “Fuck Grant McDermott.”
Cheyenne giggled, and I glared at her.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have made that dirty,” she said.
“I swear, you just can’t help yourself.”
Our conversation cut off as Miller, McAvoy, and Vin walked into our apartment. They looked pretty shocked to see me there as well, so the girls must have said I’d be gone. Well, lucky for them, I was leaving.
“Hey, Ari,” Miller said cordially.
I nodded my head at him and then continued to pack up.
The group moved to the living room, and I stomped into my room to find my boots. It was still cold out there. When I returned, they were all cuddled up together. Cheyenne was sitting on Vin’s lap on the couch. Gabi had her head on McAvoy’s shoulder. Shelby and Miller were sitting side-by-side. I wondered how much Shelby knew about Miller and Sydney, but I didn’t care to bring that up right now.
After grabbing my peacoat off the back of the chair, I put it on and threw my backpack over it.
“Hey, Ari?” McAvoy said.
Our eyes met across the room.
“Yeah?”
Miller sat up straight. “McAvoy, no.”
“Shut up, Miller. No one else is going to talk about it. We need our brother back, so seriously, just shut up.”
I resolutely stood there, wondering what the hell they were talking about.
“So, are you going to talk to Grant?”
“It’s not like he wants to talk to me.”
“Really?” McAvoy asked incredulously. “That’s the line of reasoning you’re going to go with?”
“What else am I supposed to think?” I asked, feeling my frustration turning to anger. “If Grant wants to talk to me, he knows where to find me.”
“Maybe you should remind him. He’s been acting like a f**king idiot since you left, and he might have forgotten.” McAvoy sighed and shook his head. “We’ve been trying to get signed for years, and now that we’re this close, Grant is talking about quitting because he’s so f**ked-up about your relationship. Maybe think that over, and stop being so selfish.”
My mouth dropped open. “Selfish? He cheated on me!”
“Not the way we’ve heard the story,” Miller piped up. “I think you have a lot of things to talk about.”
“Whatever,” I ended lamely. I didn’t know what else to say. There was too much of what they’d said that didn’t make sense, and I needed to process.
Everything that the guys had said was swirling around in my mind. Grant was thinking about quitting ContraBand? Why the hell would he do that? He loved the band and his brothers and everything about music. It simply couldn’t be about me. That made no sense.
And the guys had said that he hadn’t cheated? I’d been there on New Year’s. Donovan and Hollis had told me that he’d gone off with someone else, and he’d never messaged me. I’d never messaged him…but still. It seemed likely with Grant’s track record. Did the guys just not know he’d slept with someone on New Year’s? And if he hadn’t slept with someone…did that mean I’d cheated with Henry?
No. I hadn’t wanted that kiss. Well, a part of me had, a drunk part of me, but I’d stopped it.
God, there are too many things to think about. I didn’t want to go rushing over to Grant’s house like a dog with my tail between my legs. We had a lot to talk about. The few weeks of us being apart had felt like an eternity, and at this point, there was so much that needed to be said. It felt like we’d built a wall between us, and I wasn’t sure how ready I was to climb that. It might be easier to try to tear it down with my bare hands.