Page 67 of Scarred Sins
I’m itching to ask questions about Simmons and Adams to know how exactly we’ll proceed and when the plan will officially start. And whether or not there is a plan in place as of right now.
“Not now, Blair,’’ Noelle says, her eyes softening. I’m momentarily flabbergasted how well she was able to read me. “We’ll start the preparations and discussions tomorrow.’’
“Okay.’’
Arlo reaches and takes my hand in his, giving me a small squeeze of reassurance. It’s enough for my trembling body to calm down. For the rest of the dinner, he doesn’t let go of my hand. In fact, he seems to be holding it tighter with each passing moment.
Cove ends up being silent most of the evening, and the conversation was led by Noelle and Hudson. Aria, the sulky teenager, would roll her eyes and scoff. I find it endearing, and quite honestly, adorable. She thinks no one notices it, but whenever she’d look at Cove, her cheeks would slightly flush.
And once dinner ends, we head out to watch Cove’s fight.
NINETEEN
Cove left for the basement an hour ago. It usually takes him a while to prepare for the upcoming fights, and he likes being alone with his thoughts before I, of course, go inside the locker rooms to give him a pep talk. He claims he hates it, but I notice how his shoulders always seem to relax whenever I give him a little encouragement.
Mom and Blair are in the kitchen, cleaning up after dinner. I would’ve helped, but Mom shooed me away, almost throwing the wooden spoon at my head. Blair didn’t seem to mind being left alone with my parents; hence, I decided to busy myself with my little sister.
Aria’s been rather off lately.
She’s sixteen, almost seventeen at this point, and I’m trying to be really patient with her hormonal, teenage self, but God, she’s been testing my patience lately. She’s been snappy, short with snarky quips that I can never understand how quickly she comes up with them. It’s like her head is filled with comebacks for every given situation.
“What’s going on through that head of yours, squirt?”
Aria’s eyes snap to mine, then her brows narrow. “Stop calling me that. It’s the same as calling me a little shit.’’
I grin. “I’m aware.’’
“What do you want from me, Arlo?” She snaps.
And there it is, that annoyingly defiant attitude. I try reminding myself that I’m the adult here and that it’s normal that she’s going through rebellious phases, but it’s taking a lot of willpower not to snap right back at her.
“You seem to be targeting me a lot as of late, Aria. I’m trying my hardest here to be understanding. What’s wrong?”
She scoffs. “I don’t know. Maybe the fact that you left me and went to fucking Illinois, didn’t respond to any of my texts, then returned and didn’t even come to see me.’’
I sigh. “That was work.’’
“Since when is stalking considered a profession?”
A laugh comes from me, and I shake my head. She’s right, of course, but the fact that she knows what I’ve been doing means that she found a way to track me, or she became a good little eavesdropper. Neither of which I’m particularly happy about, but it’s not unexpected, either. She’s a De Santis, too.
“Look,’’ I take a deep breath, sitting next to her on the couch. She’s quick to scoot as far as possible from me, then folding her arms in front of her chest. My brow twitches in annoyance, and I can swear that I see a smirk on her face for a moment. “I know we haven’t been spending time together lately, and I’m sorry, but I’m really busy right now.’’
Aria doesn’t respond and gives me a small nod instead.
My eyes fall on her forearm, with a deep, nasty purple bruise. I inch closer to her, inspecting the bruise, and Aria just sighs.
“What happened?”
“Volleyball,’’ she rolls her eyes. “Again.’’
I lift an amused brow. “You keep getting bruises in odd places from falling. If you have two left feet, maybe you shouldn’t be playing.’’
“Shut up,’’ she mumbles and rolls down her sleeves. Then, she turns to look at me. There’s something in her eyes that I can’t understand, like she’s battling something on the inside, debating whether or not to tell me. I can see her eyes boring into mine, but it’s gone before I can make out what the fuck’s happening.
“Is everything okay?”
Aria nods. “Yeah, it is.’’
