Page 139 of Force Play
Lucia
I’ll be there
Ari
Me too
Ella
Perfect!
We’ll see everyone tomorrow night
I lightly laugh and shake my head at our friends’ antics as I set my phone down beside me on the sofa. I’m curled up under a blanket, watching one of my favorite romcoms.
“Oh, I love this one,” Ari smiles as he joins me out in the living room, a giant bowl of popcorn in hand.
“You like13 Going On 30?”
He shrugs. “I watch and read romances. Sue me.” I chuckle as he sets the popcorn bowl on the coffee table before he eyes my end of the sofa. “Make some room, Torres.”
“Don’t you usually sit on the other end?” I ask, scooching over anyway.
“You’ve got the blanket.”
I smile as he sits down beside me, and I adjust the blanket to cover us both. Ari leans back against the cushions, arms draped across the top of the sofa.
He peers down at me and smirks. “Nice hoodie, Spitfire.”
“It’s mine now, Casanova,” I state.
“Looks better on you anyway.”
The admission is small, but it still sends my heart racing.
The things I’m starting to feel around Ari are making me nervous. It’s hard to care, though, when he shows me this soft and sweet side of himself.
I used to think he was shallow and cocky.
I was right about him being cocky, but Ari has more depth to him than I ever imagined. The version of himself he shares with the world isn’t all he is. He’s so much more, and I love getting to be with this honest version of him.
We get absorbed in the movie, and slowly, he lets his arm fall from where it rests on the back of the sofa, letting it come to drape around my shoulders. He shoots me a soft smile, and I lean my head on him.
It feels dangerous, sitting with him like this.
I just can’t find it in me to care.
I’m going to enjoy the moment for what it is.
“It’s been way too long since we’ve done this,” Harlow exclaims, sipping her glass of wine.
Currently, the ten of us are all spread across Josh and Ella’s living room, mostly on the furniture. Ari and I, though, took spots opposite each other on the floor so there was enough room for everyone.
“It’s nice to get everyone together again,” Ari adds. “Especially with Lucia and me not wanting to kill each other.”
I bark out a laugh. “It’s a wonder they’re all still friends with us after we made every get-together over the past two years completely miserable.”
“Oh, hush,” Rory chides. “It wasn’t miserable. We were all just waiting it out until you realized you’d be good friends.”
