Page 103 of Hunt for the Roses
The insides of my cheeks salivate with a sourness again. As much as Ronnie’s appreciation towards me makes my stomach crunch uncomfortably, there was no way I could miss the way he said Aria looksalmostas happy as she used to be. Maybe I’m overanalyzing this because the stakes have been raised, but it doesn’t make Ronnie’s observation cut my heart any shallower. The cut is deep, and the knife twists in the wound, lowering the high I’ve been on all the way down to rock bottom. I’m brought back down to a reality I should’ve considered more carefully before driving down this compelling road.
A reality where I can’t win againsthim.
My lungs were filled with new oxygen earlier, determined to squeeze more time in with Aria if things didn’t go our way today. But now my lungs deflate until all the air of my determination leaves me. Because if my love can’t bring her as much happiness as someone else’s love once gave her, what good am I to her?
I inhale, trying to regain concentration on the physical task at hand. “You know, I wasn’t actually planning on coming here today to help out.”
“I don’t blame you. There’re definitely better things to do on a Saturday in the summer,” Ronnie jokes.
“Maybe that’s true,” I chuckle as I finish hanging the last of the lights on my end. “I actually came because of Aria.”
Ronnie finishes hanging his lights at the same time and starts stepping down his stool. “Dane, I know I asked you to look out for her, but I didn’t mean you had to pick up the slack around here,” Ronnie says apologetically as he walks back over to the table where the boxes are.
Once I climb down my step stool, my heart starts beating a little faster, and I tread cautiously up to Ronnie. “When I said I wasn’t planning on coming, what I really meant was that Aria didn’t want me here today.”
Ronnie turns to look at me as he narrows his eyes. “What? That doesn’t sound like Aria.”
I swallow a lump in my throat as I make sure to look eye-level at Ronnie. “It would if you knew the truth about Aria and I.” I inhale as my jaw remains tight with nerves. “I owe you that much.”
Just as Ronnie looks my face over trying to crack the mysterious code in front of him, we hear the sliding door to the terrace open, and Aria’s faint voice interrupts. “Hey.”
Ronnie and I both turn to look over at Aria, and our secret is written all over her face as she looks between us with trepidation. My eyes apologize to her, and I think I take her in for a second too long as I sense Ronnie looking back and forth from me to Aria. I swallow hard as I turn my head to look back at Ronnie, but as soon as I do, I feel his solid fist connect with the left side of my jaw.
“Ronnie!” Aria shouts.
I brace myself with both my palms on a table as I try to alleviate the sting of Ronnie’s punch by moving my jaw around a little. If this is what it will take for things to be right between Ari and I, so be it.
I start to feel a tinge of metal in my mouth when Aria comes between us and pushes Ronnie. “This is my choice too goddammit!”
“Your choice?! Ari, you can’t possibly think this relationship is going somewhere. He preyed on you in your most vulnerable state!”
“It wasn’t like that,” I cut in with a hard tone, keeping my head trained downward.
Aria is standing in front of Ronnie, and he’s pointing over her at me. “You shut the fuck up, Dane!” I respect him enough to peel myself off the table and look at him. “I don’t think you have any right to talk right now,” he seethes out.
Aria is the next to scream, as she flails her arms in Ronnie’s face. “What’re you going to do, Ronnie?! Beat the shit out of Dane because we care for each other?! That’s bullshit!”
“Come on, Ari! He’s not in this for any reason other than to get his dick wet! That’s who he is!” Ronnie screams.
I see red.
I duck and rush into Ronnie to hug him by the waist, and I take him down to the floor. I get one good punch in, but then he’s able to flip us over, connecting another punch to my face.
“Stop it! Stop it!” Aria screams as Ronnie gets up.
“You think Ari will ever feel for you the way she did for Kyle? You’re a fucking fool,” Ronnie pants out.
I sit up with my elbows propped on bent knees, swallowing down the metal taste in my mouth, as if I’m swallowing the harshness of Ronnie’s words. The pain in my jaw pales in comparison to the pain I feel at hearing the truth. A truth I’ve been trying to deny for as long as I can but am being forced to confront head-on now.
As I eventually lift myself off the ground, Helen shouts angrily. “That’s enough! I won’t have this shit in your father’s restaurant!”
Ronnie points to me. “I asked you for a favor. To look out for my sister, and you took that as an opportunity to take advantage of her. You’re dead to me.” With that, Ronnie storms off and out of the restaurant, leaving me, Ari, and Helen on the terrace. Aria’s palm is over her mouth, and her eyes flash with shock and sadness at the wreckage that just occurred.
“Dane, I think it’s best you leave,” Helen says.
I blow out a breath as I run my hands through my hair, and then nod before walking off and to the parking lot.
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