Page 22 of Queen Rose

Nate

Aria asked me to park down at the road again to pick her up tonight. I’m not entirely sure why she doesn’t want me to pull into the driveway, but I can only assume it has to do with her parents.

That sweet Lamborghini her dad drives is sitting there again. Odd that he doesn’t park his precious baby inside one of the four bays the garage has, but for all I know, they’re already full of who knows what other vehicles. Because surely, a family with three drivers needs six-plus. I chuckle to myself. Not jealous at all.

Movement out of the corner of my eye attracts my attention. It’s Aria, and she’s sprinting down the driveway at top speed. As I move to get out, she holds up a hand to stop me. She yanks open the door of the passenger side with a quick, breathless, “Hi,” and motions that we should take off.

“Everything okay?” I hit the gas as requested, driving quickly away from her house.

She nods. “Yeah. My parents were kinda fighting, and I didn’t want anyone in a pissy mood telling me I had to stay home for whatever asinine reason. I’m almost eighteen. I’m sick of them controlling every aspect of my life,” she mutters.

“Gotcha.” I reach across the console and twine my fingers with hers, but leave them resting on her thigh. She’s wearing an outfit much like the one she wore the night we went to the party at the river—a simple hoodie and a pair of skinny jeans—only this time she has on some comfy-looking slip-on shoes. I squeeze her hand and pull my gaze from her and focus on the road.

She lets a breath hiss past her lips, almost like she’s trying to calm herself. “So, where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” I smirk when she immediately twists to face me and graces me with a playful scowl that I can see from the corner of my eye.

“That’s rotten. Am I at least dressed okay for whatever we’re doing?”

My eyes meet her warm brown ones. “Yeah. You’re perfect, Aria.”

And she blushes. Bites her lip. It’s adorable, but also kind of confusing.

I look away. “Is your face all red because I said you’re perfect?”

She squirms in her seat.

We pass a sign that tells me we’re getting close to our destination, and I keep my eyes locked straight ahead. “Surely, you’ve been told you’re beautiful… like, your entire life.” I rub the pad of my thumb over the back of her hand. Hasn’t she?

She draws in a deep breath and holds it for a second before she lets it all whoosh back out. “Beautiful is different than perfect, Nate.”

We turn onto a back road just outside of town that winds around and dead ends in a big field. I side-eye her, not quite sure what to make of her comment. “Fair enough.”

Fortunately, she’s distracted by the fact we’re driving off into the boonies again and that line of conversation dies off. “Where the hell are you taking me this time?” She sputters with laughter, her earlier serious tone gone. “Last time I joked you were going to kill me down at the river, but damn. There’s no one here, and this is really the middle of nowhere. I know we can’t be that far from River Rock because we weren’t driving all that long, but still.”

“So, I—” I lick my lower lip before biting down on it and glancing over at her as we pull to a stop.

“You what?” She frowns.

“Hang on.” I get out, then circle to the back of the Jeep and pull out a soft blanket and a little basket of food and drinks that Mom helped me put together. I pass by Aria’s window and she cocks her head to the side, a questioning look on her face. I hold up my forefinger so she knows to wait, then walk away from the Jeep a little to a flat spot and set the basket on the grass. I unfold the blanket and spread it out on the ground. After pulling out my phone, I find my favorite playlist and start it.

Looking at what I’ve set up, then up at a whole lot of nothing but darkness and stars, I wonder if this is too little for Aria. My jaw tenses. She’s been brought up so differently than I was… maybe it’s not special enough. But then I turn around and the look on her face tells me I did okay after all.

Her eyes are all lit up, like she’s excited. I shoot her a grin and a wink, then take the few steps back to her and pull the creaky door open. For a few seconds, she doesn’t move an inch. Then she turns and hurtles herself from the Jeep and into my arms. She holds on tightly, arms around my neck and face tucked near my jaw. “N-Nate… you planned this for us?”

I turn my face and kiss the top of her head. “Is it okay? You sound surprised.” My voice is husky and deep. “What I was going to say before was that I wanted to be alone with you.”

She gives a little squeak of mock-terror. “Oh my God, we aren’t camping are we?”

I laugh. “No. We don’t have the gear we’d need to do that. Sometimes I come out here for a little while at night to stargaze and think.” When she doesn’t say anything, I continue. “Is that dumb or what?”

As she looks up at me, I let her slide to the ground. “It’s not dumb, Nate. I sit outside on my balcony a lot. It’s my favorite thing to do at night when I want to be alone.”

I try to hold back a snicker and fail. “You and that balcony. I should have known.”

She playfully swats at me before taking my hand. “It’s my favorite spot. But thank goodness for no camping. I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet.” We walk over to the blanket and sit down, both of us tugging our shoes off. She doesn’t hesitate to grab the basket and pull out the contents, opening containers and handing me one of the bottles of water.

“It’s nothing fancy.”

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