Chapter 36

ARIA

I’m completely flabbergasted as I watch the rain drip off of Gray and pool in the hallway of my building. He’s soaking wet and looks completely pathetic, like an abandoned puppy.

“Gray? What are you doing here?” I finally manage to say.

“Ari, hi…I’m so sorry to burst in. I didn’t know where else to go,” he says.

He looks at me through a curtain of sopping wet hair, his brow furrowed in anguish. “Natasha and I broke up and I…I just started walking, and my feet took me here. I’m not really sure what…uh…”

Gray trails off as I realize even he doesn’t know why he’s here. He subconsciously brought the pieces of his broken heart to the last person who held it.

On another day, I’d dismiss or even lash out at him, but tonight my empathy suddenly surges. There was a time when Gray and I loved each other, and now we’ve both been hurt by others.

I still have many negative feelings toward Gray, but in this moment, we’re in the same sorrowful boat, and I feel like he could potentially understand me better than anyone else in my life.

Without saying anything, I simply step aside and hold the door open for him.

After closing the door, I quickly grab a towel for him to dry off with and another for him to sit on. He removes his jacket and attempts to dry his wet hair and skin. Wordlessly, I go about making us cups of tea.

We don’t speak until I place the mug on the coffee table in front of him.

“Thank you,” he says quietly. “I’m sorry for, er, just showing up here. I just wanted to be around someone who…” He trails off again.

I nod, even though he’s looking down at his hands.

“I’m sorry about Natasha,” I say finally. “What happened?”

He sighs and picks up the mug. “She cheated on me,” he says, his voice cracking.

“Oh. I’m sorry,” I say.

“I don’t have any right to be so upset. I did the same thing to you, and I regret it deeply,” he says.

I’m surprised to hear this admission, as he never took responsibility for his emotional affair with Natasha even when confronted with evidence.

“I never apologized, Ari,” he continues. “And it probably doesn’t mean as much now, but I’m so sorry.”

My heart twists. For months, I wanted to see him squirm, to sit and feel his shame, to put it on display for me. Now that he is, it doesn’t feel nearly as good as I hoped.

“Gray, it’s okay. Ultimately, we weren’t a good match. It had to end somehow,” I say.

“It’s true, but I can’t deny that I loved and cared for you. Knowing I hurt you like this has been eating at me,” he says.

“Thank you. I appreciate that,” I say.

“At least you’re happy now. That makes me feel better,” he says, his light-blue eyes meeting mine.

I lean back and tuck my legs under myself. “Well, not everything is as it seems,” I say.

Gray’s eyebrows go up. “Oh? Are you two not together anymore?”

“We are…having some issues,” I say.

“I’m sorry. You seemed so happy,” he says, clearly prodding but not wanting to come right out and ask.

“I…was,” I say, sipping the still-too-hot tea and avoiding looking at Gray’s blue orbs.

“I know we haven’t been on the best terms, but you can always talk to me. I still care for you, Ari,” he says.

After a moment of hesitation, it all comes pouring out of me.

I tell Gray how my father reached out to me, how I was trying to build a relationship with him, how we’d been spending so much time together.

Finally, with tears in my eyes, I tell Gray how I learned that Jett had discovered Manny’s plans to sell an interview about me and bought his silence.

Gray listens intently, his eyebrows moving up and down, in and out to express his shock at Jett’s actions.

“So, I’ve been holed up here, trying to figure out what to do,” I say as I pick at my nails.

Gray lets out a long breath. “Well, I mean, that feels pretty unforgivable to me. Thank God you found out before you married him or something,” he says.

I immediately feel a stab of frustration toward Gray. “~Unforgivable~ feels kind of harsh,” I say. “Jett was trying to protect me. He just did it the wrong way.”

“Sounds like you’re making excuses for a narcissist,” he says quickly.

“There’s a difference between narcissism and being overprotective. Did Jett make a mistake? Absolutely. But ultimately, he was doing what he thought was best for me,” I say.

Gray gives a sarcastic laugh. “Can’t you see how he’s manipulating you, Aria?” he asks, and I feel my defenses go up.

“Maybe…,” I say, taking a deep breath. “We should change the subject. How did you find out about Natasha?”

Gray shrugs like he feels sorry for me, then takes another sip of tea.

“I found texts between her and him. She claims they’ve been friends since they were kids, but it felt awfully flirtatious to me,” he says.

I narrow my eyes at him. “Flirtatious how?”

Gray leans back in my chair and starts gesturing with his hands. “Stuff like ‘You played great the other night’ and them talking about stuff that happened when they were kids. Inside jokes and whatnot. It wasn’t spelled out in black and white, so I confronted her,” he says in a ~can you believe that?~ tone.

I tilt my head to the side. “And she admitted to it?”

“No! She pretended to be hurt and asked how I could accuse her of something so ugly and untrue. We got into a big fight, and I told her she had to choose between him and me,” he says. “Then I stormed out.”

My anger starts bubbling up in my chest again. “So, you’re jealous of her friendship and you fabricated a lie about her cheating so you could alienate her?”

Gray looks completely shocked. “What? Absolutely not. I know what I saw!”

I shake my head as I leap to my feet and grab his still-wet jacket. I storm over to him and throw it on his lap.

“You are unbelievable, Gray. You haven’t changed one bit. You were ~sexting~ with Natasha. ~Graphic~ sexting. You exchanged photos, you made confessions of intimate feelings. And you did it while you were telling me you loved me!”

I’m yelling now, barely able to contain my rage. “Natasha has a childhood friend that you are jealous of, so you gave her an ultimatum, then came here to dump all your problems on me! What is wrong with you? Seriously! You need to leave.”

Gray holds his hands up, speaking calmly. “Ari, I think you should calm down. You’re upset about your own failed relationship, and it feels like you’re taking it out on me.”

I used to hate this. I hated the way he turned everything around on me. He would jab and jab and jab at me until I exploded—and then he’d make me out to be the crazy one.

He’s the narcissist who calls other people narcissists.

Suddenly, my entire picture becomes clearer than it ever has, as if I’m looking at it from up high for the first time and can see the whole thing.

“Jett loves me. He worships me. He would never, ever intentionally hurt me,” I say, quietly now. “Whereas being with you felt like a death by one thousand tiny cuts.”

“Ari, please…”

“Don’t,” I cut him off, “call me Ari ever again. Now, I think it’s time for you to go.”

Gray’s face suddenly turns stony and cold. He stands up and slowly puts his jacket on.

“You will regret this. When he inevitably cheats or dumps you and you have no one else to turn to, you will be sorry that you turned me away in my hour of need,” he snarls.

I roll my eyes, something I know he hates. “And on that day, you are welcome to say, ‘I told you so,’” I say.

Just as I go to open the door, there’s a knock. ~My Chinese food,~ I think.

I throw it open and see Jett standing there in jeans and a sweatshirt with a large bouquet of flowers in his hand. When he sees me, relief and happiness flood his face.

Then his eyes immediately go to Gray behind me, and I see his face crinkle in rage.

“Jett, wait—” I say, but he just storms off.

I follow him down the hall, asking him to stop, but he keeps moving forward. I reach him just before he starts down the stairs, and I gently grab his arm.

Jett swings around, and I see the look of pure rage on his face. I immediately let go, but he stays there, his eyes sweeping over my face. After a moment, he turns and leaves.

It feels like my heart drops to the pit of my stomach as I think about how this whole thing must look to Jett. Me in my robe; Gray in my apartment. Suddenly, I feel both nauseous and enraged.

I have to find a way to smooth this over with him. But first things first.

I swiftly return to my open apartment door and see a smug-looking Gray standing in my kitchen with his arms crossed.

“You’re really proud of yourself, aren’t you?” I ask.

“I did you a favor. You may not realize now or anytime soon, but someday you’ll thank me,” he says as he adjusts his collar.

I grit my teeth, desperately trying to stay in control.

“If you ever show up at my apartment again, I will call the cops,” I say, my voice low and dangerous. “Now, get out.”