ARIA’S POV
I pick up my bag and rush toward the door, my vision blurry with tears I refuse to let fall in front of them.
“Ari, wait!” Miles calls after me.
His hand grabs my wrist just as I reach the door, and I yank it free so hard I stumble backward.
“Don’t touch me!”
“Let me explain—”
“Explain what?” My voice cracks. “Explain how you’re naked with another girl when I was supposed to come over tonight?”
“You said you weren’t ready! You kept making excuses—”
“So you decided to find someone who was?”
The blonde girl appears beside him, still completely naked and not caring at all. She looks amused, like this is all some kind of joke to her.
“Ari, look…” Miles runs his hands through his hair. “I don’t know if I can do this with you anymore.”
“Do what?”
“This. Us. I mean, look at yourself.” His eyes travel up and down my body, and not in a good way. “You’re just… soft.”
The word hits me like a slap. Soft. Like it’s something disgusting.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know what it means. I tried to be patient, I really did, but I have needs. And you…” He gestures at me helplessly. “You’re too fat, Ari. I can’t help it if that’s not what I’m attracted to.”
The room goes silent except for the sound of my heart breaking into a million pieces.
The Victoria’s Secret bag slips from my other hand again, hitting the floor. The red lingerie spills out, all lace and promises that now seem ridiculous.
Miles sees it and actually laughs.
“Oh my god, were you actually planning to wear that tonight?” He picks up the bra and holds it up. “This would have been a disaster.”
The blonde girl giggles. “Is that from the kids’ section? It’s so small.”
“Right? Like, did she really think this would fit?” Miles tosses it back on the floor. “I mean, I appreciate the effort, but…”
“But what?” the girl asks, still giggling.
“But there’s not enough fabric in the world,” Miles finishes.
They both burst into laughter, and something inside me dies.
I don’t say anything else. I can’t. I just turn around and run.
“Ari, come on, don’t be dramatic!” Miles calls after me, but I’m already in the hallway, already pressing the elevator button over and over like that will make it come faster.
When the doors finally open, I dive inside and hit the ground floor button. My hands are shaking so bad I can barely press it.
The tears come the second the doors close.
All the words I’ve heard whispered behind my back for years, finally said to my face by someone who was supposed to care about me.
I stumble out of the building and onto the sidewalk. It’s dark now, and I don’t know where to go. I can’t go home and face my mom’s questions. I can’t go to Camile’s and admit what happened.
So I just walk.
And walk.
And walk.
The tears won’t stop coming. My face is probably a mess, my makeup definitely ruined, but I don’t care. I keep walking until my feet hurt, until I’m in a part of town I don’t recognize.
I find myself in a small park, empty except for a few streetlights and a bench under a big oak tree. I collapse onto it and finally let myself fall apart completely.
Six months. Six months of thinking I was in love, of planning my first time, of believing that someone actually wanted me. And the whole time, he was just putting up with me until he found someone better.
Someone thinner.
Someone prettier.
Someone not soft.
I cry until my throat hurts, until my eyes are swollen, until I don’t think I have any tears left. But they keep coming anyway.
“Ari?”
I look up, wiping my face with the back of my hand. Through my blurry vision, I can make out a figure standing a few feet away.
Xander Reed.
Of course. Of all the people to find me at my lowest moment, it has to be him.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, my voice hoarse from crying.
“I could ask you the same thing.” He moves closer, and I can see the concern on his face. “You look…”
“Like shit. I know.”
“I was gonna say upset.” He sits down on the bench beside me, leaving some space between us. “What happened?”
I laugh, but it comes out more like a sob. “You really want to know?”
“Yeah.”
“My boyfriend cheated on me. Well, ex-boyfriend now, I guess.” I wipe my nose with my sleeve. “With some blonde girl who actually has a decent body.”
“Ari—”
“No, it’s fine. He told me exactly why he did it. Apparently, I’m too fat and soft for anyone to actually want to sleep with.” The words taste bitter in my mouth. “So there you go. That’s my pathetic story.”
Xander is quiet for a long moment. When I glance at him, his jaw is clenched tight.
“He said that to you?”
“Among other things, yeah.”
“What an asshole.”
“He’s not wrong though.” I stare down at my hands. “I mean, look at me. I’ve been kidding myself thinking anyone could actually—”
“Stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Stop talking about yourself like that.” His voice is sharp, angry. “That guy is a piece of shit, and he doesn’t get to define your worth.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one who—”
“Who what? Who gets called names? Who gets treated like garbage?” He turns to face me fully. “You think you’re the only one who’s ever felt like they weren’t good enough?”
I look at him, really look at him. Xander Reed, with his perfect face and perfect reputation and perfect life.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Maybe not. But I understand what it’s like to be hurt by someone you trusted.”
There’s something in his voice that makes me believe him.
“Why are you being nice to me?” I ask.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because we barely know each other. Because you have that whole bad boy thing going on. Because…”
“Because what?”
“Because I’m exactly what Miles said I am.”
Before I can say anything else, before I can put myself down again, Xander moves closer.
“You’re not,” he says quietly.
And then he kisses me.
It’s soft and gentle and nothing like what I expected from someone with his reputation. His hand cups my face, his thumb brushing away a tear I didn’t know was still falling.
30
