Chapter 73

Aria

The picture on the screen felt like a knife to the gut. As if tonight wasn’t already confusing enough, images of our kiss—complete with my face on full display—were circulating the internet.

I stood there, stunning into silence, just staring at the phone. “No,” I repeated. “No, this can’t be. What are we going to—”

Darren suddenly turned to me. “I’ll fix it.”

My eyes widened. “How—”

“Just trust me,” he insisted, already taking a few steps toward the ballroom. “I’ll handle it.”

Bella and I exchanged wary glances, but I knew that if Darren said he would handle it, then he would. No matter how upset I was about our confusing relationship, I still trusted him.

I nodded, handing the phone back to Bella. “Alright. Thank you, Darren.”

He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “Let me drive you home,” he offered. “Both of you. If you want.”

I shook my head. “Thanks, but we’ll get home on our own.”

His lips pressed into a thin line, and for a moment, he looked like he wanted to argue, just like he had so many times before—the late-night dangers of the city and all that. But surprisingly he just nodded, raking a hand through his dark hair as he began making his way toward the exit.

“I’ll make this right,” he called out to me. “I promise.”

As soon as he was out of sight, Bella turned to me, her eyes wide. “What the hell was that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I muttered, already dreading the conversation.

“Are you kidding me?” she exclaimed, throwing her arms up. “That kiss on the dance floor? The whole fucking reason you’re in this mess?” She waved her phone, still displaying the damning pictures, in my face. “Not to mention the fact that he looked like he was about to rip William’s head off before he swooped in. Was he jealous of you dancing with William?”

I bit my tongue hard, willing myself not to say something stupid. Bella didn’t know the truth—about Darren, about the mate bond, about any of it. And she couldn’t. Not now, and probably not ever. So I settled on the safest answer I could think of.

“It’s complicated.”

Bella raised an eyebrow. “Complicated how? Because from where I was standing, it looked pretty simple. Dude saw you with another guy, got jealous, and decided to stake his claim. And then you two kissed each other. And you looked like you really enjoyed it.”

I groaned, rubbing my temples. “Can we not do this right now?”

“Fine,” she relented, but the glint in her eyes told me she wasn’t fully letting it go. “But I hope his stupid jealousy doesn’t make matters worse for you at work.”

“Yeah,” I muttered, more to myself than to her. “I hope so, too.”

We didn’t say much else as we made our way back to my apartment, too exhausted to stay and party. By the time I crawled into bed, my mind was still racing with thoughts of Darren—his touch, his scent, the way his lips had felt against mine. It was maddening, to say the least.

The next morning, sunlight streamed through the blinds, forcing me to wake up. My phone buzzed on the nightstand, and I groggily reached for it. A text from Darren was displayed on the screen.

“Got the pictures handled,” the text read. “No need to worry. I am truly sorry… about everything.”

I stared at the message, my thumb hovering over the keyboard. Relief flooded through me, and although the memory of that confusing kiss—another one to add to the growing list with him—I couldn’t help but smile a little. I sent him a quick “Thank you” and rolled out of bed.

Bella, already up and scrolling through her own phone, greeted me with a cheery “Morning!” as I stumbled into the living room. She’d spent the night, opting to stay on my couch rather than making her way home.

“Morning,” I grumbled, rubbing the sleepiness from my eyes.

“So, breakfast?” she asked, her grin a little too eager.

“Sure,” I said with a shrug. I was honestly craving some diner coffee and a big stack of waffles.

We ended up at the diner down the street a little while later, a cozy little spot with red vinyl booths and the smell of sizzling bacon in the air. Before I could even pour creamer into my coffee, Bella was immediately diving back into the topic I had hoped we were done with.

“So,” she began, stirring sugar into her coffee, “are we gonna talk about the kiss now?”

I groaned. “Do we have to?”

“Yes, we absolutely do.” She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands. “Because it didn’t look like it was just Darren who wanted it. It looked like you did, too.”

My cheeks burned as I looked down at the menu, pretending to be engrossed in the breakfast options. “Bella, please just drop it.”

“Nope. Not happening.” She smirked, clearly enjoying my discomfort. “Come on, Aria. Just admit it. You wanted it.”

I sighed, setting the menu down. “Fine. Yes, okay? I wanted it. I want… him. Are you happy now?”

She looked entirely too pleased with herself. “See? That wasn’t so hard.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not like I planned it or anything. It just… happened. My body kind of took over when we were dancing.”

“Well, duh,” Bella said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “You’ve been wound tighter than a spring lately. If you’re not gonna take things further with Darren, you need to let off some steam. Go on a few dates or something. Otherwise you’re going to make matters worse for yourself.”

I stared at her, horrified. “Bella, no.”

“Bella, yes,” she countered, grinning like the devil himself. “I’m serious, Aria. When was the last time you slept with someone? With Jackson, right?”

I nodded, but narrowed my eyes at her.

“You’re a beautiful girl,” she continued. “Plenty of good men would be lucky to date you. Like that model last night, for example. He was totally smitten with you.”

“That’s not happening,” I said firmly.

“Okay, fine. But at least let me make you a dating profile. You don’t even have to look at it—I’ll handle everything.”

“Bella…”

“Come on,” she pleaded, her eyes wide as saucers. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

I sighed, knowing she wouldn’t let it go until I agreed. “Fine. Do whatever you want. But I’m not looking at it.”

She clapped her hands in triumph. “You won’t regret this. I promise.”

By the time we got back to my apartment, Bella was already hard at work on her mission. She asked a few questions, mostly about hobbies and preferences, before disappearing into the world of swiping and messaging.

Unsurprisingly, by that afternoon, my phone was blowing up with pings from the dating app. I ignored them all, even going so far as to turn off notifications. Before bed that night, I told myself that I would delete them in the morning.

Except I didn’t.

By Monday morning, I had completely forgotten about the whole thing. Work was the last place I wanted to be, but I trudged in anyway, clutching my coffee.

As soon as I stepped into the office, though, I knew something was off.

The usual hum of morning chatter was absent, replaced by an almost eerie silence. When I glanced around, I noticed my coworkers watching me—some with curiosity, others with barely concealed disdain. My stomach twisted uncomfortably.

This wasn’t like it was before. This was… worse.

“Aria,” a familiar voice called. I turned to see Tracy approaching, her expression unreadable. “Can you come with me for a second?”

“Uh, sure,” I said, following her to one of the private conference rooms. The door clicked shut behind us, and she turned to face me, holding her phone out.

“Aria… what’s this?”

I looked at the screen—and my blood ran cold.

It was the picture from the masquerade.