Page 93 of One Wild Ride

“I thought it would be the best thing in the world to find my sister, but to know she had to deal with that for so long hurts more than when I had no idea she even existed.”

Aria tightened her hold. Her warm breath soothed my sore heart. What would I do without her? These past few months, whenever my mother pointed her twisted lies toward me, Aria was the one who knew exactly how to bring my pulse under control. She soothed me with her words, with her art, and with her body.

Now that I found her, I’d be lost without her.

“Did you mean it when you said you would marry me?”

My heart had gotten a little in front of my head when I proposed. I meant every word, but the last place I wanted to express my feelings to Aria was in front of my mother.

“How about we just live together for a while? See how it goes,” she said.

I was rubbing the arm she had draped over my chest but stopped at her words. Turning, I pulled her beside me. “You don’t want to marry me?”

Disbelief and melancholy clawed at my neck before settling in my heart.

Her jaw firmed and with a flared nose she nodded.

Aria was using me. Was I some fun oddity, the rich recluse virgin? Well, ex-virgin now. Something to have a good laugh about when she saw her friends again?

I was angry, but most of all, I was hurt. I may not have intended to propose, but I still loved her. Those dreams of us being on the beach and spending the rest of our lives together were so real I could smell the salty, beachy breeze in her hair.

Something unexpected happened. I laughed. It’s not that I meant to, but when I opened my mouth to speak, laughter poured out instead.

“What’s so funny?” Aria asked with rounded eyes.

I stood and waved my hands around the room. “This. This is funny. You run halfway across the country to ‘kidnap me,’” I raised my fingers in air quotes before continuing, “tell me you love me but you don’t want to marry me. This is farcical, Aria. You. Me. Our lives. If Hollywood made a movie of us, it would be a zany comedy.”

Then I lowered my voice. “Can one man escape his evil mother’s clutches to be with the woman he loves? Can he stop the woman he loves from running from her past long enough to see happiness is right in front of her? What love story doesn’t include kidnapping, discovering long lost family, and escaping arranged marriages.”

Aria stood from the bed to pull on her purple panties and jeans. Then there was silence.

“Okay, maybe not a comedy but definitely a soap opera,” I said.

I was losing it. It was obvious. But I didn’t care. I had enough of people holding love and happiness out in front of me like a carrot stick, only to pull it away when I came near.

There was a knock on the door.

“Grace is back with our coffee,” I said as I bent down to grab the brown T-shirt I wore yesterday and put it on.

Making my way to the door, I opened it without glancing at the peephole, which I would discover was a mistake.

“Who are you?” I asked the tall man with the shaggy brown hair and black T-shirt. Something about him seemed familiar but I couldn’t place him.

I heard movement behind me and glanced back to see Aria pulling up her jeans.

“Something happened to your sister. You both need to come with me.” His voice was deep, almost gravely, as he pinned me with a stare.

The past five minutes arguing with Aria melted away as worry for Grace took over.

“Let me grab my shoes—” I turned but he grabbed me by my arm and pulled.

“Hey, wait, aren’t you—” Aria said and was cut off as another man, who must have been standing in the hall, forced his way in and grabbed her.

“Get off of her.” I tried to yank my arm away from the guy with the shaggy hair, but he managed to move behind me and pin my arms back.

Before I knew what was happening, a bag had been put on my head and I was being pushed forward.

“Did Tiffany get you to do this? Aria, did you call Tiffany?” I asked hoping Aria was nearby since I couldn’t see anything.

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