Page 26 of Take the Wheel

Ari let out a humourless laugh. ‘You must think I’m pathetic.’

‘I think you need to stop giving Paris so much power over you.’

Ari was quiet for a long moment. ‘It’s not about her anymore,’ she admitted. ‘It’s about what she took from me.’

Nancy studied her. ‘The necklace.’

Ari nodded. ‘And everything it meant.’

Nancy didn’t know what to say to that, so she just stayed beside her, letting the silence settle between them. Eventually, Ari leaned her head against Nancy’s shoulder, and Nancy let her. Just for a moment. They watched the dance floor filling as a jazz band played.

‘She invited me because she wants me to see that she won. She got the necklace and someone who wants to marry her.’

Nancy groaned. ‘You don’t even know she has it.’

‘I know, Nancy. I do.’

‘You don’t.’

‘Please don’t be like everyone else in my life right now,’ Ari pled.

‘What do you mean?’ Nancy frowned.

There was a long pause. ‘Telling me I’m an idiot.’

‘I didn’t say that,’ Nancy said quickly and firmly.

‘You don’t believe that I know what I know I know.’

‘Say that sentence five more times fast.’

‘Stop it. I’mserious.’

Realising she was right put a hitch in Nancy’s stride. Because when Ari was serious, you had to pay attention. It meant something important was happening. She was showing you something she rarely showed. The hurt inside her.

Nancy decided to take a risk. ‘What happened between you?’

Ari exhaled, tilting her head back. ‘She wanted in.’

Nancy frowned. ‘Into what?’

Ari let out a short, bitter laugh. ‘My world. My friends. The life I had before her.’ She shook her head. ‘She made it seem like she wantedme, but really, she wanted the people I knew, the connections I had. I thought she loved me. But she just wanted my life. She slid in and made it hers.’

Nancy stayed quiet, watching the tension in Ari’s jaw.

‘And then she started the games,’ Ari continued. ‘She’d twist things. Make me doubt myself. Make me feel like I was imagining it when things didn’t add up. She was always lying about weird, stupid shit. Where she’d been, who she’d talked to, what she’d said. And if I caught her out, she’d just smile and act like I was being ridiculous. Like I was overreacting. And if I ever called her out, suddenlyIwas the one being unfair.’ Ari let out a slow breath.

Nancy’s fingers curled into her palm. ‘And then?’

Ari’s smile was cold. ‘I tried to fix it. Can you imagine? I thought she just needed to be loved right. That’s when I promised her the necklace. I wanted her to know I was all in. Until I found some texts on her phone to a mutual friend. One ofmyfriends. They were shit-talking me. Paris was laughing at me. Said I was needy and desperate.’ Ari frowned. ‘Maybe I was. I don’t know.’

Nancy felt something hard settle in her chest. She knew that feeling. That slow, creeping horror of looking at someone you love and realising you’re only justseeingthem for the first time.

‘So you broke it off,’ Nancy said quietly.

Ari nodded. ‘And Paris didnottake it well.’

Nancy nodded. ‘Yeah, I got that impression.’

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