Page 48 of Ordinary Secrets

“Why do you always call me Arella?”

I press my brows together. “Because that’s your name?”

“But everyone calls me Ari.”

“Would you rather I call you that?” I call her Arella because for four weeks before I met her, I referred to her in my head as Arella. Calling herArinow would sound weird. But if that’s what she wants...

“I don’t mind,” she says. “I actually kind of like it.”

I’m going to take her “kind of” as that shereallylikes it.

We talk easily until we arrive back in my driveway. One of my band’s songs is playing from the backyard speakers. My time alone with Arella is almost up, and I haven’t thought of a way to ask her out yet. I still get the feeling that she’ll reject me.

When I asked her out before, she only agreed on the premise that we’d be going as friends. Victor made it clear that being friends isn’t good enough and that getting intimate with her will encourage her to tell me secretive things about herself. How can I get her to date me if?—

That’s it!I can’t present the date as a date. I’ve gotta make it sound casual. That’s how I got her to come out to my show. That’s how I got her out for dinner. And that’s how I got her here tonight.

If I had texted her saying, “Hey, wanna come to a party as my date?” she absolutely would have turned me down. I informally invited her, nonchalantly asked her to bring Javina, and it got her to show up.

“What’re you doin’ tomorrow?” I ask with a newfound vigor.

“Work.”

I don’t hide my disappointment as I grunt. “Nanny or daycare?”

“Daycare. I only nanny over the weekends. Except this weekend because the family I nanny for is going on vacation. That’s why I’m going to see my grandparents.”

“Do you have a day off next week?”

She nods. “Monday.”

Make it sound casual...“You wanna hang out?”

At the closed gate to my backyard, Arella stops and turns to me, tilting her head back a little to meet my eyes. “What do you have in mind?”

Thank fuck she didn’t immediately say no. “I’ve got a video shoot in the morning. How ’bout something fun in the afternoon, and then we can get dinner afterward?”

She squints at me with a smile. “Is this your sly way of asking me out on a date?”

Abso-fucking-lutely. “Nah. We can just hang out as friends, if that’s what you want.”

Spending time with her asfriendsis the same as dating, just without the label. I don’t need the label to work my mission, especially if it’s the one thing holding her back.

Making our time together sound casual must be working, because Arella perks up. “Okay. Let’s hang out on Monday.”

14

TREY

Monday

It doesn’t takeme long to finish filming my solo scenes. While the rest of the band films their scenes outside the Soul House, I head inside, backstage. I’ve just started messing around on a loop station when Liz strolls in and stops at my side.

She has tense energy. “Hey, T-Bear.”

I press my foot against the loop pedal to stop the beat. “What?”

She feigns innocence. “What, what?”

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