Page 79 of Vicious Arrangement
She lights up at the box and opens it, then looks at me. “Noah?—”
“It’s an Apple watch, you can sync it with your phone like this…” I do it how the guy told me and somewhere in the other room, her phone beeps. “I thought you could use it on your runs, track your steps… it’s not much?—”
“Noah,” she says as I put it on her, “I know what an Apple watch is. I just never got around to replacing mine, and this is the latest, most expensive model. Thank you.”
She hugs me.
“Glad you like it,” I say.
“Like it?” She just hugs me harder. “I’m touched by your thoughtful gift.”
“It’s nothing,” I mutter, acting gruff, like it’s no big deal.
But inside, I’m happy she likes it.
Aria hasa bunch of double shifts. I’m busy with work and planning the fishing day. When Saturday arrives, Josh is so excited that Asher mutters he’ll be glad when it’s over.
I give her plenty of chances to back out of it, but Aria doesn’t. Instead, on Friday, she coaxes the personal chef to help her prep lunch, which he’s more than delighted to do.
People like her, I can see, and by the time we go to pick up Josh, even I’m smiling.
We haven’t had sex since I took her from behind, but we’ve genuinely been ships passing in the night, and there’s something in that, something different from hiding in my work from her.
Still…
I bound up to the door where Joshy’s keeping sentry. “Daddy!” he screams. “Noah’s here!”
Asher comes up, looking suspiciously well dressed and I narrow my eyes as I take him in.
“Want to join us? We didn’t bring the beast dog, so there’s room.” If Josh’s face falls a little, I pretend not to notice.
Asher rubs the back of his neck and checks his watch. “I’ve actually got plans.”
“Like what?”
“Like work and none of your business.”
“I’ve never seen you dress like that for work.”
“Go.”
I grin as I help Josh out to the car with his toy box and Spiderman doll. His eyes light up as he sees Aria and he scrambles in next to her for a hug. “Ara!”
As we take off to New Jersey to the place I’ve picked for Josh, I’m secretly glad it’s just us.
Asher’s my best friend, and I’m still awkward over what I did to him. But he looked good, and that little fucking piece of jealousy rears up. Aria likes him, and I don’t want her to see him as a viable choice, especially as I know he’s a smarter choice than me.
They’re not into each other means nothing to the jealousy, and I hate myself for feeding it.
When we get to the little spot in a sweet suburban town outside of Jersey City, I help Josh with his fishing, showing him how to set the hook and to cast the line.
It’s long work that requires patience, and with Joshy I can be calm and my patience is always bottomless. With him.
We don’t catch anything, which is fine. I don’t think he’ll eat it if he catches it, the whole food and where it really comes from isn’t quite at that connecting level yet. And I don’t want to be the monster who does that. When we eat our picnic, he plays with his toys on the rug Aria spread under a tree on the riverbank.
Later, he falls asleep next to me on the drive back, strapped in and curled between us as the driver takes us back. I could have driven, but I know this driver has family here, so he got to earn money while catching a day with them.
“You know,” she says, “you’re different with him, and you’re great with him. It’s nice to see a softer, non-asshole side to you.”
