Page 6 of Dare Me

“Um…”

“Ari! Come on! You make great money, how is it that you can’t find an apartment? Have you talked to Patrick? He’s always got property available.”

“I haven’t really talked to him about it in a while. Most of the places he manages are out of my budget. Plus, I guess a part of me wasn’t sure this was where I wanted to stay.”

“You mean at Liam’s?”

“No. Laurel Bay. I’ve been looking at jobs…elsewhere.”

Her sister was silent for several long moments. “Like how far elsewhere?”

“Like…back in Chapel Hill where I went to school. There are a lot of opportunities there, and…”

“Stop. Just stop.” She let out a long breath. “Why are you just now telling me this?”

“Because I don’t know if it’s something I’m going to do. I know everyone will freak out if I move away again.”

“You can’t live your life for everyone else. Trust me. I’m doing it and it sucks.”

“Then maybe you need to stop doing it,” she challenged.

“Please, one crazy Donovan daughter at a time.” She paused. “So…you really think you’ll move away?”

“I’m not sure. I keep looking at positions in bigger cities and…there’s nothing keeping me here in Laurel Bay. Once Liam gets home, you know he’ll only tolerate me staying here for so long. He’s going to want the place to himself and will probably resent having his baby sister in the next room when he wants to bring a woman home.”

“Ugh…I don’t need that image in my head.”

“You know what I’m saying. I didn’t want to sign a lease on someplace here if I wasn’t going to stay. Maybe Liam coming home is the push I need to make that decision.”

“Damn. I’d really hate it if you moved, Ari. I feel like you just got back. I missed you.”

“I’d only be a few hours away,” she said softly. “And you can come and stay with me anytime. Like when you need to run away from all the matchmaking.” Then she laughed.

“Sure, laugh it up, but I’m telling you, soon it will be your turn and then it won’t seem so funny.”

“All the more reason for me to leave town. And who knows? Maybe I’ll meet a nice guy and fall in love in Chapel Hill.”

They didn’t stay on the phone much longer and when they did hang up, Arianna studied her phone and pulled up her photos one last time.

It would be easy to delete all the photos of her and Will right now, but as she scrolled through them again, she just couldn’t do it.

“Tomorrow,” she whispered before putting the phone face down and doing her best to fall asleep.

“It’s decided, you’re coming home with me.”

Will Jameson looked over at his friend and was seriously at a loss for words. Not that he didn’t appreciate the offer—because he did—but…it was complicated.

More complicated than he cared to explain.

“Do you want to go back to California?” Liam Donovan asked him.

“No.”

“Have you made any plans or even thought about where you’re going to go?”

“Not exactly.”

“Will, we’re out of here in two days! How could you not know where you’re going to go?”

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