Page 24 of A Hurt So Good

I start to laugh out loud when my dad dives into the pool. Arya drags her eyes to mine and quickly snaps her mouth shut. Dad pops near me and looks between the two of us as he slicks his hair back.

“You two getting along?” he asks.

“Yeah. We were just bonding,” I tell him. Arya looks down at her hands in the water, trying not to make eye contact with either of us. It makes me wonder more about her.

“Good. That’s good. We have the gala coming up in a few weeks. I was hoping you boys wouldn’t mind Arya joining us,” he says. Now her head pops up, and her eyes lock with his.

“What? What gala?” she asks, keeping her eyes trained on his.

“Your mom didn’t tell you?” She shakes her head. “I’m so sorry, Arya. I assumed she’d tell you about it.”

“She doesn’t tell me much,” she adds but not seeming to give a shit. I wonder if they don’t get along that well. Not that I come around here enough to know.

“Well, a few times a year, I host a gala. Mostly for charity, but it’s always a good time, and tons of people show up for them. It’s good for getting to know people and making connections. Your mom has told me about you, Arya, and the fact you like working for yourself. I’ve looked at some of the things you’ve done, and I think you do amazing work,” he says. I raise my eyebrow, now intrigued.

“What exactly has she told you?” Arya asks, sounding a little put off her mom would even speak of her. My dad sighs and runs his hand through his hair.

“Actually, she didn’t tell me much. I did more looking into you than anything.”

“What? Why?”

“I wanted to know more about you. About what you do.”

“What do you do?” I ask, cutting into their conversation. Arya looks over at me briefly before looking back at my dad.

“You don’t think that’s weird? Checking up on me?” She’s defensive now.

“No. I don’t. I was interested in what you do, and I looked into it. If I’m being honest, I was going to ask you to do a little work on my club’s websites.”

“You’re a computer geek?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. Arya rolls her eyes before dragging that sexy gaze of hers back to mine.

“I design websites. I set up web stores and things like that. I make sure everything is running the way it should. I wouldn’t call it being a computer geek,” she snaps at me. She’s right. She’s far from a geek.

“That’s interesting.”

“Why?”

“Why are you so defensive? I just said it was interesting.” My dad laughs catching both of our attention.

“You two seem to get along well.”

“Seems that way, doesn’t it?” Arya smarts off before standing from the step she’d been sitting on and climbing out of the pool. I’m pretty sure we’re both watching her ass as she walks over to the tables the furthest away from us and sits down with her towel in hand.

“What’s with her?” I ask, nodding in her direction.

“Her mom says she’s a feisty one.”

“Yeah? Why is that? Most girls have a reason behind that behavior.” Dad shakes his head and glances over at her once more before dragging his gaze back to mine.

“Arya has a different kind of upbringing. Things weren’t always good for her,” he says.

“Meaning?” He shakes his head again.

“I’m not going to explain her past, War. That isn’t my place, but I know how you boys can be, and I’d suggest you tread lightly with that one. She can be a fighter.” Dad dips himself under the water and swims to the other end. My eyes are drawn back to Arya sitting with her head tipped back, a towel over herself.

I’ve never really given a shit about any of the girls his girlfriends have brought home, but this one interests me. And maybe that’s not the best thing for her.

I sit back and relax as my dad swims laps, and she pretends not to be watching us. Our eyes collide, a war waging in hers I can see from here. Then she grabs her glasses and slides them on, blocking my view of those gorgeous blue eyes of hers. I let her have glasses for now.

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