chapter Thirty-One
“It’s so good to have you back, Ari!”
Ari braced for impact as her three friends engulfed her in a group hug. The embrace caused a bit of discomfort to her still healing wound, but it was worth the small amount of agony to feel so loved.
“I’ve missed you girls. What crazy adventures have you been up to since I’ve been gone?”
“We’ve already filled you in on everything when we came to visit you at the hospital. Now it’s so your turn to spill. Who the heck was that complete hunk that was in your room the last time we were there. It’s been killing us waiting all weekend to find out.”
“Oh, he’s nobody, really,” Ari said, not wanting to discuss Rafe. She hadn’t heard a word from him since he dropped her off on Thursday and she’d been on pins and needles ever since. She knew the other shoe would drop, she just didn’t know when. The waiting was worse than if he were right there in her face. At least then she knew what he was doing. With him not communicating with her, she was jumping at every shadow, listening to every door close through her thin apartment walls.
Ari was grateful she was finally back at work, where she knew he wouldn’t be showing up. He had too much class to storm her building and kidnap her. The thought of him doing just that should send shudders through her, but instead stirred up the beginning flames of excitement.
What was she thinking? The man was screwing with her head whether he was around or not. It couldn’t be good for her health.
“You are such a liar – and a very bad one, at that. From the second he walked into your room, the temperature steadily rose. The heat in his eyes alone was enough to melt the skin from my bones. After leaving your hospital room, I went home and jumped my husband. He was so thankful, he told me to go back and do whatever it was I was doing before getting home,” Amber said as she fanned her face.
“Amber,” Ari said with mortification as she looked around.
“Oh, come on, Ari. We all do the down and dirty. I just need a pic of your guy hanging above my bed so I can have red hot sex with my hubby while fantasizing about your sex god.”
“How cute. You’re actually embarrassing her,” Miley said with a laugh.
“Come on. We’ve known Ari for months now. You know she blushes at even the mention of the S.E.X. word,” Shelly spelled out.
“You are terrible, monstrous friends. I can’t believe I’m still standing here taking this abuse,” Ari said with a smile.
“Yes, we’re horrible. I’m expecting my chariot of fire to show up to escort me to the gates of hell at any moment. For now, I’m still here, so spill the beans before we try Chinese water torture on you,” Amber threatened.
“I just want to say that I truly feel sorry for your husbands. Living with any of you has got to be like being married to an FBI agent who constantly interrogates. Geesh.”
“Yeah, yeah, now spill,” Shelly said as she impatiently tapped her toe on the floor.
“That was… just a friend. I refuse to spill anything further. I’ve been away from work for a couple weeks now, and I don’t want to give them any excuses to fire me. If you promise to leave me alone for the entire day, then maybe, just maybe, I’ll share something with you after work,” Ari said, making sure to look each of them in the eye so they knew she wasn’t bluffing.
“Fine, but I want you to know that I’m not very happy about this,” Miley pouted.
“You can grumble and call me names behind my back.”
“Okay. That makes it a little better,” Shelly said with a forgiving smile.
“We really have missed you, Ari. No one has managed to enter this friendship circle before you came along. You’ve turned us from the three musketeers to the Foursketeers.”
“Foursketeers? That’s not a real word,” Ari said with a laugh.
“Yeah, well, it sounded good in my head,” Amber defended.
“Are you ladies planning on working anytime soon, or do you think chatting around the water cooler is your job title?”
“We’re going. Keep your pants on,” Miley said as she turned toward her office.
“Miley,” Ari hissed as she glanced apologetically at her boss. “I’m sorry, sir. I’m coming now.”
“It’s good to have you back, Ari,” he replied before smiling and heading back to his office.
Amber hugged her again, before they all went to their desks. As Ari sat down, she took a relieved breath. The job was boring, but her friends made it all worth being there. She truly hoped they never ended up going their separate ways. She’d found laughter again, and she didn’t ever want to lose it.
Ari managed to avoid telling her friends much of anything about Rafe, but what she didn’t realize was that they got ahold of her phone while she was in the bathroom and found several steamy text messages from him.
Since the girls were determined to hook her up, they decided to see if they could do some matchmaking. The messages they’d read were all about what he wanted to do to her… all night long, and her replies were less than enthusiastic.
The girls wanted to see a show, and they were about to get their money’s worth.