“Uh. Hey, guys. We got to make this quick, but I haven’t shown you the pièce de résistance!” he said.
I leaned away from Ari and scratched my head in embarrassment. Ari’s face was flushed with warmth. We looked like two caught teenagers as we followed Sean down a long corridor. There weren’t many lights on this part of the stadium. It was as if we were walking into the abyss. As we approached a nondescript door, Sean stopped us.
“You guys, this is my little secret passageway. You do the honors, Ari. Go on, open it,” he said, coaxingly.
Ari looked at me, hesitating to move an inch further. I shrugged. I did not know where this secret door led, but I put my hand on the small of her back, reassuring her I’d be there for her. I’d be there for her. Always.
Ari eventually pushed the door open and audibly gasped. I followed behind and instantly understood Ari’s amazement. We were standing in the middle of center field, above the rocks of the roman waterfall. Ari looked around as the stadium lights came on one panel at a time. It was blinding. Ari twirled around and laughed with infectious deliciousness. In her bubble coat, she looked like a little kid excitedly experiencing a fresh winter snowfall for the first time in the south. I looked over at Sean, who winked at me and mouthed a “Dude, you’re in there” and gave me a thumbs-up for good measure.
“I can’t believe I’m standing in center field. This is crazy. How many people can say they have stood here!” Ari said in amazement.
“Yeah, this is great. Thanks, Sean,” I said, giving him a hearty handshake and a pat on the back.
“You’re my dude. No problem, anything for you and your girlfriend,” Sean said. I looked at him wide-eyed. Even though it was cold as a brick outside, I could feel heat rising in my chest.
“What?” he asked, playfully. “Not girlfriend? Fiancée, then? Wife? Did you elope?” He gasped. “Eloise is going to kill you!”
Now he was being a deliberate ass.
Ari turned to him, laughing. “I’m not his girlfriend or wife. He’s telling the truth, Sean. We’re just friends.” I couldn’t help but feel a bit of a sting in how she said friends. We could be more. So much more if she’d allow it. Lord knows I wanted it.
“Uh-huh.” Sean, whose nose was turning as red as his hair, laughed. “Well, Porter, this was one hell of a nice thing you did for your...friend. But my balls are probably going to freeze off out here! Temps are dropping. Come on, you guys, we better get out of here before I get fired.”
Ari and I laughed. As I turned to enter the little hidden door, Ari grabbed my hand. “You think you’d ever want to come and see a game with me...you know... When it isn’t so cold?” she asked.
I took her hand and looked at her eyes, cola-colored and sparkling. “I’ll even sit through a double-header. Beer and dogs on me,” I said. I hated hot dogs. I hated baseball even more. But I’d suffer through both for Ari.
Ari squeezed my hand and smiled. “Awesome.”
We made our way out of the stadium, walking hand in hand, along the bridge toward the parking lot. Ari stopped abruptly.
“Be honest. How much did this cost you? How rich are you, Trust Fund?”
I laughed, then made a gesture with my index finger and thumb. “Just a little bit. But tonight, wasn’t about money. I just so happen to know a guy that could break into a multimillion-dollar stadium at night. That’s priceless.”
She pulled me closer, grabbed me by the shoulders, and kissed me. Ari deepened her kiss, finding my tongue eager and wanting. It was cold outside, but that kiss could have melted an iceberg. “Thank you for this. All of it.”
I smiled, tucking that loose curl under her hood. “It was nothing.”
When we finally reached my car, Ari sighed, turning to me. “Listen, if you did all this to... I don’t know, convince me to be with you or something. Porter, I still don’t think we should. We can’t risk it. I can’t risk it.”
I exhaled a plume of cloudy air against the cold stillness. My frustration with her apprehensions dug into me like thumbtacks in my palms. “Ari, do you really think I’m that manipulative? Seriously?”
“So, why’d you do all this?”
The wind began to pick up, the unseasonably cold chill making my eyes water. At least that was the excuse I had because they were tears. Tears at the fact that she still didn’t get it. She didn’t get me. “You were sad about your dad. And I thought instead of a sad memory, you could have a happy memory about Thanksgiving. I know he couldn’t see Truist when it was done but, you could. For him. Keep the tradition alive. There’s no ulterior motive here.”
Before I could say anything else, Ari clasped her hands around my face and kissed me so soft, so deep. I grabbed her waist and moved my lips in time with hers. I’d missed them so much. When she pulled back, my lips felt betrayed by the interruption. I looked at her eyes, red-rimmed and brimming with tears.
“You’re unreal, you know that?”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I opened the car door and waited for Ari to get in. I leaned down, staring into her face. “Do you know what I could go for right now?”
Ari looked up at me, blinking rapidly. “Uhm...what’s that? Don’t tell me you want...”
Before she could finish that thought, I narrowed my eyes. “Some more of your caramel pound cake.”
“Oh.”
“Oh, wait? You thought I was going to say sex, didn’t you? If I have to fight Des for the last piece, I will. I saw him eyeing it.”
Ari let out a riotous laugh that echoed all around us. “After tonight, I’ll bake your weight in caramel pound cake if you want.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Porter
I looked over my notes from Serrano Group regarding the corporate skyboxes for the stadium. I had put on a vinyl of Ella Fitzgerald doing Christmas standards as I pored over each detail. I needed something to put me in a good mood. Marco, the older playboy brother, had exacting tastes, sending over samples of Corinthian leather that he wanted for the seats to make sure our designs fit his aesthetic. I wanted to get this right before the holiday break. With the constant barrage of holiday parties, shopping for my family, and the upcoming construction bids looming, the final touches of this design had to get done.
As I hummed along to Ella’s voice, I heard a knock at my door. I looked up to see Todd standing in the doorway along with Ms. Gayle.
“Your brother is here to see you. I thought I’d walk him back myself.”
I groaned. It had been a week since his outburst at Thanksgiving and we hadn’t spoken. My voice mail was full of messages from my mother asking me to “put Todd out of his misery and call him back.” She’d also asked me to participate in an intervention that Kim was facilitating with a counselor. I agreed to do that; however, I refused to talk to him, the hurt still raw and palpable. He had embarrassed the shit out of me, in front of Ari no less. That was unforgivable.
“It’s fine.” I nodded toward Ms. Gayle, who left me alone with Todd.