Twelve

TWELVE

Aria

"So, how was it?"

Warmth mixed with contentment and moved through my body. I felt the best I could ever remember being in my whole life as long as I didn't give myself the opportunity to think too much about where my life had been just over two months ago and earlier.

This was all so unexpected. And yet, it was undeniably rewarding.

Between the jobs I'd landed, the friends I'd made, and the new home where I lived, I had succeeded in turning my life around entirely.

But the change wasn't simply about where I was and who I was around now. It wasn't even about the work I was doing.

The biggest change I'd experienced had nothing to do with any of the outward stuff that was happening in my life at the moment. It was about something that others couldn't see—my willingness to share my life with the new people who had come into it.

While they never knew any differently from me, I recognized it was happening. It had started for me with Paxton, but I was finding it easy to do with some of the people I worked with.

Though I'd wracked my brain attempting to figure it out, it was difficult to know precisely what it was that had led me to experiencing such a drastic change in my willingness to be open with others.

Was it them? Were they just the kind of people that were so good at making others feel at ease that I felt safe enough to share?

Was it me? Had I gone for far too long bottling up everything inside and finally needed to make the change?

What had led to the transformation that was happening so effortlessly and right before my eyes, I was as surprised by it as I was relieved. Because even if it continued to catch me off guard when I spilled things I normally wouldn't have dreamed of sharing, I couldn't deny that it felt good.

And now that it was Monday morning, and I was back at the deli, I'd actually expected the question I'd just gotten from Mallory. No doubt she was referring to my date with Paxton.

I wanted to answer her, to tell her the truth, but I wasn't quite sure how to share that I felt like I was on cloud nine without it seeming weird to her. The thing was, I'd had a wonderful time with Paxton, and I couldn't wait until we were able to spend some time together. Sure, he was my neighbor that I saw nearly every day from my window, but spending time—conversing and laughing—with him was different.

"Oh, I think I just got my answer," Mallory declared, her voice breaking into my thoughts.

"What?"

"I'd recognize that look anywhere," she declared. "You're daydreaming with a smile on your face, so I can only assume you had a stellar time with Paxton a few days ago."

There was no use denying it. I didn't know exactly how close Paxton was with his coworkers, but it was reasonable to assume Mallory could easily find out if I'd lied to her about how things went with Paxton if she simply asked Nixon.

Smiling, I admitted, "I had a great time with him."

She beamed back at me. "I'm so happy to hear that. Did he wind up showing you all the cool spots around town?"

I bit my lip as I recalled our day together and shook my head. "Not exactly."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, he did take me to The Early Bird that morning, and that place is fantastic," I started. "But all of the plans he'd had to show me around town sort of flew out the window after breakfast."

Mallory's eyes narrowed with concentration. It became clear she was attempting to figure out what Paxton and I did if he hadn't followed through on the original plans. And the moment she thought she figured it out was obvious, because her eyes widened in disbelief. "Did the two of you run right back home and ravish each other?"

I gasped. "What? No. "

She shrugged, feigning indifference. "Hey, I wouldn't have judged you. Nixon and I gave in to physical attraction long before anything else. And look where we are now. So, what did the two of you wind up doing, if not exploring Steel Ridge?"

"Roller skating."

"What?"

While there had certainly been a change in my willingness to talk openly, I had my limits. I'd shared more than I expected or intended to with Paxton when we were at breakfast, but I had to believe it was the uniqueness of the situation that led me to making such a decision. He'd immediately noticed there was something wrong when I opened the door to him that day, and I didn't want him to think I was crazy. But even in that situation, I had held back from sharing everything .

And with the way the rest of my day had been turned around after sharing what I had with him, the last thing I wanted to do now was return to the mindset I'd been in immediately after I'd gotten off the phone with my dad.

So, I shared, "Well, Paxton had planned for us to do some sightseeing or other fun things around town, but I'd had a difficult morning before he arrived to pick me up, and I wound up sharing some of the specifics about my life over the last few years and what ultimately led me to moving to Steel Ridge to begin with. After he learned about some things I'd been through, he decided I needed some fun. So, he took me roller skating."

"Wow. How did that go?"

Laughter spilled out of me. "Honestly, I always thought I was decent at it, considering I did it often as a kid. But Paxton humbled me at the same time he impressed me. He had certainly refined his skills when he was younger."

Mallory was smiling as her head moved slowly from side to side. "I never would have guessed it."

"You and me both," I murmured.

"So, tell me more," she urged. "What else happened?"

For the remainder of the morning, while Mallory and I worked on chopping, slicing, and preparing everything needed for our day, I told her all about my time with Paxton. Of course, I didn't get into specific details of our conversations or even how much I liked the way he made me feel. I simply shared some of the fun and exciting parts of our time at the roller-skating rink and that we went for a nice lunch together afterward. Obviously, I also revealed that he and I had both had such a nice time that we were looking forward to getting together again.

Mallory couldn't have proven to be happier for me. And I thought that was saying a lot, considering I hadn't been working for her for very long yet.

It was her response to everything that led me to believe that perhaps so much about the way I was before I came to Steel Ridge had to do with the people around me.

That wasn't to say that I didn't care about my family. I did. I still loved all of them, which made this move so difficult and was the very reason I struggled so much with the phone call I had with my dad. But just because I loved them didn't mean I couldn't now realize that perhaps I wasn't living in the best environment for me. It was possible I'd never be able to thrive where I was.

Or, I could have been wrong. Maybe this all felt so good because it was new and exciting. I guess only time would tell if I was seeing everything through rose-colored glasses. But for now, I thought the best thing I could do was lean heavily into building this new life for myself and hope that the decisions I was making would lead me to a future that felt better than my past.

So far, that was happening with each day that passed. Despite it not being my dream job, my morning and afternoon working at the deli with Mallory was beyond enjoyable. Not only was it busy enough to keep us both occupied throughout the day, but during the bits of downtime we had, there was plenty of conversation and laughter to be had.

The best part of my afternoon happened just after the lunch rush. Two women walked in with bright smiles on their faces, one who looked just as pregnant as Mallory.

"Hi, Mal. How's it going?"

"Hey, Avalon. We're good. It's been a little busy today, but we're managing okay."

Avalon's eyes slid to the side and landed on me. "You must be Aria."

My brows knit together. How did she know who I was? "I am," I confirmed, hesitation evident in my tone.

The woman smiled brightly at me and declared, "I'm Avalon." She indicated the woman beside her and said, "This is Liv. We thought we'd come in today to grab some lunch and introduce ourselves."

While I thought it was nice they wanted to introduce themselves to me, I couldn't say I understood why. I had not a clue who they were.

Before I had the chance to respond, Mallory chimed in. "Avalon and Liv work at Harper Security Ops, Aria. And yes, they are both with Harper Security Ops men. "

"That's right," Avalon confirmed. "In fact, Damon works in the kidnap and ransom unit with Paxton."

"And Brix works in the self-defense and tactical training unit," Liv added.

Surprise washed over me. Granted, Sawyer had told me there were a lot of women in the group, but I was surprised to see them actively seeking to meet me. Then again, I couldn't miss the one thing Avalon had said. She noted that her guy worked in the same department at Harper Security Ops as Paxton. Was word spreading around this group because the women were talking, or was it Paxton who was sharing the news? I wasn't sure which I would have preferred.

Snapping myself out of it, I smiled and said, "It's wonderful to meet you both."

"Likewise," Liv replied.

I expected they were going to make their lunch orders next, but that wasn't even remotely close to what happened.

Avalon was all but bouncing up and down with excitement when she shared, "We've all decided it's time for another group gathering."

"Pardon?"

"All the girls," she clarified. "I've spoken to a handful of them already, and everyone is on board so far. We want to get everyone together some time over the coming weeks to have a bit of fun, but I thought it might make sense to check that you're okay with it first."

My eyes shifted between Avalon and Liv before ultimately landing on Mallory. "At this point, it's almost become a ritual," she explained.

"You want me to join you for a girls' night?" I asked .

I received a round of nods and smiles in response, and Liv shared, "We think it would be a great way to welcome you to town. We were thinking a night at The Steel Pub for some dancing would be fun."

"What do you think? If I coordinate everything with the other women, would you be interested in joining us?"

I wasn't one for getting overly emotional about things, but I would have been lying if I said I wasn't the least bit affected by what had just happened. These women, who didn't even know me, had just invited me out for a girls' night with them and the rest of the women in their group.

Steel Ridge was getting better and better by the minute. Somehow, despite the tightness I felt in my throat, I managed to find my voice. "I… I would love that."

"Perfect. I'll coordinate everything and get it all set up," Avalon bubbled. "We'll try to do it sometime soon, since it's only a matter of time before Mallory and Liv have these babies. I don't want them missing out on the fun."

"It sounds like it's going to be a blast."

"We always have the best time."

I couldn't wait. With the exception of the time I spent out with Britney on occasion, I hadn't really had anything like this in my life. I loved it. I loved that there was a group of women who were willing to accept me into the fold the way they were. But there was a part of me that wondered if perhaps they thought there was more happening between Paxton and me than was actually happening.

"I really appreciate the invitation to join you, and I'm excited about it, but I feel like I should be honest."

"Sure. What's going on?" Liv asked.

"I couldn't help but notice something you said earlier, and I wanted to clarify. I'm aware there's a friend group here made up of all the women who are dating Harper Security Ops men. I know Paxton; he's my neighbor. But we're not together like that."

"Yeah, but you did go out on a date with him just a few days ago, Aria," Mallory noted.

"Oooh, that's exciting," Avalon declared.

Shaking my head, needing to be clear, I insisted, "It wasn't a date like that, though. Paxton was just doing what he could to welcome me to town and give me a tour."

"But you didn't actually get the tour yet, since he decided he wanted to have fun with you instead," Mallory reminded me. "Plus, you said you both intend to get together again."

Before I could argue the point, Liv sighed dreamily. "I don't know if it's the pregnancy hormones or what, but I love this."

I nervously shifted my gaze among the women and made one last attempt to clear up any confusion. "I think you're all getting ahead of yourself. There's nothing romantic happening between Paxton and me. He's just a nice guy who wants to make my transition to this new town a bit easier. That's all."

Avalon giggled. "Of course, he is. But that doesn't mean something won't eventually come of it. Either way, we want to do our part to welcome you to town as well. So, I'll work on it over the course of the next few days and get something set up for all of us."

No matter how hard I tried to clear things up and set the record straight, these women had made up their minds. It might have been easy to get upset with them for it, but I didn't have that desire. The reality was that this was all well-meaning. I didn't necessarily believe it was a bad thing that there were women in a new town who wanted to welcome me with open arms. Plus, they weren't hiding any of this or doing it behind my back. If nothing else, I appreciated them being up front about it.

With the decisions made, I took Avalon and Liv's lunch order. And before I knew it, the end of my workday had arrived. I could head home and spend my time and energy thinking about what my life would be like if everything these new women in my life were saying was true.

Maybe I came to Steel Ridge in hopes of starting over and rebuilding my life. But it wouldn't be so bad to build it with a handsome guy in my corner, too.