HARLEY

A nother Sunday morning, another brunch at RISE with Aria.

For the first time, I was early. Maybe it was this new thing with Ace, but I’d been feeling a little strange ever since our hiking date a little over a week ago. Strange in a good way, though… things like drinking more water, cleaning my apartment, or being early for brunch were happening much more often. Ace had taken to calling me, both morning and night, too. Of course, I’d said it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted we do all the typical dating things even if we were “challenge dating” or whatever this was.

It was a weird situation but also kind of cool. In any case, it was doing me some good because, for the first time, I was the one sitting at our table early, sipping a caramel macchiato and humming a tune.

“Holy shit, are you really wearing a yellow top?” Came Aria’s voice as she was escorted to our table by a very bored-looking waitress.

Yeah, there was that too. What had this guy done to me?

“Hey babe!” I grinned and jumped up to hug her. “Okay, maybe I decided I needed a little more colour in my life.” I giggled. Aria was, of course, the picture of perfection in a white boho maxi skirt, flip-flops and a baby blue tube top. With her flawless sun-kissed skin and beach waves, she was the epitome of a summer Sunday.

For the most part, black was my go-to colour. That’s not to say I didn’t wear any colour at all but more like I was a one colour at a time kind of person and only if a good amount of darkness flanked it. So yeah, this yellow top and light blue denim mini skirt were definitely out of my comfort zone.

“I guess I am” I shrugged.

“Wow, so Ace must be really something then…” Aria cooed. “Tell me everything!”

I stopped her. “First you tell me about that audition you went to.”

Aria’s face broke into a slow, careful smile before announcing, “I got it!” she declared in a singsong voice and did a celebratory dance in her chair.

“Congrats babe! I’m so proud of you! I knew you could do this!” This was a gigantic step for Aria. She’d been auditioning like crazy these past few months, desperately trying to jump start her professional career. “Wow, girl… you did it and with JaylaT, too!”

JaylaT was Aria’s all-time favourite pop artist. She was the whole reason Aria had come to LA. It had been her lifelong dream to be a backup dancer for JaylaT, and now it was finally happening.

Leaning across the table, I hugged her hard. “Truly A, I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks so much, babe. It really is like a dream and I won’t be gone too long. Just eight weeks.”

“Oh, wow, did you tell Jax yet?” I asked.

“Yep, and you know what? He’s super supportive and happy for me.” Aria smiled.

“Well, shit!” I exclaimed. “Didn’t think rock stars were the type to wait around.” I joked. I thought I would miss you the most, but apparently not.

“Wow, real funny Har.” Aria poked her tongue out at me.

Just then, the waitress approached with the menus, and Aria ordered her coffee. Then she was all business.

“Okay woman. It’s time. Spill the tea!” Aria quipped as soon as the waitress disappeared back into the kitchen, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Honestly, there’s not much to tell…” I began.

“Bullshit!” Aria called out, laughing.

“Well, we did a deep dive into my issues last time. So you’re next on the chopping block, girl.” I announced. “Let’s start by evaluating your first kiss with Jax, shall we?”

“Jax and I are… different. It’s not the same thing.” Aria remarked.

Aria’s first kiss, albeit fake kiss with Jax, had been on set during a Desolation Sound music video shoot. The moment shared between them had been so hot that they had gone and made their relationship all official within days of that very first kiss.

“I had to kiss Jax onset, it was supposed to be acting…” she trailed off, her eyes glazing over with memories of that very first touch.

“Except it wasn’t acting because you both knew you wanted to be together.” I finished, as she nodded lazily. “See, with Ace and I, it’s totally different. He came after me, tried to seek me out at the club and when that didn’t work, he harassed you for my number. He didn’t know me at all, so it was all based on the idea of me from the club. You can’t say it wasn’t just physical. He saw me perform and wanted what he saw. When you’re famous, you can get anything you want. No wonder it’s felt hard to trust him.”

Between sips of her latte, Aria asked me the one question that still nagged at me. “Do you still think that about him?”

Squeezing my eyes shut for a moment, I paused, then opened one eye only and squinted at my best friend. “No… I think my opinion is changing.”

She didn’t cut me any slack. “You can do better than that, Harley.”

I nodded, somewhat lost in my own thoughts.

“Let’s just use a hypothetical for a moment.” Aria continued. “What would you have done if Ace had kissed you that first night?”

My omelet hadn’t arrived yet, and I stole hash browns from Aria’s plate as I answered her. “Of course, I would have kissed him back! Who wouldn’t kiss a rock star?”

Aria just waited. She knew me well enough to know that I still had a lot to say. “But the thing was…” I continued, “He didn’t, so I assumed he changed his mind. Figured that it was probably dark at the club. Maybe he was drunk and thought I was someone else, or maybe I just wasn’t as hot as I was at the club? I don’t know…” my voice trailed off.

“Plagued by insecurities much?” Aria teased.

“Aren’t we all”. I lamented.

“For sure, but I don’t let mine get in the way of a good man.” She raised her palms in surrender.

I threw my head back with a loud groan. Maybe I had fucked it all up.

“What about your second date? The hiking date?” She asked.

I rolled my eyes. “You heard from Jax? Guess I don’t get to tell you my news myself anymore.”

Aria put her drink down and stared at me. “He mentioned you guys went out, no details. You know I only want those from you.”

“Good.” I grinned. “Because I’ve been dying to talk to you about it.”

Just then, my omelet arrived, and I dug in eagerly. I never ate breakfast because I wasn’t normally awake at breakfast time. Brunch was only once a week and many times, I’d only ordered a coffee. But today I was ravenous, and it was freaking me out.

“I’m so hungry today,” I complained, stuffing in a huge bite.

“Yeah, I see that… if you don’t say otherwise, I might assume that you’re refueling after a big nighttime workout. Or perhaps carb loading for another?” She proposed cheekily, her eyebrows waggling at the thought.

“Aria, what’s with you today?” I admonished as she giggled.

“Spill the tea!” She barked back.

“Okay, okay.” I chuckled. “He picked me up again, but this time, there was no limo. He drove his own Escalade, which was nice, and we went up the mountain and… went hiking.”

Aria rolled her eyes. “What a sight that must have been.”

“I know, right? Don’t ask, I nearly called you to ask what to wear but in the end, I just said fuck it and did my usual.” I shrugged, gulping back my smoothie. “Hiking wasn’t bad, though. We skipped the hard part.”

Aria stared at me quizzically.

“He’d arranged for a helicopter ride to the top of the mountain. Then we hiked down.” I watched as Aria sat silently, eyes wide, soaking in every word.

“He likes to tease me and get me all riled up. Says all kinds of nonsense, then laughs when I get annoyed.”

“How cute.” Aria giggled between bites. “Sounds like a little elementary school crush.”

I rolled my eyes. “He kind of pissed me off because he seems to think that I’m only interested because I want something from him. Seems like he’s had a lot of that. Anyway, when I saw where he was going with all this, I didn’t want to be lumped in with the others. So, I spoke my mind. I told him I didn’t want anything from him and… that this thing between us probably wasn’t a good fit.” I smirked.

“Not a chance in hell that the story ends there.” Aria shook her head wisely, making me chuckle once more.

“Of course not!” I chuckled. “I stormed off down the hill and he was right on my heels. Literally, came right up behind me, grabbed me and planted a kiss on me so incredible… that it may have actually blown my mind.” I giggled.

Aria leaned forward, grabbed my hands excitedly as we both squealed a high pitched, almost dog whistle - type of sound.

“Har… this is crazy, I can’t believe we’re both dating Desolation Sound band members!” Aria said.

“Well… I wouldn’t say we are dating…” My words trailed off as my fingers absentmindedly twirled a strand of pink hair.

My head dropped into my hands as I hide my eyes and squeaked out more details. “I agreed to keep seeing him, but I told him I don’t date, so this… whatever it is between us… is more of like a challenge than anything else.”

“A challenge… you said that before…” she repeated slowly, clearly questioning my words.

“Um, yeah… like a celibate dating kind of challenge.” My words faded into the air as I busied myself with rearranging the napkin stack in the center of the table.

Aria practically shrieked with laughter. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard! You’re totally going to cave before he does, mark my words!”

I squinted my eyes in her direction. “Not going to happen.” I declared firmly.

“Why are you so stuck on this?” She asked. “Don’t you realize you will ruin your chances for something really great if you keep pushing him away?”

Fuck. I knew she was right. Friends with benefits had always been my go-to. But something about Ace made this so different.

“Because it feels like he wants to play at a having a relationship and I don’t want to get hurt.” I whispered.

Aria nodded. “Okay, but you never get hurt, Harley. You’re usually long gone before any feelings appear.”

I nodded. “Yep. That’s because I rarely like the guys. It’s more of an itch I want to scratch. But with Ace it’s… I don’t know, something is just different about him. He’s nothing like what I expected and yeah, I like him. A lot.” I hid my face once more. All these truths were so much harder than I’d ever imagined.

“Jax too…” Aria said wistfully. “I’m going to really miss him.” She reached over the table to hold my hand. “And you. I haven’t gone eight weeks without my best friend since before I knew her.”

Her heartfelt words made me smile. “I’m going to miss you terribly. Thank god it’s not longer than eight weeks!”

Aria daintily picked up her drink and raised it up. “To us and the sexy rock stars in our bed.” She grinned.

I grabbed my mimosa and tapped the glass on hers. “Not yet… but maybe soon?” I questioned. Aria confirmed it with a wink. “Within days, I’m sure!”

“Not for you though… you’ll have to wait until after the tour!” I laughed, chugging back the rest of my macchiato.