Aria Matthews is in love with her best friend, Lucas Miller. It is the best kept secret since Area 51 and she knows she would take it to the grave. But things start changing in her senior year of high school when another of her friends takes it upon...
His honeyed voice made the fine hairs stand up on the back of my neck.
"I'm good," I replied in a small voice. I tried to avoid his gaze, skirting my eyes over him to focus on my aunt instead. Keep it cool, Aria. Breathe. You're brave. You can do this.
"You've grown into such a lovely lady," the creep continued. Only I heard the malice in his tone. I kept my jaw locked tight against a wave of nausea. He had never been a good-looking man but after all these years, he looked like a washed-out version of himself. He had a sizeable paunch on his otherwise lanky frame, his moustache narrower than ever and his thinning blond hair oiled within an inch of its life.
My aunt smiled warmly but I still felt my hands grow cold. I muttered my thanks, my eyes falling on my mother who was seated on her favorite armchair, her expression uninterested. Why was she even here? Why were any of them here?
I was so tired of my hoax of a family.
After a half hour of mundane small talk, by when I was almost ready to crawl out of my skin, my mother announced dinner. Since she hated cooking, she had ordered a load of food from a local Italian restaurant. What irked me was that now she passed it off as her own cooking.
Even her sister was fooled.
"Everything looks amazing, Dinah," said Aunt Kelly.
My mom smiled widely, inclining her head as if humbled. Uncle Brad shot me a sleazy look behind everyone's back. I mentally gagged. He had not changed in the five years that I had last seen him. He was still a walking piece of crap.
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"So, Aria." I heard a voice right behind me, making me whip around. To my horror, my uncle had followed me to the kitchen after everyone adjoined to the living room. "Long time, huh?"
A sink full of soapy water was at my back and the devil was in front of me. I had half a mind to climb into the dirty water just to get away from the creep. My breathing picked up, panic threatening to grip my throat. "What do you want?" If Uncle Brad thought I was going to pretend to be civil with him when no one was around, he had another thing coming.
He tsked, stepping closer and the corner of the counter dug into my back. "Is this any way to talk to your uncle?"
I tried to look down my nose at him even though he was a few inches taller than me. "What do you want?" I repeated, my teeth clenched.
"I just wanted to talk to you," he said shrugging. Then he allowed his eyes to travel down my body the way he wouldn't dare to in front of his wife and my mother. "You look good." I wore a maxi dress that my mom had chosen for me, but his gaze on me made me feel dirty and polluted.
My lips curled in disgust as bile rose up my throat. I hated myself for having no cold, curt reply like Cam would have. I was still struggling to control my breathing.
