Falling for the Fire

Chapter 31

*Ariana's POV

I tried to protest, but Brooklyn stepped out of the small bathroom before I could stop her.

I stepped up to the door and listened closely.

"Oh, hi, you're Ariana's mom, right?" She asked.

"I am," she said, "is she around?"

My fists clenched at my sides, her voice sending anger through me again.

"No," Brooklyn said definitively, "she's not here right now."

"Oh, will she be back soon?" She asked.

"She's gone for the day," she responded calmly.

"That's too bad," I heard her say, "I thought someone else said she was back here."

"She's not," she assured her, "and she won't be."

I couldn't help but smile at the sternness in Brooklyn's voice. She had no idea why I didn't want to see or talk to my mom, but she was still going out of her way to help me avoid her.

She'd been doing more and more things like this for me lately, and it had been hard for me to stop thinking about it. Maybe she was just being nice because we'd been through something similar, but no matter what the reasoning was, I was enjoying it.

She had almost become protective over me, and I wasn't exactly sure what to think after the encounters we'd been having lately.

I felt almost nonstop sexual tension building up between us, and no matter how hard I tried to figure out if she was feeling the same thing, I couldn't. She was too hard to read.

I did my best to bring my focus back to the conversation that was happening in the hallway, and it sounded like she had finally gotten my mom to leave.

I heard a quiet knock on the door a moment later, and I cracked it open to see Brooklyn waiting on the other side.

I stepped out into the hallway, and before I could stop myself, I reached out and pulled her into a hug. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders as I let out a large sigh of relief.

"Thank you," I said into her ear.

She seemed hesitant at first, but as I melted against her body, I knew that she could tell that I needed it. Her arms snaked around my waist and held on tightly.

"You all good?" She asked.

The feeling of her breath against my neck sent a shiver through my body, and I was beginning to regret the decision to hug her. I felt heat prickling from my neck all the way down to my center, and I abruptly pulled away.

"Yes," I mumbled.

We stood there in the hallway, and I saw Brooklyn glance down at her watch.

"Hey it's almost 5:00," she said, "let's get out of here and go get dinner and drinks or something, it'll take your mind off of this."

"I can't leave early," I told her, "there's too much to do."

"Coming from someone who usually overworks themself," she said, "yes you can, come on."

She walked back down the hallway and towards the conference room and I reluctantly followed her.

"Ariana and I are going to head out," she announced to the rest of the group, "we have a couple of vendors to meet with."

I stood behind her and watched as Eliana looked at us suspiciously. She definitely didn't like that we had become closer.

No one else seemed to think much of it as we turned to leave the building.