Blessing in Disguise (MM)

Chapter Nineteen

ARIS' POV

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The journey home was silent. I didn't turn on the radio. Instead I thought over everything Nick shouted at me. Why can't I let it go? It's obvious he got the wrong end of the stick. Because he doesn't have to be an ass!

Oh yes, that's why.

As I step through the front door of my new flat, I spot Luca sitting on the sofa with a blanket over him and the TV reflecting off his face. "Hey," he shuffles back into the pillows, a hand running through his blonde, sandy hair. "How was your day?"

The door slams behind me and he winces. "Bad I take it?"

I scoff. "Bad doesn't even do my day justice."

"Come sit," he says, throwing the blanket back and patting the spot beside him. I remove my jacket and my shoes and walk straight towards the spot before tugging the material of the warm throw over my body. "Tell me everything."

When I focus on my best friend I sigh. He's always there for me, without a doubt. I know since Chessman's was taken over by Declan and their mortgage was paid off things for them have been better than ever and now I'm the one with all the problems.

Luca leans for the remote and pauses his TV show and I offload. I tell him everything from when Elodie asked me about who she should write her Mother's Day card to, knowing that Nick does everything for that girl and I haven't known a motherly figure has been there for her. Then I tell him about the way he found the card and belittled me without even knowing the truth.

I flick my gaze between Luca's eyes as he freezes when I finish. "Wait a minute–" he holds up a hand then shakes his head. "Wait a fucking minute."

My lips stay firmly shut.

"He had the audacity to shout at you like that after you said to Elodie that she should write the card about him?" He exhales and then his mouth continues to hang open.

I nod. "He didn't read the card first, he just started shouting. I've never felt so humiliated in my life and the pure hatred in his eyes. It was hard to miss. It's like he wanted me gone in that second only to back-pedal the second after."

Luca mumbles something under his breath and reaches for his phone, thumbs tapping like a keyboard warrior. "What are you doing?" I quirk a brow.

"Texting Declan to punch Nick when he next sees him."

I snatch the phone out of his hands quicker than he can blink. "No."

"Hey," he reaches for it but I tuck it under the furthest pillow from him. "Come on, I have to be that friend who allows violence on this one occasion."

A small chuckle vibrates from my chest. "No violence, Luca. Think of Elodie."

"Fine," he rolls his eyes dramatically. "Is he always like that?"

"Like what?"

"Jumping to conclusions. Never thinking before he speaks. Thinks the world revolves around him." Luca lists quickly and I bet there are a thousand more things he wants to add–both of us knowing that I'll agree.

I sigh and rest my head against the sofa as I stare up at the ceiling. "He's not easy to work for," I admit. "But it felt good to shout back at him and tell him how wrong he was. It was a personal favourite when I said that I'm surprised he even has a team of people willing to work for him if he talks to people like that."

Luca flashes me a grin. "I'm so glad you said that."

"I don't want to psychoanalyse him but I'm convinced he's got underlying issues going on which make him lash out and say things without thinking," I confess which catches Luca's attention. "The more time I spend with him, the more I see the way his brain works and it's confusing. One minute he's fine, the next it's like the world's ended. I'm starting to think he's not used to the help and when something minor happens, he freaks out. It's like a trigger to him."