Our Little Secret {n.h}

chapter 20

One year later

"Here ya go." I smiled, thanking Jake as he handed me a glass of wine. "It all looks really good, Ari."

"Yeah?" I asked and he nodded, pulling me into a side hug. "Thanks."

"You hungry? I stashed a couple burgers under the receptionist desk." I laughed and shook my head.

"I'm good. Thanks though." Jake smiled and I did too.

We began walking around the gallery and I smiled at how good my pictures had turned out and stopped at the one I had taken of my mom when I was in high school. There was a really nice sunset behind her and it was the perfect photo opportunity. It was really the only one I had of her and it made me smile a bit.

"She would have been really proud of you." Jake said quietly and I nodded, taking a deep breath.

"You too." I nudged his shoulder and he laughed. "Even though you are a dufus three fourths of the time."

"Hey." Jake laughed and I snorted, leaning against my brother.

I had to go walk around the rest of the gallery to make sure everything was going good. I found Louise and she ran over to hug me, making me laugh against her shoulder. She was rambling about how proud she was of me and that if she made enough, she would buy all of the pieces. I smiled and got her a glass of wine from a tray that was floating around.

"Oh, um. I'm not drinking." I cocked an eyebrow, seeing as she always drinks. Especially if it's free.

"Why not?" I wondered and she smiled a little.

"I'm pregnant." She smiled and I squealed, pulling her into a hug.

"No way!" I smiled and she laughed at how excited I was. "Does Harry know?"

"Yeah, we went to the doctor yesterday." I nodded and took the wine I was about to give her, sipping on it. "Anything new in the boy category for you? I feel like I haven't talked to you in forever." She asked as we started walking around.

"Nope. Single as a pringle." I joked and Louise rolled her eyes, stopping at a certain picture.

"C'mon, let me and Harry set you up with one of his friends. Please, you've been single for a year." I shook my head and Louise glared at me.

"Last time I dated one of his friends, it didn't end well." I said and she rolled her eyes, hooking her arm with mine.

"C'mon, his name is Louis. He's really nice and said you were pretty." I wanted to laugh at what she said.

"I'm fine. I'm sure he's very nice, but I'm not looking to date right now." I shrugged and Louise pouted. "Show me a picture."

Louise squealed and dug around in her bag, looking for her phone. She pulled it out after a while and scrolled through something before handing it to me. I noticed that it was an Instagram post of this Louis guy. Okay, he was hott. He had dark brown hair and blue eyes and a slight beard. Tattoos littered his arms and he had a cute smile. Damn. He was obviously one of Harry's friends because of the tattoos and I could only imagine what kind of jokes he had. Harry's are awful.

"Okay, he's cute." I shrugged and Louise laughed, taking her phone back.

"I will give him your number." I just shrugged, knowing that nothing would probably come from this, and all of the sudden Louise gasped. "Don't turn around."

"Huh?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

I did the exact opposite of what Louise told me and immediately regretted it. I noticed Niall standing over by one of the pictures, looking at it with his head cocked to the side. My heart dropped in my stomach and I gulped, turning back to face Louise. I muttered that I was going to get another drink and went to the opposite side of the gallery, trying to busy myself.