Can You Keep A Secret? (Completed)

xxii - in the light

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●WARREN POV●

I wasn't expecting what Aria had just told me . To anyone else, it seemed like they were a solid couple, I mean except for this morning . It never occurred to me that something else was at play here . I cocked up my brow, a renewed hope in my heart, and asked her , "what do you mean?"

She sucked in a breath and then exhaled, "I was the one who reached out to Alex . My bestfriend Sonja put together my profile on this dating app that I didn't want any business being on . Why? Because I needed someone to help me with a problem and at the time, after drinking a copious amount of alcohol, we decided that this app was the answer."

"How so?" I was curious .

"As you know , Delilah is getting married . Her fiance , Henry, is this amazing guy but that also meant that I had to walk down with Dylan . It was humiliating enough that he cheated on me and broke my heart but even worse that I have to walk down with my ex while his smarmy fiance sits there with an annoying grin."

"So you decided to make a proposal to some schmuck on the internet . What did you give back in return ? Money?" I ask.

"Favor for favor . No money exchanged and no, I did not trade it in with sex either . Your brother needed a front that he had something stable and he wouldn't run off," she admits.

Then it dawned on me , "so the reality is , is that you're single?"

She nods her head with a tight smile . I couldn't believe it . It was like I had a burst of new energy all because everything was now in the open . But then something lingered in my head . What Alex said about fighting for her . Looking back, it seems as if he might actually have fallen in love with her .

I sigh internally, knowing that my morals wouldn't let me go after her unless she outright chooses me and tells Alex . And right now, she isn't in the right mental space for that . So sit back and try to make tonight as comfortable as possible for her.

"So , what did you order for food?" She snaps me out of my thoughts .

"I got some pasta , chicken scallopini and shrimp scampi . I ordered family sizes , I didn't know which one you would prefer . I figured that you guys had burgers yesterday as I saw the leftover buns."

"Good thinking . I'll go half and half for both of them . Can never go wrong with pasta," she says happily.

"My favorite dish to make is lasagna," is say proudly .

"Me too!! My sister and my roommate always tell me that I should bottle my bolognese sauce. They eat that up like nothing else . So whenever I make lasagna I make extra sauce . But don't ask me to cook anything else ," she says.

"Maybe one of these days we can bake it together?"

She nods with excitement , "that would be fun! How about coming out to see Trip and make it there? I'll be staying at the house a few nights this week."

"If Trip is okay with it, how can I say no?"

"Wait, but the company?" She reminds me.

"I can take some time off. I haven't cashed in on vacation hours in years,or ever."

"Then it's settled. I'll come pick you up tomorrow," she says to me and all I do is smile like a giddy little boy .