Chapter 5
Aria’s pov.
I didn't sleep well. Even though the bed in Julian’s guest suite felt like sleeping on a literal cloud, I spent most of the night staring at the ceiling.
The room was too quiet and the air felt too.... I don't know, expensive? I kept waiting for someone to knock on the door and tell me this was all a prank.
When I finally dragged myself out of bed, I felt like a zombie in a scholarship girl’s body. I brushed my hair and tried to look like I hadn't spent the night questioning every single life choice I’d made in the last decade.
I walked into the kitchen and there he was. Julian was already dressed in a crisp black hoodie and joggers, looking like a professional athlete even before his morning coffee.
He pushed a mug of Earl Grey toward me without saying a word. Two drops of honey. Exactly what I needed at that moment.
I took a sip and felt the warmth hit my stomach, but it didn't stop the fluttering of nerves.
"I have a ten a.m. lecture," I said, breaking the silence.
"I know. I'm driving you," he said. He didn't even look up from his tablet.
"Julian, you don't have to do this. I can take the bus. I don't want to make things weird," I told him.
He finally looked at me, and his gray-blue eyes felt like they were pinning me to the chair.
"The bus takes forty minutes. My car takes ten. You need the extra thirty minutes to study," he said pointedly.
He wasn't suggesting it. He was stating it like it was a law of physics. Translation, I didn't have a say really.
"Are you always this bossy?" I muttered into my tea.
"Only when I'm right," he answered.
I wanted to argue, but I was too tired to fight with a guy who was giving me a free place to stay. I grabbed my bag and followed him down to the garage.
The car ride was silent, but it wasn't a peaceful silence. It was tense. I kept looking at his hands on the steering wheel, wondering why the hockey captain was being so careful with me.
When we pulled onto the Westbridge campus, I felt the immediate urge to duck. Julian’s car was a dark, sleek shark in a sea of basic student vehicles.
He didn't pull into the parking lot. He drove right up to the front of the main quad. The quad was packed with students grabbing breakfast between classes.
"You're making a scene," I whispered, clutching my bag.
"Let them look," Julian said.
He actually got out of the car and walked around to open my door. I felt like I was walking onto a movie set where I didn't know the lines.
"I'll be here at four. Don't be late," he said, his voice carrying just enough for the nearest group of girls to hear. I nodded, confused, and practically ran toward the library entrance.
I could hear the whispers starting behind me like a wave.
"Is that Aria Vale?"
"Since when does Vance let people in his car?"
I kept my head down, staring at the pavement until I saw a pair of familiar sneakers. I looked up and my heart stopped.
It was Luca. He was standing near the fountain, looking like he hadn't slept either.
His tuxedo from last night was gone, replaced by a rumpled hoodie, and his hair was a mess.
"Aria," he said, stepping into my path.
I tried to walk around him, but he moved to block me.
"We need to talk," he said.
"I have class, Luca. And I think we said everything last night," I told him. I felt incredibly uncomfortable. People were stopping to watch us.
"What were you doing in Julian Vance's car?" he asked.
His voice was loud, full of that jealous edge that didn't make sense since he had Serena.
"He's my roommate. I told you I was moving," I said.
“And I owe you no explanation for what I choose to do with my life.”
"Roommate? Aria, are you insane? Do you even know who that guy is?" he shouted.
He reached out to grab my wrist, but I stepped back before he could touch me.
"I know he's the guy who didn't spend the morning making me listen to him have sex with my roommate," I snapped.
A few people nearby gasped, and I saw Luca’s face go pale.
"Ri, it’s not like that. I was just... I was distracted," he stammered.
"First off, don't call me that. It's Aria to you. And second, you’ve been distracted for ten years, Luca. I'm done waiting for you to look at me," I said.
The discomfort was like one helluva huge physical weight now, making me want to crawl into a hole.
But I wasn't going to back down from this easily. He needed to know what's on my mind. He needed to know that he fucked up real bad.
"Does he know?" Luca asked, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"Does he know what?"
"Does he know you've been in love with me since we were kids? Or are you just using him to make me jealous?" he sneered.
I felt a slap of pure humiliation hit me.
Of course he knew. He had always known how I felt, and he’d just let me sit there in the shadows like I was a bloody waiter while he dated everyone else.
"He knows I'm a roommate who pays her rent," I lied, my voice cold. "And even if I was using him, at least he's worth the effort. Unlike you," I added.
Luca looked like I’d actually punched him in the gut.
He opened his mouth to say something else, but then he looked over my shoulder and froze.
I turned around and saw Julian’s car hadn't moved.
Julian was leaning against the driver's side door, his arms crossed over his chest.
He wasn't doing anything. He was just watching.
But the way he was looking at Luca was so intense, so dark, that it felt like the temperature in the quad dropped ten degrees.
"Leave her the hell alone, Luca," Julian said.
His voice wasn’t loud, but it cut through the noise of the quad perfectly. I didn’t know what this was all about between them, but I wouldn’t be the reason they caused a scene here.
I looked back at Luca one last time. He looked small. He looked like a boy trying to play a man’s game.
"Stay away from me, Luca. I'm being serious as fuck this time," I said.
I walked away, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst through my ribs.
"Fuck!" I heard Luca cuss behind me. For a minute, it actually sounded like he felt mad at himself for letting me go.
But then again, you can't wipe a leopard's skin spotless. He was never going to change and that was the truth.