Chapter 24

**ARIA**

The last few days have gone by like crazy, I’ve spent a lot of time with Clara and strangely enough Austin and Adam have given me some space. That’s why I’m thrilled to be in this car full of people I love.

“Are we there yet?” David asks for the tenth time, he’s worse than a child.

“Only half an hour to go.” I reply, avoiding rolling my eyes.

“I can’t wait to see Cassius and Salvatore again.” Riley tells me. “And I can’t wait to see those two with them.” She laughs.

“Stop it. You’re going to scare them.” I reply.

We continue to drive towards Boston while listening to music and singing, especially Riley and I. Austin is focused on the road while Adam’s eyes are riveted to the scenery streaming by the window. I give Austin the final directions and we finally park in front of my dad’s house. As soon as we turn off the engine, he appears at the door, welcoming us with open arms. I almost choke when he takes me in his arms then he invites them all to enter.

After the presentations and the visit of the house, we all meet in the living room.

“The floor is yours, I let you organize yourselves for the beds. Cassius will come by tomorrow, he couldn’t make it this afternoon and tonight we’re going to a friend’s son’s fight.” He pauses. “You can come if you want.”

“I’d like that, yes.” Austin is the first to speak and then the boys nod in turn.

“Well, it’s sold. I’ll let you get settled, I’ll fix something to eat and then we can go.”

As my dad goes into the kitchen, we grab our stuff and head upstairs. I point out Cassius’ old room to David and Riley, then open my bedroom door, Austin and Adam hot on my heels.

“This is my room. The three of us can sleep there since Riley and David are taking my brother’s room.” I look at them to see their expressions and try to see what’s going through their heads.

“I can pull out a mattress if you’re not comfortable with sleeping in the same bed.”

They exchange a look.

“It’s okay for me.” Adam tells me.

“For me too.” Austin adjusts.

“Okay cool. There’s a bathroom behind that door.” I pause. “I’m going to freshen up and change.”

***

“So what are your plans? I thought you were going to come home after you graduated.” My dad then tells me it’s just the two of us in his car.

The others follow closely behind us in Austin’s, Dad wanted to talk to me.

“I don’t know. I’ve applied to internships and I’ve applied to jobs but it hasn’t come up so far. So in the meantime, I’m spending time with Riley doing community service.”

“Okay. I trust you.” He clears his throat. “And...uh... David and Riley are together but what about you? Which of the other two are you with?”

The red rises to my cheeks and I look away to the window.

“Me uh...”

“Don’t tell me you’re with both. One of the guys at the gym shares a girl with two other guys. Like they live together, she’s pregnant, they don’t know who the father is and they don’t care.” He shrugs. “I don’t know maybe it’s me being old-fashioned but I think it’s weird.”

Lucky for me, we pull up and I jump out of the car as soon as it’s stopped. Cassius is waiting for us at the back door and picks me up and spins me around.

**AUSTIN**

Aria did not inherit her father’s height for sure. She’s so short while he’s tall, he must be six feet tall but then her brother... Cassius is a beast for a human. He must be not far from six feet six and more than 200 pounds. I watch them as he takes her in his arms and spins her around. When he puts her down, even with her high heels she seems to be so tiny next to him. He greets Riley then puts his arm around Aria’s shoulders and guides her inside. He completely ignored the three of us. Aria’s father looks at me with an amused expression.

“He’s very protective of his sister. We both are.”

He holds the door for us and we all enter the room. The place is already packed, but I notice that Aria is very comfortable and greeting people with her brother.

“They used to come up to me when I was fighting, then it was Cassius’ turn but he got hurt so he became a physio.” Salvatore explains. “Did you ever fight? You have the build of a boxer so I ask.”

“Yeah and I train a lot but not just boxing, I do other combat sports. We train every day with David.” I nod in his direction and he nods.

“It shows. Not like Adam. I mean he has to train but not as much as you two.”

“I don't know, we don’t really know each other.” I reply simply, knowing full well that Adam can hear our conversation despite the noise.

A few moments later, Aria joins us and stands between Adam and me. When I first met her I never would have imagined her in a place like this but now that we’re here I can see that she belongs. A couple of boxer looking guys nod to her but they keep their distance.

“Let me guess, your brother scares everyone?” Adam says to her as he moves closer to her ear.

“You got it.” She shakes her head. “He always said if he caught any of those guys touching me he’d cut their hands off.”

“That’s a good idea. That inspires me.” I add, pretending to be serious before giving her a smirk.

Aria’s dad pats me on the back and passes me a beer. She glances at us with a slight frown, then turns to Adam and asks if he wants something to drink. And they both walk away.

“So Austin, tell me a little about yourself.”

“There’s not much to tell. I lost my mom when I was young and my dad never got over it. I took over his place in the family business when he passed away.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He pauses as he takes a sip of his beer. “What kind of business?”

“Meat trading.” That’s not a lie, we do have a meat hunting and reselling business within the pack but it’s not entirely the truth.

“Ah ok pretty good.”