"You and Aaron made up, huh?" Arya plopped down onto the couch beside me with a glass of liquor.

        I didn't know which liquor anymore. She had too many. She had broadened her tastes past Jameson whisky.

        "Yeah," I said while resting my feet up on the table. "My boys can't stay mad at me for too long."

        The three of us were back to normal. Goofing off. Messing with each other. Chilling. We even went to the gym with Kenji, and everything went smoothly. There was nothing better than witnessing my boys interact with Kenji.

        "That's good." She drank some of her drink.

        I eyed her. "Aaron sure tells you a lot of things." I wiggled my eyebrows.

        Arya coughed. "Why'd you have to say it like that? Making me choke on Scotch."

        My eyes widened. "Scotch? Homegirl got taste. You like whisky, don't you?"

        "What gave it away?" she said with a sarcastic tone. "Wine is too soft. Beer's too lowlife. I only drink those two at desperate times."

        "Lowlife?" I scratched my head. "For a time, beer was my life."

        Arya paused and gave me a onceover. "My point exactly. Too lowlife." She continued drinking.

        I chuckled. "You got jokes, Arya. You always got jokes. Maybe you and Aaron are meant to be together. My boy always got jokes, too." Arya rolled her eyes. "He's goofy, and you're snarky. You guys complement each other really well."

        "I don't wanna talk about this." She placed her glass down on the table. "I'm not a comedian."

        "Then why do you never take things seriously?"

        "Who says I never take things serious?"

        "Well, you take some things seriously," I said, "like your mother's death. Camila's death. Hating Kenji and the others."

        "I don't hate Kenji and the others," she said to my surprise. "Not anymore. I was never really mad at them. I was just projecting my anger out on them, just like you were projecting your anger out on Clay."

        This was news.

        I grinned. "Then come back to the group." Arya sighed. "I'm serious, Arya. You're not mad at them anymore. All you have to do is apologize and win them over. They forgave me."

        "They're better off without me," she said. "I don't want them involved in this."

        Oh, but I could be involved in this. I was just waiting for the moment I could kick Aarav's ass. Arya didn't want me going around him, and I didn't want to see his face either, but man, I was waiting for that moment.

        "It's my problem," she said. "I'll deal with it."

        I shook my head in disapproval. "Why am I not surprised? Does Aaron know your mom's dead?"

        Arya snapped her head in my direction, and she narrowed her eyes. "Why would he know that?"

        "He tells you a lot about his life. What he's going through, but I bet you don't do the same."

        Arya glared at me. "Not everyone wants people knowing their business."

        "What does it take for a person to upgrade from being 'people' to being one of 'your people?'" I asked. "For as long as I've known you, Arya, you keep everything in." She frowned with a slight pout. "Your mother died, and you cried about it. We could see you were hurting, but you never talked about it."

        "There's nothing to talk about." She grabbed her glass, and gulped some down. "She died. What do you want me to say, Darian?"

        "Camila died," I continued, and she added more liquor to her glass. "The most you talked about it was at that get-together that you botched." She giggled with little humor. "This is the part that really kills me. Aarav has been molesting you and taking advantage of you for years, and the only time you've talked about it was when you first told me."

        "What do you want, Darian?!" Arya stood up and slammed the glass onto the table. I was surprised it didn't break. "What do you want me to say, huh?" she asked while moving closer. "You want me to say that I was cheated out of my mother? You want me to say that I was cheated out of one of the best friend's I've ever had? Oh, what about this. I'm some victim who's going to be tainted and messed up for the rest of her life because of something some boy did to her. Is that what you want to hear?"

        "You're not a victim, and you're not tainted."

        "Damn straight I'm not," Arya said. "If I'm fucked up, that's on me. I'm not going to allow him to have that hold on me—that power over me—to be able to take claim for anything I struggle with. I'm not going to allow Aarav that satisfaction of thinking he still has a part of me, mentally. I'm not going to allow him to think that years from now, he still has control over a part of me, and what happens to me, and even what I do. If I'm fucked up, Darian, I'm fucked up because of me. I'm not going to let him know, I'm fucked up because of him. Hell no."

        She was shaking. Her hands were clasped together, but that didn't stop the tremors in her hands and arms. But her expression was what got to me. It was firm and assured. It was the expression of someone who had everything together.

        But she was shaking.

        I stood up and reached for her. "Arya..."

        She took a step back and wiggled the tension out of her arms. "I'm fine." She sat back down and grabbed her glass again. I sat beside her. "I don't see the point of talking. I don't see the point of opening old wounds, bringing back old memories, and subjecting myself to old feelings. I refuse to do that to myself just so you or anyone else can feel closer to me."

        "I'm not gonna force you to do anything."

        I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. "I'm not mad at the others anymore, but I can't face them. Maybe there are a lot of things I don't take seriously." She looked up at me. "When I exposed Clay and Kenji's secret, that wasn't serious to me. When people think I'm being a jerk, it's not serious to me."

        "It's okay," I said while rubbing her arm. "There're a lot of things I don't take seriously."

        Arya stared at the TV with a blank look. "My dad is a bigger jerk than me, even though you may not believe it. Aarav is definitely a bigger jerk than me. Even Tejal is a bigger jerk than me at times. Isn't that sad?" She smiled at me, but her eyes were moist. "I can't be a bitch where it really counts."

        "Aaron really cares about you," I told her. "Don't push him away too much." She rolled her eyes, but her smile returned, more authentic this time. "If you really want to be free from your family's hold, including Aarav, then do what makes you feel alive. Do what makes you feel something—preferably something good. Sometimes, it's scary, but it's better to feel something than it is to feel nothing at all."

        "You think that could be Aaron?"

        "He could definitely be a part of it," I said. "It could also be me. Kenji and the others. Or it could be something entirely different. You just have to venture out and explore. Explore without the fear of Aarav or anything or anyone else holding you back." I moved closer to her. "You're not tainted. You said it yourself. So stop acting like you are."

        She snickered. "You may not be so lowlife after all."

        "You still got jokes." I released her and put some distance between us.

        "Always," Arya said. "But I will take what you just said seriously."

        "Yeah?"

        She nodded. "I'm not perfect, but I'm not tainted."

        "You're not." We smiled at each other, and I'd never felt closer to Arya. 

        It was fucked up, but I guess, humans did bond more over adversity and hardships.

        My phone beeped.

Man, that was harder than I expected. I hated ditching Kenji, but I couldn't leave Arya right now. She needed me, but I couldn't continue this track record of abandoning Kenji in the process either. I had to find a balance.

        "Was that Kenji?" Arya asked, and I nodded.

        "He wanted to hang out, but I told him next time."

        "Because of me?"

        "Hey." I brushed some of her hair out of her face. "Don't worry about it."

        "Wow," Arya said, appearing stunned. "You're choosing to be with me instead of Kenji? I'm honored."

        "What's that supposed to mean?"

        "No one gets between you and Kenji."

        Yeah, not even that "little Latina."

        "Kenji and I go way back." My face split into a grin. "We were all close, but Kenji and I..."

        "It was deeper," Arya finished for me. "You actually wanted to fuck him."

        "That's true," I agreed, "but that's not the only reason. I do some dumb shit when it comes to Kenji."

        "I think that's just you, in general."

        "Well," I kept going, choosing to ignore her, "there's always been this tension and attraction between me and Kenji, but we never really paid attention to it, well, he didn't, until recently. When college started, Rosalyn broke up with him, and that's when we started something."

        "This is news to me." Arya leaned towards me, her interest piqued. "Keep going."

        "I do admit that it started off mostly sexual. We became almost fuck buddies or friends with benefits." Arya's eyes widened. "The feelings were always there for me, but I think it took Kenji a while to notice his feelings. Then he and Rosalyn got together, and I couldn't have that, so I became a boyfriend stealer."

        Arya shook her head and waved her arms, trying to process this. "What?" Her jaw dropped. "He cheated on Rosalyn with you?!"

        "I do admit that I was the more aggressive one; however, if he really loved Rosalyn the way he thought he did, my seduction shouldn't have worked so smoothly."

        "How good is the dick?" Arya joked.

        I leaned towards her. "You'll never know, now will you?" I leaned back and got comfortable on the couch. "It took a few blowjobs and hand-jobs and other sexual endeavors, but he eventually gave in and dumped her ass for me."

        "Why do you sound so proud?"

        "Should I not be?"

        Arya stared at me in disbelief. "Don't you have any remorse whatsoever at the fact that you stole someone's boyfriend? Especially when that person is Camila's younger sister?"

        "Why should I feel remorse?" I asked her. "Because I stole someone's boyfriend, now, I have a boyfriend.

         I knew it wasn't the most moral thing, but I wasn't the most moral person. Plus, who defined "morality" anyway?

        Arya burst into laughter. "Every girl's worst nightmare."

        I furrowed my brows. "What do you mean?"

        Arya deadpanned. "Are you serious? What girl wants their man to cheat on them with another guy?"

        "I thought girls wouldn't want someone cheating on them, in general."

        She shrugged. "That's true, too, but there's just something about it being a guy. I think that's worse."

        "Well, guys do know what guys want." I shrugged with a cocky look, and Arya pushed my arm.

        "You're despicable, Darian." She snickered, amused by everything.

        We continued talking for another thirty minutes until Arya fell asleep on the couch. When I noticed she was knocked out, I turned on the TV, not ready to go to bed yet. When I was ready to finally hit the sack, I would carry her to my bedroom. I had to admit.

        I missed my bed, but I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing Arya was the one on this hard ass couch. I had some chivalry in me, even if I could be a boyfriend stealer.

        The doorbell ringing snapped me out of my thoughts, and I raised a brow. If it was Aarav, I was going to jail tonight.

        No questions asked.

        I rose from the couch and my way over to open the door. When I opened it, my expression dropped at the person standing in front of me.

        Kenji.

        Fuck.

        He stood before me with his hands deep in his pockets and a coy smile on his face. "Hey," he said.

        "H-hey," I greeted, leaning against the door to block his view of the inside of my apartment. "What brings you here?"

        "Just wanted to surprise you," Kenji said. "You said you have to work early and need to sleep, so you can't come to me. So I figured, why don't I come to you." He chuckled, and I chuckled right back, the tension clear in it. Kenji perked a brow in confusion but chose to keep going. "Anyway, since I figured you'll be tired, I thought maybe we should just have a chill night together then. No sex, no expectations, just enjoying each other's company. Hell." He hid his face while biting his lip. "We don't even have to talk. We can just sleep in bed together. Maybe even cuddle."

        I would have loved that. If I didn't lie! I didn't have work early tomorrow. I just didn't want him seeing Arya. His little confession was a perfect boost to my ego. Too bad it had to happen now.

        "Kenji..." I said, not knowing what else to say.

        He sent me a suspicious look, but as soon as he opened his lips to talk, Arya sighed in her sleep. I tensed up, and Kenji sent me a sideways glance.

        "Is someone here?" he asked, craning his neck to look inside.

        Shit.

        I was between a rock and a hard place. I could either keep lying and dig myself an even deeper hole, or I could come clean and deal with the repercussions of my actions. One look into Kenji's confused eyes, and the choice was obvious.

        "Arya is here," I confessed and confusion stretched on Kenji's face. "She's been spending the nights here."

        "Why?" Kenji asked slowly. "Why is sh—?" He paused as his eyebrows furrowed together, his eyes on me the whole time. "Is she the reason you left our date early?" I averted my gaze. "She's the person you had to help. You left our date to come here, so she could spend the night?"

        "Kenji," I started, still not looking at him.

        "Admit it."

       Seconds of silence passed. When I couldn't take it anymore, I said, "Yes."

        "Are you even working early in the morning?"

        Damn it.

        I ruffled my hair, refusing to make eye contact with Kenji. "No."

        He chuckled. "You lie to me for Arya. You leave me for Arya. If you weren't so gay, Darian, I'll think she's competition."

        "She's not," I said. "I only want you. You should know that."

        Kenji's expression relaxed but the tension remained in his arms and shoulders. "Yeah, but you bail on me twice for a girl who hates my guts."

        "Kenji, please," I said when he took a step back.

        "Last I checked, I was the one you were dating, not her." He continued to take slow steps away from me.

        "You are! Kenji!" I took a step forward and reached my arms out, but he kept going. "It's not what you think it is."

        "I'm gonna leave now."

        "No." I grabbed his arms, but he yanked them away. "Please don't go. I'm sorry."

        "'Sorry's' getting old, so I'm gonna go, and I don't want you following me," he said. "I don't want to interrupt your time with Arya, since she's obviously more important."

        With that, he turned on his heels and walked away.

        "Kenji!" I ran to the stairs, but all I could do was watch him jog down the stairs. He didn't even glance back at me. "Kenji, don't go."

        Each step he took away from me felt like a stab to my heart.

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* What do you guys think about what Arya said? What Darian told her? What happened to Danji?

* Also, THANK YOU guys so much for getting Loving a Goon to 100K reads!! This is surreal, and I'm so grateful for all the support this book has gotten despite me not being at my best these past couple months. Thank you guys so much, and I hope you continue to enjoy it to the end. 😊

* I really want to get the next chapters out really fast but right now, that's not going to happen because this is the most stressful time of the year. Finals are coming up, but I'm really excited for the next couple updates so let's see how that goes.