to miss out on my senior year or good friendships just because I was sad.
“How’s your art project going?” I asked.
“Oh, you mean the ten by twelve canvas?”
I raised my eyebrows. “Ten by twelve feet?”
She nodded, opening the door to the kitchen.
“Yikes.”
She slowed. “Do you hear that?”
I stopped by the giant stainless-steel island and strained my ears to hear. Angry voices came from a couple of rooms over. It sounded like Zara and her dad were fighting.
“Should we go back to our cars?” I whispered.
She shook her head. “It sounds like he set her up on a date for tonight.”
My heart sank. I’d been counting on this time with the girls.
Zara’s voice came even louder. “I’m already sacrificing the best years of my life to marry someone you choose. I am not skipping out on my senior year!”
“You are a part of this family and our culture. It’s best you remember your place,” a deeper voice boomed, then softened. “I’m sorry you have to hear this, Ryde.”
My eyes flew open, and I turned to Rory. “Do you think that’s...”
“Ryde Alexander?” she asked.
Now I knew we were full-on eavesdropping, but I had to hear more.
“I can come back another time,” said a voice I recognized from the movie screens. It was definitely Ryde, Merritt Alexander’s brother and the guy whose poster my sisters had pinned to their ceiling.
“No, Ryde,” Zara’s dad said. “You can stay. Meet her friends.”
“But—” Zara began.
A look from her father must have silenced her, because she stopped talking, and within seconds, she was in the kitchen. She seemed surprised to see us, but not embarrassed. “I’m guessing you heard all that?”
We both nodded.
She poured herself a glass of water and slumped over the counter. “I’m sorry, Ging. I know this was supposed to be about us girls.”
I sent her a smile. “Oh no, twist my arm. Make me hang out with a super-hot movie star.”
“Although,” Rory said, tilting her head thoughtfully, “he does live with the devil.”
We all knew she was talking about Merritt, and I couldn’t help but agree. I didn’t know what Ryde was like, but if he was from that family, he couldn’t be much better.
“Satan’s a third cousin actually,” Ryde said, coming into the kitchen. “You should see Christmas time, though. Always raging drunk. No ice skating, unfortunately.”
Rory’s cheeks flushed pink as she mumbled out an apology.
“No worries,” Ryde said. “I know how my little sister can be.” He leaned against the counter across from us. Zara didn’t meet his eyes, but I couldn’t stop staring at him.
Ryde was every bit as muscular and handsome as he was on screen, but taller than I expected. Weren’t most actors short?
Jordan and Callie came into the dining room then, and Jordan’s mouth fell open and closed. “Is that...”
Zara rolled her eyes. “He’s crashing.” She turned to go upstairs. “Let’s go.”
Fifty-Nine
When we reached Zara’s room, she turned around and said to Ryde, “You stay out here.”
The second she closed the door behind us, the interrogation commenced.
“Why is your dad setting you up with white guys?” Jordan asked. “Doesn’t he want you to marry someone from your culture?”
She rolled her eyes. “He says he’s modernizing the arranged marriage.”
“How is that possible?” I asked.
Callie’s eyebrows drew together. “Why doesn’t he just let you choose someone then?”
Zara held her hands up to stall the fire hydrant spray of questions. “Okay, here’s the deal. My father’s latest harebrained scheme is to have Ryde and me marry. He’s promised Ryde all the roles he wants forever, and the publicity of us dating will be huge for their new movie.” Her jaw trembled. “It’s stupid, and I have no idea how I’m going to get out of it. He says he’s done looking for men for me.”
I went to her bedside and rubbed her back. “You know you don’t have to marry him if you don’t want to. It’s not like they can force you to sign marriage papers.”
She turned her eyes toward the ceiling and pressed her fingers together in her lap. “You don’t get it. If it’s not Ryde, it’s a thirty-year-old director or a doctor or some gaffer who’s an potential partner’s nephew or something else. It’s never going to stop.”
My heart hurt for her, and the worst part was I didn’t have anything to say or do that would actually help.
She let out a sad laugh and pressed at the corners of her eyes. “This is some girls’ night, huh?”
I nudged her shoulder. “What more could you ask