so warm, she was certain she was melting in his touch. The steady beat of his heart calmed her.
****
Bryce wanted to kiss her, if only on the forehead or cheek, just so she could realize she wasn't as alone as she thought. He held back and wasn't sure why. Something about the moment didn't seem quite right to him.
He took in a deep breath, hoping he could convey everything he wanted to say accurately. “They're hard on you because they love you. I know it doesn't make a lot of sense, but they want to make sure you don't fall down. It's frustrating and hard, I know. Trust me, I go through this a lot with my brother, actually. Only he doesn't try to help me not fail. All he does is tell me all of the ways I'm already wrong, or rather, he thinks I am.”
****
She rolled her eyes. “I get that they don't want me to become some crazy party girl, but I am an adult. They need to stop trying to hold me back. The only reason they want me home so badly this summer is because they don't trust me. I'm not working, so that means I'm going to get bored and start using meth in their minds. Or find some boy who's not worth my time to start dating.”
“Are you sure it's not because they miss having you around?” he asked. His hands rested over hers, and he started to trace small circles over her skin. They'd cuddled before in the past, but nothing ever like this. Arial wasn't sure if she should try to stop him or not.
“They want to keep me in the past,” she said. “I'm not their little girl anymore, and I'm not a country bumpkin either. My parents spend so much time trying to make sure I don't get special treatment over my siblings that I get outcast from the family even more.”
“Which is why you didn't want me to do your chores,” he said.
She nodded. “Basically. My sister said it to me today. I'm not normal.”
“So?”
“So don't you ever want to be normal?” Her eyes narrowed as her gaze met his own for a moment before she looked away. “It's kind of a rhetorical question, because I know you do. There are some things I can accept about fame. Being a role model and admired by thousands are among them. Having my sisters talk to me like I'm a freak of nature and a snob is not one of them.”
Bryce ran his lower lip under his teeth. “I wasn't aware they did that. You always paint your family as this super-positive influence in your life. Granted, you don't talk about your siblings much.”
“There isn't much to say because I don't see them much.”
“Maybe that's part of the problem, then. Perhaps they just want to have a place in your life. You've been able to give your parents a slice of it, so why not them?” He gave her a sideways glance.
Scowling, knowing he was right, she let out a soft huff. “We can't all be perfect like you.”
He laughed. “You know I'm far from perfect. I just don't want you to make the same mistake I have.”
“And what mistake would that be?”
“Giving up,” he said.
Arial scoffed. “I've never seen you quit anything.”
He sighed and stopped tracing her hands with his own. Instead, he held her hands firmly. “My brother thinks that my priorities are off. While my mom was sick, he resented the fact that I worked so much instead of spending more time with her. He still doesn't understand that I did it all for her so that she could get the best treatment possible and be with us longer. No, I didn't stay at the house and take care of her like he had, and there were a lot of moments I did miss because of work commitments. We made the most of it all the same, she and I.”
“I remember all of the set visits she made. Filming got a little awkward sometimes,” she said with a small laugh. “Not like we did anything together back then in those scenes, but that was when Veronica started getting all kinds of crazy on the show. I just remember seeing her there with my mom, both of them watching…” She shivered, reliving the experience all over again. They both had been there the day she'd lost her on-screen virginity. It was just a show, but she'd been embarrassed