Chapter 17

Tessa's POV:

Was he here too? Dammit, I was trying to escape and forget about him, yet here he was again.

“Tessa?” Arlo frowned, looking at me. The model he was with slowed down her dancing and clung to him as she looked at us.

“You know him?” Owen asked, resting his hands on my shoulders as he stood behind me.

“Eh, come on, let’s go back to dancing.” I shrugged then turned back to Owen, wanting to ignore Arlo. I always found it weird to be at the club with co-workers, let alone one who was so close to my family. Even with Zavier, it could get a little weird sometimes. He’d judge the men I chose, but I never blamed him too much because I did the same with the women he picked up. In the end, we just wanted what was best for each other, and funnily enough, we sought it in nightclubs like a couple of idiots.

“Eh? I’ve known you since you were 11.” Arlo frowned even more, taking offense at the way I ignored our connection.

“Go back to your lady, Arlo. We’ll make sure not to bump into you,” Owen told him and twirled me around so that I could face him. I then realized he called Arlo by his first name without anyone having mentioned his name.

“Wait, you two know each other?” I asked, looking at Owen, who continued to dance, but my hips were not moving.

“Something like that. Come on.” He shrugged and tugged on my hand, pulling me farther, so we could dance somewhere away from Arlo. We continued to dance and laugh our asses off some more before we finally took a step back when the volume lowered.

“Care to take this somewhere a little more private? I don’t live too far from here,” Owen whispered in my ear.

“I’ll go for a drink first, and then I’ll join you back here, okay?” I winked at him and walked back to the bar through the busy and drunk crowd.

I called the bartender over and ordered a virgin pineapple mojito, leaning on the counter as I waited. I felt someone coming up behind me, brushing against me before squeezing in next to me.

“Hey—oh, it’s you.” I rolled my eyes when I saw it was Arlo.

“Tessa, I think it’s best you find someone else.” He leaned over to me to speak loudly and clearly into my ear.

“What do you mean?” I raised a brow at him, wondering what he was up to this time.

“Owen isn’t exactly good news,” Arlo explained, though I didn’t appreciate it.

“Seriously, Arlo? Not this shit again.” I rolled my eyes once more.

A little over a year ago, Arlo and I met at a fundraising event, which was expected. Considering our work, we met up a lot at social events. I came across a man named Taylor and was planning on getting to know him and probably do more with him. However, Arlo butted in and kept saying Taylor had some allegations against him about being abusive towards his exes, but he had covered them up. I wasn’t planning on listening to Arlo, but he must’ve gotten to Zavier somehow because he asked me to be careful.

“What shit? I’m just looking out for you.” Arlo frowned, turning completely towards me as we began to engage more in the conversation.

“You know what? Forget the virgin. Just make it a pineapple mojito.” I waved at the bartender, who gave me a nod in response and took out the rum. “For what, hmm? Keeping me from getting my heart broken?” I raised a brow at him.

“Of course. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt,” Arlo said, almost making me laugh out loud.

“Funny coming from you,” I said in an annoyed tone, handing my card to the bartender and beginning to sip my mojito.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He frowned, watching as I sipped my drink.

“Forget it,” I mumbled, not wanting to get into it right now, and just walked away after getting my card back.

“Where are you going?” he shouted through the busy crowd.

“To Owen,” I answered, but then I felt his hand on my elbow, pulling me back to him.

“Dammit, Tessa, why don’t you listen to me?” Arlo’s dark eyes glared down at me.

“Why should I, huh?” I asked, bringing the straw to my lips and sucking the liquid through it.

“Last time, he took home one of our models. He filmed them having sex and posted it online. We had to sue to get it taken down, and even after that, her reputation was still ruined,” he said in a harsh tone, leaving me speechless. I rested my half-full glass on the counter.

“I—” I stuttered, not knowing Owen was that type of guy.

“Go ahead. Go to Owen now.” He let go of my elbow, slightly nudging me away.

“God, I fucking hate you, Arlo,” I groaned in frustration.

“Great. Now you’ll go cry to Zavier, and he’ll lecture me.” He sighed, resting his hands on his hips as he shook his head at me.

“I really wish I'd never met you.” I poked him in the chest.

“Right, 'cause having you in my life is such a blessing.” He laughed in my face. I stared at him for a moment, shocked, then collected myself.

I stormed out of the club, leaving Owen, and went straight to my car. I started the car, turned up the AC, and just sat there, staring. I heard a knock on the window and looked over to see it was Arlo. I stared at him, raising a brow. What did he want now? He pointed to the door for me to unlock. I hesitated for a moment but still unlocked the door.

“What do you want now?” I glared at him, looking at him from top to bottom.

“I’m not here to fight, Tessa.” Arlo held his hands up.

“What do you want, Arlo?” I asked, locking the doors again.

“I didn’t mean to be so…mean towards you. You were just so stubborn.” He sighed, speaking in a calmer tone than before.

“Hmph,” I grunted and stared at the view in front of me. It wasn’t much—just the back of some red car.

“You are a blessing, and not just to the company. It’s pleasant to be around you, knowing you’ll always be there whenever we need you,” he then said, smiling and showing his laugh lines.

“Apology accepted, Arlo. You can go back to your lady friend,” I replied, tapping his shoulder and then pointing to the door of the club.

“I already ditched her politely.” He shrugged.

“Now, why would you do that, Arlo?” I shook my head.

“In case you were gone already, I planned on showing up at your place with some salted caramel ice cream,” he explained innocently.

“My favorite. Why would you go through so much trouble? You could’ve left things as they were.” I frowned, looking at him. It was always weird when people other than my family and best friend remembered stuff about me.

“In case you did indeed tell Zavier. I just didn’t want to be told I was an asshole, so I came to apologize immediately,” Arlo explained himself. The proud little smile on his face made me shake my head.

“Of course. Well, like I said, apology accepted. You can go now,” I replied, trying not to sound pissed at him. Today wasn’t the day for him to try me. I still harbored all this hate towards him, which I hoped to let go of or forget about someday.

“Is there any chance you could drop me off?” he asked, scratching the back of his head, slightly messing up his man bun.

“Are you kidding me?” I raised a brow at him, only to find he was dead serious.

“I could call a taxi, but you know, just wondering if you could,” he offered, already pulling out his phone.

“Fine. It’s on the way anyway." I sighed and checked the mirrors before pulling out of the parking spot. I began to drive us to his house. The whole ride there he didn't say a thing. We just listened to the radio, which had quite a mix of songs, but we just went with it.

“Want to come in for a drink? I’m sure I can make a better mojito, and one you’ll get the chance to finish,” he offered, taking off his seatbelt.

“I don’t know,” I mumbled, a little unsure whether I wanted to engage more with this Fuentes brother or not.

“Come on.” He looked at me, dark green eyes focused on me and only me. I tried to say no but then decided, why not? He did make good drinks. I gave him a nod as I silently cursed myself for not being able to say no. At his place, we started drinking and enjoying our time together, rather than fighting, and just kept chatting and chatting until he asked a specific question.

“So, what did you mean when you said, ‘Funny coming from you'?” Arlo asked, taking a seat on the couch right next to me.

“It’s nothing, really,” I mumbled, hoping he’d move on.

“Come on, I feel like it was something,” Arlo pressed, looking at me with pleading eyes. Deep down, it bothered me that he didn't know what I was referring to.

“Do you seriously not know?” I raised a brow at him, watching as he thought for a moment.

“Know what?” Arlo asked, making me sigh.

“What I mean by it?”

He shook his head, looking at me awkwardly.

“Arlo, we dated, remember?” I reminded him, watching as his face changed, realization hitting him. “Things were going good. We had actual chemistry.” I began to talk, and it all just poured out. I had wanted to say this for so long. “Heck, we even planned on telling our families so that we wouldn't have to go out in secret anymore,” I continued. “You asked to be my prom date. You said we’d tell them all that night. I got all dolled up for no fucking reason. You never showed up, picked up my calls, or even read my messages. In fact, you spoke so normally to me in public afterward, as if nothing had ever happened between us.” As I spoke, I got much angrier with each sentence that left my mouth.

“Tessa—” he tried to say, but I cut him off.

“No, wait. I’ve wanted to get this off my chest for a while,” I said, still never giving him a chance to speak to try to defend himself. “What was your fucking reason, Arlo? Do you know how long I waited for you that night? Screw that—every other guy I tried being with just didn’t work out because, in the back of my mind, I kept thinking, ‘What if he ghosts me too?’ I never got to go in fully with them.” I poked him in the chest twice as I stared at my finger and then looked up into his eyes. “Had I known you were like that back then, I would’ve never wasted my time,” I replied coldly.

“Like what?” he asked. Was that all he could say after that whole rant?

“Switching girls every month. That’s what it was, no?” I asked, raising a brow at him and then standing up and walking to the sink to fill a glass with water. “Which was I? The spring edition?”

“Tessa, I swear it was never like that.” Arlo stood by the kitchen island and looked at me. “Can I have the opportunity to explain?” I remained silent at his request but then slightly nodded, permitting him to do so.

“I honestly thought you were over it. That you forgot about it. I never knew it affected you and that you still thought about it.” He walked over to the couch, patting the seat next to him. I silently followed him and sat down.

“How could you think that? You know, back then, boys barely even looked at me, but you, a handsome guy—you did, and as much as I hate to admit it, it made me feel special,” I said, frowning. Was he really just all looks and no brain?

“You are special, Tessa. Please, let me explain. You’re so fucking beautiful, smart, and funny, but you were barely even eighteen, and I was twenty-three. Tessa, you know our lives are constantly being shared in the media, and I didn’t want to be seen as a groomer or anything like that. But, most importantly, your friendship with Zavier—” he began to speak, some words sticking with me and other parts just raising many more questions.

“What about our friendship?” I asked. I knew Zavier was my best friend, but it wasn't like we said we couldn’t date each other’s siblings.

“One time, I mentioned you looked nice in front of him, and he scolded me, saying I shouldn’t ever try to hit on you,” Arlo explained, carefully picking his words. This was a story I had never heard from Zavier.

“You should’ve said something. You just pretended like nothing ever happened. If our age truly was so bothersome, then why did you still kiss me that night? Why did you ask to pursue a relationship?" I asked two of the many questions I still had.

“Tessa—” Arlo sighed. He took a moment to figure out what to say next. “I don’t know. I should’ve waited, but instead, I messed up and confessed that night,” he said in a genuine tone. I could tell he was earnest by the look in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I did enjoy those two months, and trust me, if you weren’t so young, I would’ve done my best to be the best person for you.” He took my hands in his, staring into my eyes as he apologized. “I’m sorry I hurt you, Tessa. Trust me, if I could go back in time, I’d wait for the right moment." I sighed and pulled away from him.

“Thanks for the apology and explanation, I guess,” I mumbled, looking over at the TV.

“Are we good?”

“Yes, Arlo,” I replied, looking back at him. We stared at each other for a moment before he ruined the moment.

“Now, if I recall, you called me handsome?” he teased, nudging me to the side.

“And you called me beautiful, funny, and smart.” I listed off each adjective with a smirk and rolled my eyes at him.

“And I meant every single word of it,” he said, catching me by surprise. “Let me walk you to the car,” he offered, getting up and walking me out to my car. “Have a good night, Tessa,” he said in a sweet tone. I looked up at him for a moment, my eyes traveling down to his lips. Out of nowhere came the sudden urge to pull him into a kiss, which I did briefly before letting go of him.

“Tessa—” he then said. Reality hit me like a train, and I realized I’d just fucked shit up.

“Arlo, I’m so—” I opened my mouth to apologize, but instead, my lips were merged with his again, moving much better than before. He tasted like cranberries from the drinks we had. I felt his hands resting on my hips, pushing me against the car as his body was pressed to mine.