Unwanted Surprise

Chapter 24

Lance stood there, grinning at the both of us as if he was in on an inside joke. Michael turned around and put a possessive arm around me, pulling me close to his side. Lance looked the same as he did years ago, but rougher. He had a bushy beard and his black hair looked oily. Ew.

"Long time, no see Arielle." He sneered, showing his teeth. I shivered with disgust, not believing that I actually dated this beast.

"For a good reason." I responded, wanting to get as far away from him as possible. Lance's eye flickered to Michael and a sinister smile crept onto his face.

He tsked three times, shaking his head. "Michael, Michael, Michael. I'm sure you know why I'm here. Breaking the rules, as always." He shoved his hands in his pockets, looking up at the sky. "It's such a beautiful day, isn't it, Arielle?" He asked me.

"What do you want, Lance?" I asked. He walked closer, but Michael's hand stopped him from reaching me. Lance's eyes widened with glee and he almost squealed.

"My, my, my Michael very possessive now, are we? I wonder what you-know-who is going to think of this--" His eyes went from me to Michael. "--relationship." He sighed deeply as if he had a weight on his shoulders. "Oh well. Guess you'll face the consequences later. It was nice chatting with you guys. Toddle-loo." He waved his fingers and literally skipped off.

I released a breath I didn't know I was holding and turned to Michael. He was staring out in space, face hard. He seemed too tense from that quick and weird encounter with Lance. I wondered who Lance was talking about, but I decided it was just a bunch of nonsense to run Michael off.  "Hey, what's wrong?" 

"Him. I just can't--"

"Forget about him, okay? He's just crazy and he's always spouting off some nonsense." I tried to convince him. Michael nodded and kissed my hand.

"Thanks, Ari." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. I ignored it for now, not wanting to ruin a perfectly good date. "Let's get something to eat. I'm starving." He changed the subject quickly.

"You're always starving." I said, giggling and grabbing my bag before he could. We walked back inside, put the bags where they belonged, and hopped inside his car.

"Where do you want to eat at?" He asked, eyes on the road. I took that time to stare at him like a creeper. His face was dusted with a beard that was shaped up to look fresh and clean. It accented the dimples on his cheek that seemed to appear no matter what. His blonde hair wasn't long, but it wasn't short either, curling in just the right places. "Ari?" 

I snapped out of my daze and looked at his eyes. A smirk was on his lips. "What?"

"You were checking me out, weren't you?" He asked, his eyes flitting from me to the road repeatedly. I blushed deeply and looked away.

"No." I lied and he laughed.

"Liar, liar pants on fire." He taunted playfully. He flexed his bicep and my eyes widened at the large muscle.

"Oh my god." I mouthed. "What are you, twelve?" I asked, laughing.

"Maybe." He wiggled his eyebrows and I smiled, shaking my head. He never ceased to make me smile.

We finally decided to eat at a burger joint because you can never go wrong with a burger. After we ate, we stayed there, talking, laughing, and joking until my phone started to ring.

"Hello?" I answered, putting a stick of gum in my mouth.

"Ari! I need you, pronto! Like now! My place! Bye!" Rayna screamed in my ear.

"Goddammit, Ray." I mumbled, rubbing my ear.

"Who was that?" Michael asked, leaning forward on his elbows.

"Rayna. She said she needs me at her place, pronto." I repeated her words, sighing. 

"Alright, let's go. Same place, right?" He asked, while I slid from my booth. I nodded and we swiftly walked to his car. He took me to Rayna's house plenty of times to know where to take me. When we got there, he opened my side and helped me out, walking me to her front door.

"I had a great time today. Thank you." I said, wrapping my arms around his torso. He hugged me back, chuckling.

"I did too. Anytime, angel, anytime. Now go help your friend.....do whatever it is you guys need to do." I smiled and stood on my tippy toes to plant a kiss on his lips. He leaned back avoiding my lips. I tried again and he leaned the other way.

"Michael!" He burst out laughing and finally kissed me.

"You gotta admit that was kinda funny." He said, walking backwards.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "No, it wasn't." He was about to respond when he tripped, almost falling. "That's what you get. Karma!" He flicked me off, jogging to his car and then blew me a kiss.

"See ya tomorrow!" He yelled before slipping into his car. I waved and walked into Rayna's house. It was pretty big and I was so happy when she got her own place so that I wouldn't hear her and Marco doing the nasty all the time. 

"Ray! I'm here!" I yelled and my voice echoed through the rooms. I walked to the entertainment room and found her and Marco making out. "Ugh, seriously! Save that for your honeymoon." I said, hopping onto the stool by the bar.

Rayna giggled and climbed off of Marco, running towards me. "I missed you, my bestie. We haven't seen each other in sooooo--"

"It's been four days, Ray." I stated, hugging her back. Marco got off the couch and nodded at me. "Hey Ari, how you doing?" I shrugged.

"Same old, same old. Are you ready for the wedding?" I asked, smiling.  Marco pursed his lips and looked at Rayna.

"I don't know. I think I'll have to find another person to marry because this one is out of her mind." He said, smacking Rayna's butt.

"Hey!" She said frowning. Marco grinned and kissed her forehead.

"I'm joking, babe. I love you. I'll be in my office. Nice seeing you Ari." I waved as he left and Rayna sighed deeply.

"He's just so....dreamy. I can't believe we're engaged." I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

"Yeah, me neither. So why do you need me so badly that you cut my date short?" I asked, twirling around the stool.

"Aw I interrupted your date with Mr. FineAss Mikey?" She said in a baby voice, pinching my cheeks. I slapped her hands away and winced.

"Shut up. Now what do you need, my most annoying best friend in the entire world?" Suddenly, Ray got serious and sat down in the stool next to me. She took a deep breath before speaking.

"Sam visited me."