"Aria, why are you nervous?" Jason asks her as he sees her desperately trying to close the clasp of her bracelet with shaky hands. He takes the ends of the silver jewel out of her hand and closes it.
"It's only your best friends we'll meet. You've known them longer than we've known each other", he tries to relieve her nervousness. "Yes, but they are also your sisters. They know me as their friend, but not as your girlfriend", Aria explains her insecurity.
"I didn't know these were two different people", Jason answers laughing. "No, of course I'm the same, but maybe they don't like us being together. Maybe they know me so well that they don't think I'm right for you", Aria says. Jason can see in her eyes how much she is concerned about these fears.
"Aria, they love you", he assures her. "Yes, but they love you, too. And I know how they have analyzed and criticized your girlfriends down to the smallest detail", Aria continues to express concern.
"Yes and I'm not with anyone of them anymore. So maybe they were right. Aria, I really don't think you need to worry. And actually, my sisters weren't just very talkative to you. They told me so much about you. I think they didn't do it without an ulterior motive", says Jason.
Aria forces herself to smile. "And besides, no matter what they say to us as a couple, they're not going to change it. They can't decide whether we match or not. Only the two of us can figure that out together." Jason kisses Aria on the forehead.
Jason opens the door of the car, which he has just parked in front of the restaurant, where they want to meet Spencer and Tobi as well as Alison and her friend Nathan, whom she met in college. Aria gets out of the car and smiles at Jason. He realizes that it is not a real smile and that in truth she is still very tense.
Jason hopes that his sisters will relieve her of this tension and show the reaction he almost certainly expects from them. Next to each other they walk to the entrance of the restaurant. Jason waits for Aria to take his hand, as she has done everytime since the afternoon at the lake. But she leaves her arm hanging next to her and walks silently beside him. In front of the entrance the four people are waiting for them with a smile and welcome them joyfully.
During the dinner, Aria remains insecure and tries to hold back her feelings for Jason and does not want to present them publicly to everyone. Although she doesn't ignore him, since she doesn't want to deny her feelings either, she only returns his glances briefly.
Alison notices how uncomfortable Aria feels in front of her friends and therefore does not discuss her new relationship in front of everyone at the table. Instead, she takes advantage of the opportunity when the group moves to a bar after dinner.
"So?" Alison asks, looking at Aria questioningly. "Yes?" Aria answers knowingly, what her friend is about to ask. The three women had walked to the bar to get new drinks.
Of course, they could have waited for the waiter at their table, but Alison had an ulterior motive when she dragged her two friends behind her. Finally, she has the opportunity to ask Aria some very personal questions.
"Is it official now with Jason and you?" Alison asks with an expectant look on her face. "I think so", Aria answers embarrassedly. Alison claps her hands and lets out a little scream of joy.
"Is it weird for you?" Aria asks insecure. "Are you kidding? If I had known this would happen, I would have gotten married sooner", Spencer says as she hugs her friend warmly. "I'm so happy for both of you". "Me too", Alison adds. "I've always seen you at his side. "
When she sees Arias and Spencer's skeptical look, Alison laughs. "Okay, maybe not from the start. But at least since he showed up with some very strange women, whom he introduced to me as his girlfriends. From then on, I knew that he had missed the best of them. I'm probably not completely neutral in that regard and maybe the other women weren't that bad either. But I'm your friend and I always knew how much you liked him, and apparently still do. "
When the three return to the table after this conversation, Aria puts the drinks down. Jason, who knows the subject of the conversation between the three women at the bar, looks at his girlfriend and asks only with his eyes if everything is okay.
Instead of answering, Aria puts her right hand at his neck and presses her lips on his for a heartfelt kiss. Spencer and Alison, who are watching the scene, exchange a meaningful grin at the sight of Aria and her astonished brother.
"I'm so happy to see you so happy", Alison says as she leans over to her brother so the music doesn't drown out her voice. "Thank you, Ali. I'm really happy", Jason says to his sister with a smile.
"Honestly, I've never seen you so in love with a woman like you are with Aria. Neither I have seen Aria so in love. Not even six years ago", Alison says laughing.
"I never asked you. Did you notice that we were in love with each other then?" Jason asks curiously. Alison smiles as she remembers the summer six years ago. "I knew Aria was in love with you. She couldn't hide it a bit. I was much more surprised that you didn't figure it out yourself. I just assumed you liked her too. I wasn't sure, but I had a feeling that people didn't notice because you tried so hard to get those feelings out of yourself. But now you definetly don't hide it anymore."
"Ali, I don't know what you and Spencer said to Aria at the bar earlier, but I want to thank you. I know she needed to hear it from you."
"Will you stay with me tonight?" Aria asks Jason as they stand at the front door of her parents' home. In her drunken state, she did not hesitate and asked him this question with a look that made it clear what she is planning.
Her arms rest on his shoulders while her fingers play with his hair. Jason put his arms around her waist and pulls her close to him. When he seems to have to weigh up his answer, Aria tries to convince him how noble it would be of him to stay with her tonight.
"No one's home. My mom's out overnight and Mike's still in college. You don't want to leave me alone in the big house?" Now Jason's laughing. "Okay, I'll stay", he answers her request.
"Good", Aria smiles and kisses Jason one last time before she takes the key out of her pocket and unlocks the front door. After they take off their jackets, Aria reaches for Jason's hand and pulls him up the stairs.
Jason has just left the last step, as Aria wraps her arms around his neck and stands on her tiptoes to press her lips against his. Jason, who didn't expect this almost loses his balance.
When he catched himself, he returns the kiss immediately. Aria leads him to her room, which her mother has hardly changed since she moved out and now serves as a guest room.
Because she doesn't get off his lips and heads backwards towards the door, the two almost knock over the floor lamp, which is in the corner of her room. When they make it to the room, Aria closes the door, even though no one can interrupt her. With her right hand, Aria presses against Jason's chest until he reaches her bed and sits on the mattress.
She climbs on his lap with her face close to his. Jason starts laughing. "So shall we try it again?" he teases her, alluding to the party night six years ago when she tried to seduce him.
"You'll see how I've improved", she replies as she leans over to kiss him again. As she leans back, she begins to open the top buttons of his shirt. Jason observes how much effort it takes to remove the buttons from the openings and takes a closer look at Aria. What he notices now are her alcohol-glazed eyes.
"Aria", he continues as he gently reaches for her hands, "maybe we shouldn't do this today. Don't get me wrong, I really want to. But maybe tonight isn't the right night."
Aria drops her hands and looks at him expressionless. "Did I do something wrong?" she asks irritatedly.
"No, don't worry. I just want you to decide what you do with a clear conscience", he explains, holding her hands in his. Aria nods. "Okay", she says quietly before getting off him.
She cannot hide the disappointment in her voice and in her gaze. Before she can walk away from him, he grabs her fingers and pulls her next to him.
"Hey, I didn't mean to offend you. You're not mad, are you?" he asks, still holding her hand.
Aria remains silent at first and looks at him. "No, I'm not mad. How can I be mad at you because I'm more important to you than just having sex with me now", she reassures him.
Jason smiles relieved and kisses her tenderly. "Well, I'll be a good girl now, but you still have to help me out of my dress", Aria says with a mischievous smile as she turns her back to him.
Jason pulls her hair together. When his fingertips touch her neck, Aria gets goose bumps. Jason smiles when he notices. He carefully puts her dark brown curls over her left shoulder and slowly opens the zipper of the dress.
As he opens the dress further, the back of her black lace bra is seen. At the end, he breathes a tender kiss down her neck, which makes Aria shiver again. She gets up from bed and walks to her wardrobe.
Jason also begins to undress for the night. As Aria stands in front of her wardrobe and lets the dress slide off her shoulders, she can see Jason secretly watching her change in the mirror in front of the wardrobe.
"Do you like what you see?" she teases him. Jason, who was unaware that she had seen him sneaking a look at her body, which is only wrapped in her underwear, shamelessly turns his gaze away from her. "Yes, very much", he confesses to her.
Jason, who has undressed in a hurry, knocks back the blanket of the bed and wants to crawl under it, when Aria looks at him indignantly. "You only sleep in your boxer shorts?" she asks. "Yes, if I remember correctly, I would just be convinced to sleep here", he replies with a laugh. "Okay, that's a good point", Aria admits, "but then we have to create a level playing field. "
When Jason wants to ask her what she means, she still heads for the bed in her underwear and lies down under the blanket. Jason shakes his head with a smile and lies down with her.
When Jason thinks Aria has already fallen asleep, she suddenly speaks up.
"You know, sometimes I'm still a little bit mad at you. I'm sure your decision was responsible, but I wasted six years meeting men who just weren't the right ones. To be honest, I subconsciously compared each one of them with you, with you and the feeling I had about you. He lives in my town, treats me well, has a job and so on." While she reveals her feelings to him in a monologue, she drives her finger along the muscles of his upper body.
"But with you, it's something completely different. It's always been different. When I was 15, I wanted to be with you, even though I was probably too young for you, you were Ali's brother, you were almost out of college, and now it's just the same. I live five hours away from you, right across the United States, but my heart just tells me that it doesn't matter because I'm just so incredibly in love with you." Aria's words instantly create a smile on Jason's face. He tenderly kisses her on the temple as Aria continues her monologue.
"And it's not a suprise. You're just so perfect. I mean, look at you lying here next to me with that well-trained Adonis body. God damn it, you look like you just jumped out of a lingerie commercial. And then you're not only so hot that even as an innocent 15-year-old girl, I had dreams where I did things to you that I hadn't even thought about in reality. No, you're also so incredibly intelligent, and you make me laugh so much that I walk around the world with a smile all day. And then you're so good to me. I mean, you're doing it again. When I was 15, it may not have been entirely legal what I wanted to try with you, but now you're not sleeping with me because I'm just way too drunk and probably way too honest right now." Aria sighs softly as her eyes close with tiredness.
What do you think? I would really like to read your review.