I was so lost to kissing him that I almost didn’t hear my phone going off. The only person who ever called me was my mother and the guys, but they all had ringtones I recognized, so I figured it was the wrong number. I almost just let it ring, but Easton pulled apart, his face adorably annoyed.

“What if it’s something important?”

I bit my lip, trying not to laugh. “More important than this?”

An eye roll was his response as I got my phone out of my pocket. When I saw Ari’s number my heart immediately started pounding, remembering the last time he’d called me. I instantly dismissed the thought, he couldn’t have been stopped again.

I lifted a shoulder at Easton who noticed my concerned expression. As soon as I took the call I knew something was wrong. “It’s Ari.”

“What’s going on?” I asked, my heart pounding already. There was some shuffling on the phone and when Ari spoke it was obvious he was trying not to cry.

“I’m so sorry to bother you again, Patrice.”

I closed my eyes, glad to hear that he at least did not seem to be physically in distress, but still concerned about how upset he sounded. “You don’t have to apologize, I’m glad you called.”

I looked at Easton who was standing right next to me, his shoulders tensing at my words.

There was more sniffling and I heard muffled yelling in the background.

Ari sighed heavily then spoke. “My uncle does not want me to stay with him anymore.” He could barely talk at this point. “Yin was over here, and he, and we—”

He started crying then, and he didn’t need to say what happened for me to figure out what was going on. I felt the skin tighten on my face, so fucking angry for Ari, as I felt the humiliation in the agonized cries over the phone.

When he spoke again he sounded completely miserable. “We were just kissing. Now he’s saying I can’t take the car because he helped me pay for it and with the insurance.”

That motherfucker.

“Ari, I’m coming to pick you up. You can stay with me until we figure something out, okay?”

There was more breathing on the line, but this time it sounded a lot like relief. “Yes, please.”

I turned around and started walking to the door, Easton right behind me. When I shook my head at him, he mouthed “I’m coming with you” with a very stubborn set to his jaw.

I nodded, unable to deny my own relief at not having to deal with this on my own. “We’re leaving now, be there in fifteen minutes.”

I was about to hang up when Ari spoke again, his voice strained again.