Ten Year Dance by Ara Grigorian

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Title: Ten Year Dance

Author: Ara Grigorian

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Best friends since sixth grade. A ten-year high school reunion. A truth they’ve danced around for a decade. 

Unlucky-in-love Sophie Perez knows her divorce won’t be easy—but she doesn’t expect it to be dangerous. So when things get ugly, she agrees to move in with Pete Nicos, her commitment-phobic best friend since childhood. Pete has always been there for Sophie, just like she’s been there for him. At first, taking her in seems like the best option, but soon her tantalizing proximity blurs the lines of friendship. With their high school reunion on the horizon will they find closure, forgiveness, and new beginnings? Ten Year Dance is a contemporary love story, rich with engaging and relatable characters trying to find themselves and each other. Ara Grigorian’s latest will stay with you long after you turn the final page.  

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Nine

— Pete —

Today - Ten Years Later

WE'VE PLAYED TENNIS for barely thirty minutes and I'm already sprawled on the court, trying to catch my breath.

"Are you about to throw up?" Sophie asks.

I find the strength to shake my head. "I'm good."

"Maybe we should go back to basketball. At least you have the height for it," she says.

"Why are you trying to kill me?"

"It's spring. Just a few months from summer. You can't go to the beach with your body like that."

I squint at her. "What's wrong with my body?"

"That swimmer's body you built during college is disappearing on you. You need to get back into the groove of things."

"What are you trying to say?"

She shrugs. "You know… You've gone soft. And pale."

"I can't go pale. I'm Greek. My olive complexion is genetically encoded and—"

"Your olive complexion is a lemon complexion now. Trust me."

I try to stand, but my limbs are not interested. Sophie hoists me up. "When we first met I had so much hope for you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You were tall, a Greek, and your first name was Pete. I thought you'd be like Pete Sampras and I'd finally be able to play tennis with someone who was good. After all this time, you still suck."

"First of all, that's racial profiling. Second—" My phone rings. "You just got lucky." I glance at the screen. It's Natalie. I moderate my wheezing and answer.

"Hey," she says, sounding dejected. "Turns out I won't fly down this weekend after all."

I step away from Sophie. "Why's that?"

"A potential acquisition on a tight timeline. This one might mess up my schedule for a few weeks."

"Don't worry about it," I say. "It's work, what can you do?"

"Nothing, I guess." A pause. "Why don't you fly up instead?"

"Not this weekend."

"Why not? You haven't been to San Francisco in weeks."

"We're going to take pictures of my Santa Barbara project this weekend."

"We?" she asks. "You and Sophie again?"

Here we go. I wish she'd understand that Sophie's like a sister. She knows Sophie was practically adopted by my parents after she lost both of hers, but that doesn't seem to make a difference. The fact that I have to defend my relationship is getting old.

"Yeah, me and Sophie," I say and add nothing more.

After we hang up something dawns on me. I'm not sad that Natalie won't be coming this weekend.

I should be.

But I'm not.

I run my hand through my hair. This one was different. But as expected, it's happening again. Just like all the others. Whether a weekend affair or a few weeks of dating, none last. The same script. Same ending.

I stroll over to Sophie, a bit off-center.

"Natalie?" she asks.

I nod.

"Did you tell her you're here with me?"

"Sure."

"Let's eat," she says. "I want to see what else you'll lie about."

Armenian by heritage, born in Iran, lived in Barcelona, and escaped New York until he found his home in Los Angeles, Ara’s first eleven years were both busy and confusing. The fruit salad of languages would slow down his genetically encoded need to tell stories. Until then, an alter ego would be required…

He received an engineering degree from California State University Northridge and earned his MBA from the University of Southern California. Today, he is a technology executive in the entertainment industry. True to the Hollywood life, Ara wrote for a children’s television pilot that could have made him rich (but didn’t) and nearly sold a video game to a major publisher (who closed shop days later).

But something was amiss until his wife read him the riot act. “Will you stop talking about wanting to be a writer and just do it?”

So with her support (and mandate), and their two boys serving as his muse, he wrote stories.   Fascinated by the human species, Ara writes about choices, relationships, and second chances. Always a sucker for a hopeful ending, he writes contemporary romance stories. He is an alumnus of both the Santa Barbara Writers Conference and Southern California Writers’ Conference (where he also serves as a workshop leader). Ara is an active member of the Romance Writers of America and its Los Angeles chapter.

Ara is represented by Stacey Donaghy.

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