“A little girl? Is that what you think of me?” I scream at him.
“You misunderstood me,” he says, jumping to his feet. “That’s not what I meant.”
“And what did you intend to say? Come on, let’s have it?”
Aaron and I play out the scene, screaming at each other in the middle of the street as the rain starts to fall.
“I haven’t been a little girl for quite some time now, Aaron!”
“You think I don’t know that?” he admits, shaking his head dejectedly, his eyes cast down. “But it’s hard for me to think of you as—”
“—As a woman to be desired?”
“Never say it again!” He points his finger at me. “I could never think of you in that way.”
“Why not? I’m not attractive enough for you? I’m not sexy?”
“Please stop!” He comes closer. “I can’t do this, don’t you understand? I saw you grow up and… you’re… you’re his sister!”
“And Rain? Isn’t she your sister? And it doesn’t appear to me that Liam has caused all of these problems about his relationship with her.”
“It’s different. I’m not Liam and you’re not Rain.”
“No, that’s true. I’m Ciara, I’mjustCiara. I’m not Patrick’s little sister nor am I someone who needs to be protected. I’m not something you need to take care of, Aaron. I’m just Ciara, and it appears that’s not enough for you.”
“It’s not like that,” he says with a sigh.
I come in closer and caress his face. I look at him with determination, confident and at the same time terrorized, because I’m throwing myself in the arms of a man I’ve idolized most of my life, Prince Charming personified, even without the horse, and I never thought he’d look at me that way, like he’s looking at me right now, as if I am the woman he wants.
“It’s true you’re not a little girl, but you are young—too young for me. And you know that I think of you like a sister.”
I let go of his face and take a few steps back.
“It was a moment of weakness for me,” he says. “It won’t happen again, I promise you.”
I nod and swallow hard, and the disappointment of his refusal burns in me, despite the fact that I’m shivering in the freezing rain that’s beating down on us.
I get back in the car, well aware that I pushed the limit and have now ruined everything. Because once you’ve crossed the Rubicon, there’s no going back.
—
AARON
I park in the alley by the house and turn off the engine. We haven’t spoken since we got back in the car and the guilt is slowly killing me.
Ciara opens the car door and slams it. Then she opens the boot to grab her things and heads towards the house.
I take a big breath but am unable to fill my lungs with the necessary air. It’s going to take a lot more than a few deep breaths to get me out of this situation.
I join her and open the door, turn the alarm off and put on the lights.
“I’m going upstairs to get changed, there’s no need to wait for me,” she says drily. “You can get back to your adult things now.” She goes up the stairs and disappears from view.
My good sense says I should take her advice and get the heck out of here and distance myself from the very idea of her, of her mouth on mine, of our bodies so close together.
But how can I forget the way she tastes? How can I forget the feeling of having someone in my arms?
I shake my head and inhale deeply. I can’t leave things like this, I have to clear the air before things get too big and irreversible. Problems need to be nipped in the bud so that they don’t become insurmountable.
