8
CIARA
We got home really late, all I know is that the first rays of light are already out and a bed is the only thing that could hold me up right now.
We all fall onto Erin and Patrick’s bed, completely wiped out. We drank like fish, or more accurately, Erin and I did, while Rain and Alex did not.
We did a pub crawl and ate the worst junk, did away with our coordinated outfits and gave Erin some sexy gifts. She laughed like crazy before giving us the full lowdown on how she planned to use each one of them.
It’s not like this kind of thing is shocking to me, but knowing she’s going to use these sex aids with my brother… yikes! I wonder how Aaron is able to live under the same roof with Liam and Rain.
Aaron.
Despite all the alcohol that replaced the blood in my veins tonight, I’m not able to forget his eyes and the solitude in his soul. Because I saw the loneliness in his eyes and he seemed so lost, so far off, that I wonder how he’s going to find his way back.
“Someone is pensive tonight,” Erin says, making fun of me. “Wanna let us in on it?”
“I have nothing to talk about. I don’t have a full sex life like you do.” I let the bitterness slip out and regret it immediately.
“Ah-ha! I knew there was someone on your radar!”
“Erin, nowadays you see love in every word,” Alex says, laughing.
“You don’t, then? All of you?” Erin kneels on the bed and then leans back, resting on the headboard and hugging a pillow.
“Oh, I’m exhausted, but not too tired to listen to a little spicy dirt.”
“There’s nothing spicy!” I huff a little too aggressively. “There’s not even any vanilla dirt to go with it!”
“Unrequited love?” Rain asks, laying down on her stomach with her head in her hands. “Tell us about it…”
“Have you ganged up against me?”
“Ciara, what are you saying? Of course not!” Alex interrupts, for she’s the politest of all of them. “You don’t have to tell us anything if you don’t feel like it, isn’t that right girls?” she admonishes.
“Of course,” Rain adds quickly with a guilty expression. “But if… uh, she wanted some advice—”
“Rain!” Alex cries.
“What? We’re all friends here, we’re all women, alone and prepared to gossip all night. Where’s the harm in that? Aren’t we your friends, Ciara?” she asks me with big doe eyes.
Friends, of course we’re friends. Oh God, it’s not like I pour my heart out to all of them, just with Erin, but Rain and Alex are good girls, and I feel comfortable around them.
“There isn’t much to say,” I start with hesitation. My thoughts are clouded and my mind foggy with alcohol. “He’s not interested. That’s it.”
“What?” Erin jumps to her feet on the bed. “Who could be such an idiot as to not want you?”
“I don’t believe it,” Rain adds. “Only someone crazy or a card-carrying homosexual would refuse you.”
Oh dear.
“Maybe he’s scared, or confused?” Alex reflects out loud. “Does he know how you feel?”
“Not explicitly, but it’s evident.”
“Oh honey, nothing for them is ever evident. They’re men, remember? They wouldn’t recognize it if you put it right under their noses.”
“Erin!” Alex pretends to be scandalized, but she isn’t really.
