“Filled you in?” I asked quietly. Her smile softened and she reached over and patted my hand. I drew my hand back automatically. She kept smiling and didn’t seem offended.
“Yes, I have to admit when I saw you and how he was so protective of you I was worried.” A tilt of the head and a little laugh. I looked around the cafe quickly, was she genuine? She wasn’t some crazy who wanted to warn me that he was hers and only hers – because I just couldn’t handle that. If she did, I was seriously worried I might laugh at her. Scary smiley people didn’t like being laughed at.
“But when he explained how you have all been friends for so long,” she drawled, “so.” I could only assume she came from down south somewhere. “I mean you the only girl and them four boys so protective of you; then for you to lose your mother like that and your dad whisk you away without telling them where you were.” She shook her head, she reached out for me again. “You must have been so alone. No wonder you didn’t contact them again, not knowing they didn’t know where you were. Thinking they had abandoned you. It’s so great you all being together again. Especially when you’re all so close, they all think of you as their sister.”
I had been trying to hide behind my mug of coffee when she started, so she couldn’t read my reaction. When she mentioned their brotherly love for me, I was so glad I hadn’t been drinking the coffee, else Corey the goddess would have been wearing a fine full rich dark roast.
“Their sister?” I stammered. She wasstillsmiling, and now nodding. A smiling, nodding angel. God save me from this and I swear I will never curse again.
“I bet they were over protective of you! You’re such a stunner and them boys? Well…them boys are wild with a capital W!” She laughed again, annoyingly her laugh was like bells tinkling. I was beginning to dislike this girl. However, Connor had told a story full of half-truths so to correct her would have made him look like he was hiding something and lying. To not correct her kind of explained our relationship.Allof our relationships really but missed out the huge important fact that thissisterhad a fairly incestuous relationship with two of the happy family. I was genuinely going to slap him for putting me in this position.
Corey sipped her drink some more while I sat there like an idiot, trying to figure out what she actually wanted.
“So,” she was looking at me again. “I need you to tell me all about Connor’s ex.” She sighed and looked out the window onto campus. “When I met him, he was all in knots about her, I think she broke his heart.”
If she had slammed my head onto the table I wouldn’t have noticed, her words made me numb. Seriously, how was I going to sit here and listen to this? To her talking about me? Taking my complete silence as a sign to continue, she ploughed on oblivious to my own pain or discomfort.
“Yeah he was a mess with a capital M.” She nodded. I made some noise, I wasn’t sure what she took it to mean, but it seemed to encourage her. “He is just so darn scrummy and he was all sad and I thought to myself, Corey, that boy needs sunshine in his life and I made it my mission to bring that back to him.” She took another sip of her rapidly melting drink.
What was I going to say? “Yay you, you superstar you?”
“So, what was she like?” A blinding white smile was once again shone at me.
“She was nice,” I muttered.Lame Elle, so lame.
A derisive laugh was my response. “Nice? She clean ripped his heart out! Cheated on him you know.” She added this in a whisper, like it was a big secret and she was letting me in on it.
I felt the cool wash of anger rush over me. My hands gripped the coffee cup. “If I remember correctly, she didn’t cheat on him, they were already broken up.”
Corey’s eyes narrowed, “Are you sure?”
I forced a bright fake smile on my face. “I am absolutely positive – after all, I’m like a sister.” I heard a snort behind me. I froze. Oh Jesus wept, please not now. Not like this.
Corey’s smile became a little brittle. She hastily stood, wiping her hands on her short denim skirt. Gee was she going to curtsy? I stopped a giggle from escaping.
“Colton. I didn’t see you come in, I was just getting to know Arielle.” If I hadn’t been frozen, I would have turned around, but God himself couldn’t make me turn at this moment in time. My prayer for an intervention had been answered, but by the wrong side.
Corey swept down, kissed me on the cheek and before I could even process the turn of events, murmured, “It’s been fun, we should do this again real soon, but I gotta run.”
Her chair scraped back. I saw his denim covered thighs, raising my eyes to take in the black t-shirt pulled across a wide chest and taut over muscled arms, and then the dark column of his throat, with a slight five o’clock shadow.
“Eyes up here Ari.” His voice was like velvet. It always had been, he was quiet and commanding, his voice was sin personified. He wasn’t hiding the smirk I knew he would be wearing. I didn’t deserve this. This was an ambush too much. I felt myself flush. Jesus, I need to man up and more importantly, maybe I needed to look up, otherwise I really was just staring at his chest like a fool.
I met his eyes. No one should have eyes that green. It was abnormal. They practically glowed. I looked away again hastily.
“What are you doing here?” I muttered.
“I’m fine thank you, been a while since we spoke. You look well.”
I glared at him but couldn’t hold the mocking stare. I looked away again.Damn him.
“I came in for a quick drink and who do I see? My long lostfriendbeing interrogated by my little brother’s friend.”
“I thought she was his girlfriend?” I muttered.ArticulatebetterArielle,use your words.
“Why? Are you jealous?”
I frowned at him, still not quite meeting his eyes. “No, don’t be stupid. Connor said she was his girlfriend.”