14. Thea
14
Thea
“ O h, you’re back.” Eden stepped aside to let me in, not her usual ebullient self, and I frowned. Had I upset her? She knew about my little trip over to Europe, so it couldn’t be that.
“Is Verity OK?” I hadn’t seen her since I got back with Dario. It was a surprise my sister hadn’t come looking for me the moment we stepped into our guest apartment, but she’d been curiously absent. Part of me was perturbed she no longer needed me, but the fact she was becoming more independent was a good thing. God knows Verity deserved to have a life at long last.
“Yeah, she’s binge-watching a cruise ship reality TV show with the girls.”
Reality TV? Lord, help us all.
“Hey, Ver.” The girls lay sprawled across two sofas when I walked into Eden’s living room, surrounded by snacks and drinks. My sister looked up in surprise and then leaped off the sofa.
“You’re back!” she yelled, hugging me tightly. “I missed you!”
“Really?”
“Of course! I always miss you. You’re my favorite sister.”
“Your only sister,” I laughed.
“Aoife and Sari are like my sisters, too.” My brows rose. Had these girls usurped me in Verity’s affections already?
Her attention drifted back to the TV, where some drama about one person sleeping with another played out. The show didn’t seem appropriate for a younger audience, but I decided it wasn’t worth arguing over. I had enough shit going on in my life and managing my sister’s viewing habits was very low on my to-do list right now.
“Watch your show. Eden and I need to talk.”
Verity didn’t need telling twice. She jumped back onto the sofa, immediately riveted by the on-screen antics.
“Got any coffee?”
Eden nodded and shuffled back into the kitchen. Her usually bouncy pink hair had lost its shine and there were shadows beneath her eyes. Something had happened, and I intended to find out what. If someone had hurt my friend, they were living on borrowed time.
“OK, what’s going on?” I demanded once she handed me a coffee.
“Coffee’s bad for pregnant ladies,” she muttered, not quite letting go of the mug. “This is your one and only cup on my watch. Love the hair, by the way. It’s cute.”
I ran my fingers through my short hair, still not used to the length.
“Stop deflecting and tell me what’s wrong.”
She hopped up onto a stool and cracked open a tin of chocolate brownies. “Here, help yourself. You can take two, seeing as how you’re, you know, eating for two now.”
I fixed her with a hard stare while shoving a brownie into my mouth and groaning with delight over the rich chocolate flavor. It was hard to look intimidating while enjoying a food orgasm.
“Michael and me are done,” she admitted eventually.
“What? Why?” I spluttered through a mouthful of cake. “You two were cute together!” Damn, he’d seemed like a nice guy.
“He had a meltdown when he found your preggo test stick and thought it was me. I realized he didn’t see me as a long-term thing, so we argued and then he left.”
“Fuck, Eden, what a douche.” That bastard! How dare he hurt my friend! “Does Declan know?”
She snorted. “No. Michael may be a fucking gobshite but he doesn’t deserve to end up in a shallow grave.”
Eden made a good point. Declan was ridiculously protective of his cousin, and if he thought she was hurting, he’d do anything to make her feel better. Up to and including murdering asshole boyfriends.
“Has Michael gone back to Abernethy?”
“I guess. Not sure.” We sat munching chocolate brownies for a moment while I planned on how to get rid of Michael without causing a murder investigation. A barrel of acid should do the trick. It was one of Torrance’s favorite disposal methods. Pigs were useful, too. They ate literally anything and always left no waste.
Then I looked up to see a lone tear tracking down her cheek and realized she was way more upset than I thought.
“Eden… I’m really not good at the emotional stuff, but do you need a hug?” The thought of dishing out hugs made my skin itch, but I was willing to do what it took to make her feel better.
She wiped her eyes and sniffed loudly. “No, I’ll be fine. I’m just sad it didn’t work out. But plenty more fish in the sea, eh?”
“Um, I guess?”
“Sooo, tell me more about Dario…” From the eager way she leaned forward, she’d guessed something had happened between us. Was she a mind reader?
“How did you know?”
“I didn’t, but I do now,” she snorted. “You fucked him, didn’t you?”
I groaned. “It kinda… happened.”
“Spill the tea, bitch!”
“So I went to his father’s funeral dressed as an old woman.” Eden’s eyes widened and she nearly choked on her coffee. “Why?”
“Because I knew my father might be there. I figured a gunfight at the cemetery would be in poor taste.”
She winced. “OK, fair point. So, you used sex to soothe his emotional pain? Nice one. That’s exactly what I would have done.”
“NO! That’s not what happened!”
“Oh thank god. Graveyard sex is gross.” My eyes narrowed. “Not that I’d know!” From the way she stared down at her plate and clammed up, I wasn’t so sure about that. But I didn’t want to hear about what kinky shit she got up to.
“We met later that night. Talked about my father and what he’s been up to, and then he walked me back to my Airbnb.”
“And you had hot sex?” Her interest in my sex life was concerning, which I told her.
“Hey, I have no boyfriend now, so I’m forced to live vicariously through you. Come on, give me all the deets. Is he good in bed? Does he have a massive…” Her voice trailed off as Aoife appeared in the doorway. I sighed with relief. Never had a 14-year-old’s presence been such a welcome sight.
“Eww, are you talking about penises again?”
“Again?” My head swiveled around to glare at Eden. “You better not have been discussing inappropriate things with my sister around!”
“God no! I Would never!” She leaned closer and whispered, “Ronan had a small problem , which he shared with me. The girls may have overheard some of the conversation.” The way she glared at Aoife suggested they’d been eavesdropping. “Anyway, he’s fine now. Nothing that some special lotion couldn’t cure.”
Gross .
“That’ll teach him to fu… hang out with those slatterns from the Three Bells near the docks. I told him those whor… females were not nice girls. But of course he didn’t listen. Stupid fecker deserved it.”
Aoife nodded sagely. “I told him too, cuz. That Siobhan is an awful slut. She fucks anything.”
Eden gasped, scandalized. “Aoife Kelly! If your father heard you use that kind of language, he’d wash your mouth out with dish soap and send you back to St Joseph’s!”
Aoife seemed unconcerned by the threat. “Eh, he could try, but I doubt those miserable old cunt nuns would have me back. Not after I set fire to Sister Angela’s car.”
The girl looked like butter wouldn’t melt in her sweet rosebud mouth, so to hear so much foul language from one so young left me speechless.
Maybe I’d made a huge mistake leaving my na?ve little sister in her company. Sweet Baby Jesus . Still, I couldn’t help but respect a girl who set fire to a nun’s car for shits and giggles.
Then I remembered what happened to Fausto and the brownie in my stomach turned to ash.
“Are there any chocolate brownies left?” Aoife peered inside the tin and scowled. “Wow, I can’t believe you ate them all.”
“I’m heartbroken. Sugar is my new best friend,” Eden sniffed. “One day, you’ll understand.”
“Nah. Boys are a waste of space. They stink, they’re selfish, and they’re dumb as bricks.”
“Yes, all these things are true, but they have something we like, so good luck cutting them out of your life, sweet girl.”
From the way Aoife rolled her eyes, she wasn’t at all convinced.
“Besides, they’re not all bad,” Eden snorted. “Thea successfully wrangles five of them and manages not to lose her shit!”
“Err, I wouldn’t go that far,” I muttered. I still hadn’t seen Milo or Cassian, so it was entirely possible they both now hated me. Especially my sweet little nerd. Running out on him so soon after taking his V-card was pretty shitty. If he’d done that to me, I’d have stabbed him to death with a rusty spoon.
“Fear not, my preggo friend. They all love you.”
Aoife’s jaw dropped, and her eyes nearly popped out of her head in shock.
“She’s PREGNANT? Which one is the baby daddy? OH MY GOD! This is better than when we found out Tom cheated on Ariana with Raquel on Vanderpump Rules!”
I had no fucking clue what she was on about, but that wasn’t my most immediate concern. Eden cringed when I locked eyes on her.
“Oops…”