"I can't believe you're here." I smiled looking at Amber next to me in my bed. Before Eros, I never had a boy sleep in my bed, but Amber usually stayed at me house more than hers.
"I come every Christmas and a couple weeks for Summer. What is up with you?" her green eyes looked at me suspiciously. Her and Eros had little features the same except those eyes.
"Nothing, just needed a friend." I smiled to her.
"No, something is different."
"No, it's not." I sat up quickly. God, I can not tell her about her brother.
"Get dressed and let's go to my house."
"What? No! Here is fine."
"Your room is trashed, babe. I need to change anyways. We can go hit the new bistro for some breakfast. I want an update on these art auctions plus I have some juicy gossip of my own." She jumped up and went to my bathroom.
I guess I'm going to her house. I can't avoid Eros forever and he'll probably just ignore me anyways.
"I love Care Bears." She clapped her hands to the side of her face fawning over my shirt.
"Thanks." I dragged my feet behind me to her house. This is going to be fun.
Amber talked non stop all the way to her room while I acted like we were on some secret mission checking every corner before turning it.
"Why are you being weird?"
"I'm not weird, you're weird." I answered quickly.
"Something is up with you. I want the details over breakfast." She pointed at me then left to get changed. I heard the shower turn on and rolled my eyes. I really hope she takes a quick one.
"Amber, love, we are coming for our hug." Lucy shouted coming down the hall. I closed my eyes praying it was just her. No such luck though. Not only was Eros at the door so was Chrissy.
"Oh my god, your face." I stood approaching Eros and he backed up, right into Chrissy.
"Careful there champ. Don't want to bruise that gorgeous face anymore than it is." She brushed her fingers in his hair. They looked like the perfect couple, and I hated it.
"It's nothing." He shrugged, moving her hand off him and took a step away from her.
"Yeah, it looks like nothing." I rolled my eyes at him, then our eyes locked into each other and I'm sure the anger swirling between us was noticeable.
"Oh, that is why you didn't want to come here." Amber was behind me in just her towel. God, this whole family was gorgeous.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I sat on her bed not daring to look at anyone.
"Eros and Ella had a little fight at the ice skating rink the other day. I believe Stacy was to blame though." Lucy said walking to Amber for her hug.
"If you were mean to my Ella I'll break your dick, big brother." Amber warned as she gave him a hug and made me laugh.
"It was nothing. Stacy was just being a bitch pretending to knock into Ella making her fall." He said hugging her back.
I lifted my eyes to him annoyed and he was staring right at me while holding his sister. The right side of his face was green and black with two big gashes above his eyebrow. The area under his eye was a little swollen too. Somehow he still looked gorgeous.
"Then why would she be upset with you?" Amber pulled back and he peeled his eyes off me. He shrugged his shoulders. Seriously?
"It was nothing, Amber. Eros was just being Eros and I lost my temper." That was the best I could say in his defensive.
"I rarely seen Ella lose her temper. What happened?"
I rubbed my bare ear. "At some point I lost my father's earring. I went a little crazy after that." I smiled with my head held high. It was perfectly reasonable to be upset.
"I'm so sorry Ella." Amber hugged me and I swear I wanted to cry all over again. "I know how much they meant to you. I get why your room is trashed now too. Why don't we have breakfast downtown and we could look some more for it?"
"It's ok. I've accepted that it's gone and I will forever wear just the one I have left from him." I couldn't help but look to Eros. I thought he would be annoyed I was about to cry, but instead I saw the guilt wash over him.
"Hey, we are heading to town to get some dresses for tonight. Why don't we all go together? We can get some Amber time and Amber can get some Ella time. I think a girls afternoon out would be perfect for all of us." Lucy said with tears in her eyes. She was always the sweetest of all the siblings and I could tell she felt bad for me.
"That is perfect! I need a new dress for tonight anyways. Would you prefer red, Eros?" Chrissy leaned on him and I quickly wiped my tear away.
I did not want to go shopping with them and definitely not to help her pick out a dress for him. Why was this happening?
"I don't care what you wear. We are going as friends." Eros looks at her annoyed, but it didn't settle the jealousy boiling in me.
"What do you say Ella? Breakfast to catch up then we can meet the girls for some shopping?" Amber was hugging my side the whole time.
"If you want to." I gave her a little smile. I knew Lucy wanted to spend time with her and Amber would ditch her family to hang with me.
"Do I get an invite, or I'm I not consider a girl?" Jackie was at the door and she looked more lethal than I remembered. She was definitely getting older.
"Of course you're invited." Lucy gave her a hug and Jackie pushed her off her with that same annoyed look Eros always had. It made me smile a little how the were so different with these little similarities.
"Come here little demon sister." Amber walked to her for a hug and I could see Jackie light up. Amber was always her favorite.
"Ok!" Lucy clapped her hands together with a huge smile. "Shopping with the girls. I love this."
I couldn't help but smile at how happy she was. They really only saw each other a few weeks a year. Eros and Lucy were always trying to make the most of the time they had. I stole one more glance at Eros and his eyes were back on me. I wish I knew what was going on between us now. I assumed he didn't want to talk to me again, but he looked at me like he wanted to say something. Nothing was getting solved with his sister and Chrissy in the room with us though.
———
At breakfast Amber informed me of her fiancé. That was some huge gossip she had. I had a feeling her siblings would be all over her that it was too soon. The fiancé lived in New York and they met while he was an exchange student in France. I was worried about how young they were, but she seemed so in love with him.
Amber had hundreds of pictures she gushed over while eating and the ring she hid in her bag was gorgeous. She planned to tell her siblings after Christmas right before she left. This way if there was any backlash she would be jumping on a plane shortly after. She asked me to be one of her bridesmaids too. I was beyond honored and of course agreed. The day was turning out much better than I thought it could. Then we meet everyone for shopping and it quickly went downhill.
I spent most the time wandering the racks of clothes keeping a few feet from the sisters. Jackie always had a look like she didn't like me, especially when Amber hung all over me. Lucy and Chrissy were the epitome of girly girls chatting about colors, styles, makeup, and what was in season. I didn't know about any of that stuff. I just wore what I liked and didn't pay attention to the social norms.
A cute red dress that was longer on one side then the other caught my eye. I wouldn't wear this, especially since Eros was my first thought. I knew he had a thing for red, which apparently even Chrissy knew about. Something annoyed me about that. I thought it had to do with my little red riding hood costume, but again my mind went over the deep end in fantasy Eros. I was obviously nothing special to him.
"Oh my god, that is perfect Ella." Chrissy came next to me pushing me some to the side to grab the dress. "Eros will go crazy over this on me."
"Oh that is sexy, Chrissy. I think a little darker makeup with a hint of silver sparkle for tonight too. My brother will be begging for you to come home with him." Both girls squealed in excitement. This was just pure torture at this point.
"What about you, Ella?" Amber asked.
"I think I'll just wear my Christmas sweater and leggings tonight. I don't really like dressing up." I shrugged. Nothing I picked out would match how Chrissy looked anyways.
"Nonsense. You're getting a dress." Amber skimmed the racks and I watched Lucy skip off with Chrissy to the dressing room talking about how to get Eros drooling over her.
"Here, this one!" Amber held out a green dress and I grabbed it annoyed.
"Eros loves when I go down on him. Sometimes he gets so worked up and calls me his little red. I need to up my game tonight. Any tricks in that department you got for me." Chrissy spoke loud with no shame in the dressing room to Lucy trying on a dress next to her.
"First off ew because it's my brother. Let's call him, Marcus."
"Ok fine! Any tricks I can use on Marcus?"
"Oh so many. I'll have that man on his knees soon." Lucy responded opening her door.
"What?" Chrissy giggled coming out of her room.
"Sorry, I was thinking of actual Marcus."
They both looked stunning. I took a hard gulp watching them fawn over each other looking like runway models. I really needed this shopping day to be done. I never like it before, and now I hated it.
I rolled my eyes at them and headed in the dressing room at the other end. I put on the dark green dress with silver sparkles. I did look pretty. It was a little tight on my butt, making it look a little bigger, and the top had cap sleeves with a U shape scoop front showing off just a hint of cleavage. The back was a little low, just down to my bra strap, so not completely open but a little sexy.
I watched my eyes through the mirror remembering how Eros dance with me at Rich's anniversary party. His fingers lingered on my open back dress and it put my whole body at ease. I sighed in annoyance.
Why did Eros have to be the one to make me feel this way? All the boys in the world I wanted one that didn't want me. One that was rude and mean to me. It wasn't fair to feel this way and I wish it would stop.
I got changed wiping away my tears as Chrissy and Lucy continued to talk about how to get "Marcus" back with her. They didn't even know how badly this hurt me because no one knew about us. We never said not to tell anyone, but he also never asked me out or showed me any affection in public. I thought maybe he was going to kiss me while ice skating, but that was probably my over active mind trying to make Eros someone he's not.
"You all set, Ella?" Amber called to me. Shit! I've been hiding in this dressing room for god knows how long.
"Yup, the dress is perfect. Thank you." I smiled to Amber stepping out.
"I wanted to see it." She pouted to me in a gorgeous silver dress.
"Wow, Amber! You look amazing."
"She is gorgeous!" Lucy commented behind me.
We walked to the register and there was that lady from when Eros took me shopping. Another great experience.
She smiled at Lucy ringing her up then caught my eye. Crap! Does she remember me?
"Hey, I remember you." She smiled at me. I guess that answered my question.
"Hi!" I said shyly.
"I hope this isn't for that creep you were with the other week." She said taking my dress to ring up.
"No, we aren't friends. He was actually helping me with something."
"Well, he has the hots for you, but doesn't know how to respect a woman. I hope he gets a clue."
"Yeah." I looked around nervous. She was talking about their brother and ex boyfriend. I really hope no one caught on.
"Wait? The other week. Was that friend, Eros." Chrissy asked looking at me.
"Yes, but we aren't friends."
"No shit! Little Ella is trying to steal our big brother too." Jackie commented, out of nowhere. She really didn't like me.
"I'm not trying to steal him. Nothing is even going on between us." I gave the lady my card to swipe. This turned awkward real quick.
The lady looked at me with a smile. "I'm guessing his fan club!" She winked at me with a amused smile. Nothing was amusing about this.
"His sisters. We are neighbors." I said low, but everyone heard me.
"Wow! The plot thickens. Let me guess. The hot boy next door climbs through the proper uptight girls window for some midnight action. You wanted more but he just wants sex and bam now you hate each other." The lady said way too excited and my mouth dropped open. I'm now throughly convinced my life is a reality TV show that no one told me about. How did she know that?
"What? Please, like Eros would be interested in little Ella. He is actually my boyfriend." Chrissy was pissed now emphasizing that last part a little too aggressively.
"There is really nothing like that happening. My brother took something from a bad guy and he wanted it back. Eros was just helping me get it back to him. Thank you, have a nice day!" I smiled taking the receipt and headed for the exit. Why is my life so strange?
"Bye little Ella! Can't wait to see you again." She said with a cocky smile. That lady was my best friend last time and is now my mortal enemy. I will never go back there again. This is so embarrassing and Eros was getting all my hatred right now.
"So, little Ella. What was this thing my brother helped you with." Amber had her arms crossed with Lucy, Jackie, and Chrissy all staring at me.
We all went and got lunch together and I told them about Jose and the bag Damien took. Despite me saying how mean Eros was to me they all swooned over how amazing their brother was for helping me. I should had known better than to think his sister or obsessed ex would take my side. Maybe the lady at the register was my best friend again. At least she hated Eros like we all should.