them and then just walk away without a word. Like mother like daughter.
It wasn’t something she’d want to do, but without knowing the catalyst for her mother’s decision, how could she be sure?
As she reached the water with her mood lower than it had been in a while, Ciara pushed the thoughts away and decided a walk along the edge of the sea would take her mind off everything. After all, Miami really was beautiful. It would be a shame to not see as much as she could.
***
An hour later she returned with achy legs and Gem made a trip to the refreshment stands to get them all iced drinks. She sipped at her iced tea, wishing Gem had fulfilled her request of a ‘sweet’ one but she was too thirsty to care.
Elle perked up when a trio of guys started throwing what looked like a brown rugby ball not far from them.
‘There’s a good place to start rebounding, Gem,’ Elle said.
Gem slipped her sunglasses down her nose. ‘You’re not wrong. I don’t usually go for blonds but with those muscles I could make an exception.’
Ciara could definitely appreciate the muscles as they kept throwing the ball, harder each time until they got closer.
‘And look, poor things are trying to be subtle about picking us up,’ Elle grinned. ‘Should we show them how it’s done, girls?’
‘I’m in,’ Gem said, jumping up. ‘What angle are we working?’
‘Hmm, English girls wanting to learn the American way to play rugby.’ Elle suggested.
Ciara laughed. ‘American football is brutal, Elle. I don’t think it will be your thing.’
‘We’re not actually going to play. But I wouldn’t mind one of them holding me from behind and showing me how to throw the thing.’
‘Me either,’ Gem added.
‘So what you’re really saying is you’re using the excuse of throwing a ball for foreplay?’ Ciara asked, still stumped that after all these years she had a lot to learn when it came to this stuff. She’d dated a little and hooked up with guys at uni but they’d been more about relieving exam stress than anything serious. And it hadn’t taken much to stumble across a man willing to have sex with her. The only thing was they’d never understood why she didn’t want more than that. Elle and Gem never had that hassle as far as she knew.
‘Exactly,’ Elle said, then ditched her Ray Bans on the table. ‘Come on!’
Brandon, Matt and Rye were very helpful when it came to teaching them how to throw a ball, but her coach was a little too touchy feely for her liking. After all, they’d only just bloody met!
‘And you stand like this,’ Matt said, pulling her hips back into his groin so her bum got a feel of exactly what his long shorts were hiding.
The only thing that stopped her from being completely mortified was that he wasn’t fully erect, but she was sure after all the touching to manoeuvre her that he was well on his way.
Elle had dropped the act of wanting to learn and had unleashed her inner flirt. Brandon was falling hook, line and sinker and he was putty in her friend’s expertly manicured fingers. Gem hadn’t wasted any time either, and had perched on Rye’s lap on the sand, already giving him a game of tonsil tennis.
‘Just open your legs a bit more, Ciara,’ Matt urged.
She certainly was not! Pulling away, she turned to him, trying to keep her irritation from showing. She wasn’t about to dry hump him on the bloody beach. But then she couldn’t be too mad at him for assuming she was easy, since she suspected Gem was well on her way to getting Rye past semi-hard.
‘I don’t think I’m getting it,’ she admitted.
‘Me either,’ Elle said. ‘You know, we’re staying on the beach not far from here. Why don’t we go back there, get cleaned up and have a few drinks by the pool?’
Everyone seemed to be into that idea, especially Gem and Rye who looked like they wanted to rip each other’s clothes off right there and get down and dirty in the sand.
They made it back much faster than they’d taken this morning – having three strong men to muscle around their things was the only good thing about inviting them back to the house.
Elle had a shower first, so it was up to her to entertain Brandon and Matt – Gem was doing a good job of entertaining Rye in the pool.
Brandon was nice, asking lots of questions about their experience at university and even asking what Elle’s favourite food was. Ciara was sure he was going to at least ask her on a date before he dragged her into bed.
Matt was a different story. He kept interrupting, telling her he was going to be a model and that he’d just had a portfolio made of all his best shots, but now he’d gotten better definition in his abs and biceps (both of which he insisted she touched), he needed to save for more.
‘Really, that’s grand,’ she answered, but might as well have been talking to herself.
Brandon’s smile was apologetic.
Elle appeared a little while later and Ciara decided it was time to leave Elle with the superficial pain in the arse. But he caught her arm.
‘How about I come let you wash my back?’ Matt asked.
How about you let go of my wrist before I have to chew through my elbow to escape? ‘Maybe another time.’
‘Later, for sure babe.’ His eyes smouldered and it so wasn’t sexy.
Not like Zack’s that night. Not even a little.
She took her time getting showered and dressed, even applying make-up but not to attract Matt, just to kill time. She was sure he was too hot for himself to notice – she was probably just another girl to fuck for his pleasure.
By the time she’d grabbed a bottle of beer and returned to the poolside, they were all at the dining table and she stopped the cringe from showing on her face. The only seat left was next to the pretty boy she was hoping had gone off to find some other girl to satisfy his needs.
No such luck.
‘Hey Keera, I’ve saved you a seat,’ Matt said.
She gritted her teeth and sat down. ‘Ciara, not Keera.’
‘Huh. Well, here’s to an awesome night,’ he said, clinking his beer bottle with hers and winking.
It was going to be anything but.
When Gem disappeared for a shower, she wasn’t alone. Rye followed her still sporting the tent in his shorts that must be becoming painful now. Elle noticed and grabbed the remote and switched the music on inside the house to drown out anything they didn’t need to hear.
Brandon was still being really nice, asking everything about Elle and letting her prattle on and on about her life. He seemed more and more into her as the day went on.
On
