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“Oh, don’t cry! Girl! Was he bad? Please tell me he wasn’t a disappointment after all we’ve heard!” Britt exclaims and my sobs turn to a laugh as I wipe my eyes and sniffle away my hurt.
“We did spend the night together. It was a while back, actually after one of your parties, Britt.” She smiles and pulls me close to her. “It was… amazing.” I let out a breath and smile. “He was almost perfect. Something I could write about.”
“I knew it!”
“Britt! Let her talk!” Francesca yells at her.
“The whole night, how we seemed to know each other already, things we spoke about, how he touched me… “ My words hang in the air.
Francesca speaks softly. “Your book showed that love, that care. I don’t think there was a dry eye after reading that passage, and I knew there was only one place that compassion could have come from. Reality.”
The tears roll down my cheeks. She’s right. I’ve only ever felt that once. And I knew I had to get it on paper.
“How come he never said anything?” Farrah questions.
“Billy isn’t going to brag about Adley.” Britt replies and refills her glass.
“He brags about others.”
The comments come quickly and hit me like a dart to my heart.He doesn’t remember me at all and brags about the others.
Farrah quickly tries to cover her words. “Oh, Ad, no, I don’t mean it like that. I mean, he respects you. He genuinely likes you. That’s why I’m surprised he never let anything slip. I see the way he looks at you.”
“He looks at you like you’re the one.”
“I can’t be the one when he doesn’t even remember me.” Sadly, I speak the words that have haunted me all my life. My father easily forgot me and pushed us all aside. Steve easily found someone else to replace me. And Billy easily covered our night with his addictions.
Chelsea speaks up. “I think he may remember more than you think.”
My eyes snap to my sister. “What do you know? Did he say something?”
She touches my arm, trying to ease my worry. “I don’t know much, but I know what I saw at that restaurant last week. And what I saw was a man who remembers more than just a few flirty conversations with you. He looked broken, Adley.”
“What are you saying? He doesn’t remember your night together?” Francesca asks with confusion.
Shaking my head. “No, he was partying pretty hard that night.” I leave it at that because what am I going to say? It was months ago. Maybe it was a one-time thing.
You know better than that, Adley.
“He never said a word to me, and I didn’t hear from him the next day, or even the next week.”
Dropping my eyes to the floor, I remember feeling like he got what he wanted and moved on. I was just another conquest. “The newspaper I applied to called a few days later, offering me the job. When Billy didn’t come looking for me, I packed up and went home.”
“Listen, I’m not telling younot totry to make something work, butI’m telling you, right now? My brother isn’t ready. He will be, oh, how I pray he will be, but for now, he doesn’t know how to handle himself, let alone a relationship.”
Sitting up straight and wiping away more tears, I have to tell her. “I think you’re wrong, Francesca. I think you and your brothers are not seeing his full potential. There’s depth to him that he hides. And I'm not sure if he hides that out of fear or if he feels he needs to conform to a role that has been assigned to him from birth, not necessarily one that he belongs in.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, that he’s the baby, so everyone treats him that way. But no one sees what an outsider sees if they take a minute to look. These girls that hang on him, they see a name and a good-looking face. They’re not taking the time to talk to him.”
The room falls silent, and I feel so out of my element right now. I only have these four women in my life and I’m treading all over our friendship right now.
“I’m sorry. I’m the one who’s out of line now-”
“You’re right. Billy was always coddled, and I’m not sure why except to say because he’s the last. My mom has always had a special bond with him and I think it made my other two brothers jealous. So they called him a momma’s boy, and he fell into that ‘baby’ role.” She comes and kneels down in front of me before adding, “You seeing that? Understanding that? This is how I know you’re the one, Adley.” Francesca smiles and my heart constricts.
Shaking my head, I say, “I can’t talk about this anymore. I’m sorry. That just got so heavy. This is not what a girl’s night should look like!”
