The Sun in My Eyes

12 Just Outside the Circle of Light

With pitying looks and hands held tight to partners, couples began to wander off. Lottie and Hannah stopped to give Lili a fierce group hug. She laughed and squeezed them back. "It's alright," she said. "I'm alright."

Priya gave Bobby an encouraging smile before leading Ibrahim away.

"So," he said, when they were alone.

Lili sighed. "So."

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

She sat down. "A little sad. Rahim really is lovely. But I'm happy because I think Priya will be good for him. She seems like someone who'll give it to him straight and he likes that." Her fingers twisted together again. He sat beside her and pulled her worrying hands apart. "I honestly thought she was going to pick you," she said.

"I did too. I was bricking it."

"How do you feel now?"

"Always a bridesmaid, never a bride, that's me." He shrugged. "I'm going to start getting a complex if beautiful girls keep telling me they like me and then go off and pick Ibrahim. What does that guy have that I don't? Besides money, fame, height, a sick body, designer clothes, probably a sports car, and a huuuuuuuuuge—"

"Set of abs?" Lili interrupted, with a soft laugh.

"I knew it was the abs." He squeezed her hand and pushed closer to her ear. "Lili, do you thi—"

"Oy, Bobs!" Gary shouted as he jogged across the lawn. He stopped and raised an eyebrow at them as he approached.

Bobby slapped the top of Lili's hand. "There! I killed that spider for you!"

"Smooth," she said quietly.

"They don't call me Captain B. Smooth for nothing."

Her nose crinkled up. "No one calls you that. I'm sure of it."

"Can we have a quick chat?" Gary asked, his blue eyes shifting between them with curiosity.

"Can't think of anything I'd rather do." Bobby gave her an apologetic smile. "We'll talk later, yeah?"

She nodded and bent to grab her water bottle. Jesus, Mary, and—her ass was a gift from God. She stood up and caught his eye "Really, Robert?"

"I'm not even sorry," he said with a grin. If Gary hadn't been standing there he would have given that glorious bum a swat and he wouldn't have been sorry about that either.

She rolled her eyes. "Gary can you teach him how to be a gentleman?"

"I would, but honestly I was looking too."

She laughed and smacked Gary with her water bottle as she walked away.

"Girl's holding up well, eh?"

Bobby watched her go. "She's a tough one."

"Yeah." Gary said. He rubbed at the back of his blonde hair. "So this is awkward as hell. But uh, you and Marisol..."

Bobby slid his sunglasses off. "Are just friends."

"So you wouldn't be upset if I..."

He nodded at whatever Gary said. At the doorway to the villa, Priya rounded the corner, almost knocking into Lili. She froze and they stared at each other. Then Priya spoke. He couldn't hear what was said, but her arms flailed dramatically. Lili laughed and grabbed those fluttering hands. She said something emphatic and Priya gave a wobbly smile. Lili pulled her into a hug as tight and warm as the one she'd gotten from Lottie and Hannah.

How much love could one girl carry in her heart? Her sweetness cut him to pieces. Was it real? The cynic inside of him wondered. But the romantic, who was always much more vocal, argued the other down. He was drawn to her too strongly for it to be fake. She cared as much as he did. Too much.

"Are you listening, Bobo?"

"Hmm?" He shook his head. "Yeah, lad. It's fine. You and Marisol. But what about Hannah?"

"I don't know. She's a gorgeous girl, but there's nothing there."

Bobby played with the arms of his sunglasses. "You can't force what isn't there." He'd been down that road before, foolish people pleaser that he was. "You have to tell Hannah, mate."

Gary stretched his neck out, first left and then right. "It's not easy, you know?"

The sun was pulsing with the force of its heat. Bobby slid on his sunglasses. "I know. But a girl like that, you break her heart, she might not give it away again. Don't be the one to do that to her." He stood and slapped Gary on the arm. "Come on pal. Let's go swimming. I need Marisol to get a peek of you in wet shorts. Maybe it'll distract her from Lili."