Page 52 of Dylan
“Oh my God. What was I thinking? It’s Ciarán’s birthday. I should be with him.”
“Relax, we’ll spend the rest of the night with him.”
She palms her forehead. “This is crazy.”
“Ciara, stop freaking out, baby. It’s going to be fine.”
She huffs and turns to rush downstairs. I push my hands into my hair and tug. I don’t think Ciarán has thought about us at all.
Taegan has my credit card, and she used it to get the kid anything he wanted. She’s been texting to let me know how much fun Ciarán has been having the whole time we’ve been up here.
I sigh and shut everything down before I head downstairs after Ciara. This is going to be harder than I thought.
CHAPTER 20
Birthday Wish
Ciara
“Ciarán, Ciarán,”I call as I get downstairs.
The sound of a TV blaring leads me to a room up the glass stairs on the second floor. I get to the room to find my little brother lying on a bed with his shoes off and PJs on as he watches the huge TV mounted on the wall.
“What are you doing? Where are your clothes?”
“I was fading. Taegan told me this is my room. I took a shower and got ready for bed.” He gives me a huge, sleepy smile. “I had so much fun. This was the best birthday ever.
“The arcade was so cool, and I got a ton of clothes at the mall. I even got that tablet I was looking at. Where’s Dylan? I want to thank him for the boxing gloves and all the other cool stuff.”
My head is reeling. I thought Taegan was taking him for ice cream. The arcade? The mall?
“He’s um … I don’t know. You should get dressed so we can go home.”
“Aw, man. Come on, this bed is so comfortable. Come sit, see for yourself. I don’t want to leave,” he whines.
“Ciarán, we can’t stay here,” I huff, but walk over to the bed to sit on the edge.
I roll my eyes because the mattress is comfortable. Ciarán gives me a smile as if to sayI told you so. I reach to pinch him.
“Is he your boyfriend?” he whispers, glancing at the doorway.
“Would that make you mad?”
“Absolutely not. You take such good care of me. You always have, but you don’t do things other sisters do.
“I want to see you happy. I want to see you go on dates and get pretty to go hang with friends. Sometimes, I feel like you’re not living the way you should and it’s all my fault.
“I appreciate everything you do for me, but you’re an adult. You should do normal adult things. Please, Cee. My birthday wish is for you to be happy.
“Dylan seems to really like you. It’s okay to let him be your boyfriend. Look at all he’s done for me for my birthday. I think he’ll be good to you. And if he’s not, I’ll kick his butt,” he says and gives me that smile I love so much.
“Oh my God, Ciarán. Nothing is your fault. All I do is for you and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
He yawns. “Okay, so we can stay? This bed is calling my name.”
Grr. I look around. There are a ton of bags in the corner. This man has given my brother his own room.
I shake my head and turn to tell Ciarán maybe next time. However, he’s fast asleep when I look back at him. I snicker to myself and bite my lip.
