Under My Skin

29 | strippers and lies

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

"Please forgive me." Hazel held her hands locked in front of her in a begging stance; her head jutted down, facing the floor and her bottom lip hanging out in a pout. "Please, please, please, Ria. I need my best friend back. I miss you."

Ria sighed, growing exasperated at Hazel's constant pleas. It didn't help that Blaine was also siding with the latter girl, "How can you miss me? It's been less than twenty-four hours," she objected, "Look, it's not me you need to apologise to. It's Indiya."

"You sent her off to the cabin, so how can I speak to her properly? Besides, she won't even answer my calls." Hazel explained, her shoulders falling in defeat.

With the prospect of Lydia and Reid making up looming in the air again, Indiya and Ria had agreed that for the final day in Ayia Napa, Indiya would spend the day in a hotel near the airport, and they would reunite only one hour before the flight was due to leave. Ria had pleaded with Indiya to stay with her – explaining that she shouldn't be alone, that she'd been a terrible friend, and she was now desperate to make amends, but Indiya had repeatedly refused. She refused to be the reason why Ria missed out on her only brother's premarital celebrations.

"I mean, can you even blame her?" Ria replied, somewhat bluntly, "Look, I'm not angry with you, Hazel, not anymore anyway. So, there's nothing for me to forgive. But I think it will take Indiya a long time to move past this. And she may even decide that she can't move past it at all."

"But you forgive me?" Hazel squealed, bouncing up and down in the air like an over-excited puppy before leaping towards Ria, engulfing the girl completely in an all-encompassing, oxygen-restricting tight hug, "You really don't mind that I slept with Reid?"

"You're gonna kill her if you don't stop, Hazel. She can't even breathe!" Blaine interjected, tugging at Hazel to pull her off Ria, whose cries for help fell upon Hazel's deaf ears.

"Oops, sorry, Ria." Hazel apologised.

Ria let out a heavy breath before responding to Hazel, "I didn't say I didn't mind. I don't like it. It's gross. But," she nibbled at her bottom lip, considering her following words carefully. The thought of her best friend and her brother was truly disgusting, to say the least, but she had to move past it quickly if she wanted Reid to do the same, "But, I can definitely get over it."

"Thank you! Thank you!" Hazel peppered Ria's face with sloppy kisses, "I promise I'll never do anything like this again. I promise! I'll never even talk about Reid's penis with you."

"Okay, you're ruining it now," Ria responded, giggling as she shoved the girl away. She turned her attention towards Blaine, "Is Indiya talking to you yet?"

He plopped himself down beside Ria and Hazel, "Well, I sent her a long-ass text message. And she read it. So, I'll take it as progress that she hasn't blocked my number yet."

The sound of Lydia and Reid's door opening startled them, and a dejected-looking Reid appeared at the door before silently closing it behind him without Lydia in sight.

"Still no luck?" Ria questioned, already anticipating another no. The group had been situated outside their bedroom the whole morning, awaiting an answer as to whether the wedding was still on.

But again and again, they'd be met with another rejection.

"Mate, we need an answer soon. I've got a hundred quid riding on that paintballing reservation for tonight. I've only got an hour left to cancel before I can't claim back a refund."

"Blaine!" Hazel squawked, "You can't put a price on love, okay?"

Ria rolled her eyes, ignoring the two on either side of her, "Shall I try and speak to her?" She offered, "I mean, you've tried loads already. Maybe a girl-to-girl chat would help." She cringed as she said the words, but it was for Reid, after all. There was very little she wouldn't be willing to do for her big brother.