Page 9 of Redeeming 6

Keep fucking going, lad.

“Well, shit.” Podge’s brows shot up in surprise, and he quickly laced the sliotar down the pitch before telling Alec to go long. “Am I wrong in thinking that Aoife has a fair bit to do with this sudden change of lifestyle?” he asked when Alec was out of earshot. “She’s a good influence on you, lad.”

“We’re taking some time out,” I forced myself to admit out loud to quite possibly the only person I trusted aside from the two girls in my life.

I had managed to work an entire week with Tony without disclosing as much as a drizzle of information on my relationship with his daughter. It hadn’t been easy facing him, and the unknown, but to his huge credit, the man treated me exactly the same as always.

“You and Aoife?” Podge asked, eyes widening, and I quickly realized that he wasn’t going to do the same. “Since when?”

“Since I pulled my head out of my ass long enough to see what I was doing to her.”

“Are you serious?”

“Come on, Podge.” I shrugged, deciding to go with the truth for once. “It’s fairly obvious that the road I’ve been traveling down isn’t exactly aligning with the one Aoife’s on, lad.”

“And that matters to you?”

“She matters to me.”

“Are you broken up for good?”

His question caused my heart to plummet into my ass, and my mind to scream fuck, I hope not. “It depends.”

“On what?”

“On whether or not I can get my shit together.”

“Which you apparently have.”

“And now, whether or not I can keep my shit together,” I forced myself to add. “Which, let’s face it, lad, I don’t have the best track record of doing.”

“So, this time-out was her idea?”

“No.” I shook my head. “It was mine.”

“So, does this time-out mean that you guys are seeing other people?”

“No,” I balked, feeling sick to my stomach at the thought. “I don’t want to even think about another girl, lad.”

“Is she?” he pushed. “Thinking about other lads?”

“She should,” I muttered. “But no. I don’t think so.”

“And if she does?”

I bit back the urge to roar. “Then I won’t hold her back.”

“Jesus, you really love her, don’t you?”

More than life.

“So what if I do?” I bit out, immediately on the defensive.

“Nothing, lad, nothing.” He was quick to placate. “It’s just that I’ve known you since junior infants, since we were four, and I’ve never heard you admit your feelings for anyone.”

I shrugged, uncomfortable with this line of questioning.

“Obviously, I noticed that weird chemistry the two of you have the second we walked into first year, but I never realized it was that deep.” He shook his head before admitting, “I always figured the infatuation you had with her had more to do with pissing off Ricey than anything else.”

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