Page 37 of Try Hard
Sammy rejoined the table and Eve sat back, her left arm sliding along the back of my seat again.
I knew what was going to happen the second I looked at Tanika but there was no point prolonging it. I could practically feel her gaze boring a hole through my body.
As Sammy claimed Eve’s conversational attention again, Tanika shot me a look that was desperate to know if Eve and I were together, what was going on, every little detail of whatever was between us.
I tried to silently convey that there was nothing going on, but she wasn’t buying it. Of course.
Chapter Twelve
Eve
“Kieran will be so happy to hear you didn’t show up in rugby boots,” Kim said, catching me on my way back from the bathroom.
After Tanika had snatched up Ophelia’s wrist the minute we were done eating and dragged her away in an incomprehensible jumble of rapid speech, I’d mostly gone to the bathroom to escape Sammy. Sure, the woman was nice enough, but, after watching her over brunch with Ophelia, I was starting to wonder if I’d been wrong that she was just after a momentary ego boost. I didn’t like the looks she’d shot at Ophelia, and I hadn’t loved having to rein in my interactions with her just to avoid Sammy scowling at her.
I wasn’t an indiscriminate bastard. I wasn’t looking to give away every thought I’d ever had about Ophelia over someone else’s wedding brunch, but I couldn’t lie and say I didn’t love being close with her. A little light flirting had been fine. I was famously friendly, people would probably just write it off as that.
I turned to grin at Kim. “I know we haven’t hung out in person in a minute, but did he really think I’d show up here in them?”
She laughed and shrugged, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “I don’t think so. We made a bet and I think he wasn’t looking to win because he wanted me to get myprize.”
I shot her a look. It wasn’t hard to understand that whatever she wanted to win was sexual. But, hey, they were almost newlyweds. Wasn’t that the whole thing?
“Do you want to know what it is?” she asked, conspiratorial and positively glowing.
“I don’t know, do I?”
She wiggled her eyebrows. “I know you were always closer with Kieran than me back in school, but we’re all friends here. And, you know, you’ve probably heard worse from the guys over the years.”
That was true. I was the only woman who’d played rugby with Kieran back in the day. The rest of the players had all been guys, and there had been few topics off limits for the group. Even with me around.
I nodded. “Fair point.”
She let out a small squeal and moved us over towards the wall, away from listening ears, and ran through a fantasy she was looking forward to fulfilling that involved a remote control vibrator. “We’ll think of you after.”
I laughed. “Please don’t.”
“Why not? We wouldn’t get to do it if you’d worn rugby boots. This is all because of you.”
“Somehow, I think you’d have gotten there without me.” I wondered whether I was supposed to be shopping their official registry or whether I was supposed to be sending them something more x-rated if I was, unwittingly, this instrumental to their sex life.
She winked at me—nothing like the way Sammy had winked at me earlier. More in the way that she knew she was getting some later and wanted me to know it was going to be amazing.
Which I definitely did not need to know, even if I was happy for the two of them.
“How about you?” she asked after letting the moment linger a touch too long. “You looked pretty cosy with Fia over food.”
That was a fair way of describing it. I had kept my hand along the back of her chair for basically the whole meal. And I’d given in to playing with her ridiculously soft hair, but, thanks to the orientation of our table, I doubted anyone else would have spotted that.
“Ah,” I mused, hedging my bets. “I didn’t actually realise she was going to be here. We ran into each other yesterday and… got to talking.”
Kim frowned and laughed. “Just yesterday?”
“Yes?”
“Okay.”
“What?” I enquired, wondering what she’d spotted that made that seem so ridiculous.
