Page 60 of Twist of Fate
“And he came all the way from Madrid to visit?” I try to keep my voice neutral, but it’s challenging. Ever since she told me about her cheating fiancé, I’ve hated the guy. I don’t care who he is or what he does for a living. He treated her like shit. There should be no coming back from that.
“He was just transferred to the UK.”
“The UK? I thought his dream was to play for Spain.” Damn, the UK was a hell of a lot closer than Spain. No wonder the arsehole could just pop over for a visit.
She shrugs and starts to walk back down the hallway. “I think Arsenal offered him a nice deal to play for them. He wasn’t really specific about the details when we talked.”
That’s odd. The guy was kind of a bragger.
We reach the living room, and she slows her steps until she comes to a stop. She turns hesitantly in my direction. “Um, thanks for—” My mouth twitches as her words falter and her cheeks flush red. “—putting up with me last night. I know showing up drunk at your front door probably wasn’t what you had planned for the evening.”
“No,” I agree. “But, I’m glad you did.”
We gaze at each other, aware that a hundred things remain unsaid between us. I want to ask her to stay while simultaneously urging her to leave for my own sanity’s sake.
“I should go,” she says, instantly breaking the spell. She reaches for the door, but I stop her, remembering I actually armed the security system last night. For once, I had something I wanted to protect.
“Hold on,” I say to her, bridging the gap between us as I punch in the code.
Once disarmed, I pull the door open for her, just in time to see Theo walking down the hall toward her flat. Every time I see his smug face in a magazine ad or on TV, I think of Ash. I think of what he did to her, and then I consider what I would do if I ever met him.
I guess the day had finally arrived.
His eyes dart from Ash to me, noticing my bare feet and wrinkled T-shirt. No doubt he sees the mess Ash made of my hair when I was feasting on her pussy. He turns back to her, and honestly, she doesn’t look much better. Her clothes are still a little askew; her hair is a disaster, and oops, did she forget her shoes?
I lean against the doorframe, cross my arms over my chest, and grin. The look he sends me is pure malice.
This guy does not want to be her friend.
Well, game on, mate, ’cause that makes two of us.
SIXTEEN
Aisling
PRESENT
“So, who will be at this thing with us tonight?” Theo asks as he raids my fridge for probably the tenth time today. I’d forgotten how much food he can put away in a single day. It would be disgusting if I didn’t also know how much time he spends in the gym and on the field. Soccer has always been his religion.
He pulls out some leftover chicken I made for us the night before.
He’s only been here a little over twenty-four hours, but we’ve managed to pack a lot into that short time. He’s never been to Dublin, so there’s plenty to do. Since I still haven’t explored much, it was nice to have someone to explore it with. I forgot how much I enjoy it—the thrill of wandering and the excitement of discovering new places. It was one of the reasons I started my travel blog when I began traveling with my mom. At first, it was a way to validate the experience, but then it grew into something I genuinely enjoyed.
That is, until my mom got sick.
“Just my coworkers,” I say. “Oh, and maybe their significant others. Well, the ones who have them, anyway.”
“And your boss?” He hasn’t mentioned Finn once since that awkward moment in the hallway yesterday. I know exactly how it looked—me coming out of Finn’s apartment at that early hour, both of us looking like we did. I didn’t even try to deny it. Not that he asked. I just stood there, sort of shell-shocked at the sight of the two of them in front of me, and then quickly made introductions while they glared at one another.
Yeah, not awkward at all.
“He’s not really my boss,” I say, reaching for a glass in the cabinet. “Nora is my boss. Finn is…well, he’s just the CEO.” Acting CEO? I still haven’t figured out what the difference is.
“Wouldn’t that make him your boss, though?” I can hear the warning in his words loud and clear. Don’t fuck your boss, Ash.
I know it’s a bad idea. I knew it this morning when I woke up in his arms and chose to stay there to see where it led. But before Finn Larkin-O’Connell became my boss, he was just Finn.My Finn. And that makes all of this so much more complicated than just having the hots for my boss.
“I suppose. Anyway, he’s not coming,” I say, refilling my glass with tap water and taking a long gulp. “It’s just my teammates.”
