Page 50 of The Secret We Keep
Evie’s head drops, before she jumps off the gate, still holding Kevin. “That’s okay.”
Paddy’s feet falter. “What? No crap sticks or bad language?”
“You’re the one with the bad language, not me.”
Paddy opens the gate, letting both of us walk through. “I guess I can sell her ticket back to the club. See if they can get some money for it.”
Evie agrees with a quick nod of her chin before she looks at me, eyes wide with hope. “Unless you want to come watch?”
My eyes dart to Paddy. “Me?”
He shrugs like it’s no big deal.
I met this girl yesterday and now she’s inviting me to a family event. I draw back with confusion. “You wantmeto take your aunt’s place?”
She giggles sweetly. “Yeah.”
“Youareone of Auntie Fi’s best friends, after all,” Paddy throws in.
Evie’s eyes light up even more. “It’s sorted then. You’re coming to watch my competition. Oh, this is so exciting. You’re going to love it!”
Evie runs inside once at Paddy’s, shouting that she’ll see me tomorrow. “And don’t forget to look for my signature move,” she hollers with a quick glance over her shoulder.
I wave, but to her back, turning to face Paddy who’s holding open the garden gate.
“Signature move?”
I wave a dismissive hand. “The scarf hold,” I say cheerily, like only I’m privy.
“Right.” He looks around the open space like he isn’t sure what to say next. I can tell by the lines branching across his head and the quick tick of his jaw that he’s going to mention our non-kiss. I don’t want to talk about it, even though I know we probably should. Regardless of what we should or shouldn’t do, though, the moment has gone.
I save him the trouble of making things more complicated. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” I smile, lifting a weak hand to wave.
“I’ll text you a time.”
“Okay.” I turn, and he closes the gate, the sound of the lock clicking shut being heard.
“Morgan?”
I swing back around to face him, the sunlight behind him hitting my eyes. “Yeah?”
“We’re friends, right?”
Everything inside me slips and merges into nothingness. The click of realisation erases all the gaps inside me that I’d filled with hope. Hope that Paddy saw me how I see him; as more than friends.
All the moments I’ve been clinging to don’t feel special anymore. All the things he’s said and done no longer make me feel fuzzy. They just feel, sad. And of course, I can’t blame him for making me feel like this. He doesn’t know how he makes me feel. Not really.
If I wasn’t short of them, I’d tell him to shove the word where the sun doesn’t shine.Friends.Paddy O’Keefe is so much more than a friend.
“Yeah. We’re friends.”
The scarf hold
Paddy
Idiot.Total.Fucking.Idiot.
Evie’s competition begins in fifteen minutes, and for the past hour, I’ve been thinking about Morgan, wondering where she is. She said she would be here for Evie. She seemed happy to take Fi’s place.
