Page 70 of One Night Only
Declan slaps the bar and plucks the menu from his hand. “Coming right up.”
I watch him turn and grab two bottles from the fridge.
“So how was the trip?”
“What trip?”
“To Ireland,” Matthias says.
“It was good,” I say distracted.
“What’s a wedding like over there?”
“Exhausting.”
Declan drops two coasters onto the bar and places our drinks down with a flourish. I stare at the watch on his wrist. The watch that was under my bed. The bed that we—
“Nice to see you again,” he says, smiling at me before turning to another customer.
“I actually spent a semester of college in Edinburgh.”
I take a long gulp from the bottle, barely tasting it. What do I do? What do I do what do I what do I—
“We can go somewhere else.”
I glance at Matthias, who’s looking at me, concerned. “Oh, no, it’s fine. I’m fine.”
“If he’s making you uncomfortable…”
“He’s not. I’m just nervous.” I twist on the stool so I’m facing him fully and try to focus my attention.
Matthias looks pleased. “I make you nervous?”
The idea of him does. But I’m not about to explain that to him.
“Edinburgh huh?” I ask instead. “What was that like?”
I make all the appropriate noises and nod in all the right places as Matthias goes through a remarkably boring story about his European trip. But I can’t concentrate. I try, really I do, but the whole time my mind is on Declan, who remains just out of my eyeline but who I can hear, talking and laughing.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so aware of another person before. And infuriatingly, he doesn’t seem to be aware of me at all. He sticks to the other end of the bar, leaving us alone, which a part of me accepts is the polite thing to do, while the messier part of me is infuriated by it. I want him back up here, in front of me so I can look at him and figure him out and figuremeout and not feel so confused.
“It’s my sister.”
I blink back to attention to see Matthias holding his vibrating phone in one hand.
“She’s in the city this week.”
“You should answer it,” I say as he silences it.
“Are you sure?”
“Totally. Family first.”
“I’ll be two minutes,” he says apologetically, sliding off the stool. “She’s probably locked herself out again.”
I smile until he disappears outside and then turn back to the bar only to see Declan talking,flirting, with a woman a few seats down. I have to admit, albeit grudgingly that he looks… good. He was very put together in Ireland, dressed appropriately for a week with family and friends and a cool sea breeze. Now he looks how I remember him, slightly sweaty and disheveled, his shirt tight andstop it, Sarah.
I look straight ahead, staring at the thin strip of mirror over the bottles of alcohol where I can see the top half of my face.
