Page 61 of The Blind Date

"What? No!" I sputtered in denial, nowhere near as smooth as I hoped to be.

"Are you sure? Because it sure does look like you're avoiding him." He narrowed his eyes, studying me.

"Nope. I'm not avoiding anyone."

"Then you'll have no issues if we go join him? He’s got a better spot than we do.”

"Of course not," I denied even though on the inside, I was panicking.

It was wishful thinking, but I had hoped to avoid talking to Cedric today. At the very least, I hoped to keep our interaction to the very minimum so things wouldn't be awkward. Unfortunately, I didn’t account for Cillian or his sneaky ways when I pondered about today.

"Are you sure?" Cillian asked as he led the way, a smirk on his face as he glanced at me from over his shoulder. "Because my brother told me you slept with him and left him in your apartment before he woke up. That sounds like a good enough reason to avoid him if you ask me."

I blinked, hard. “I can’t believe he told you that.”

“My brother and I are close,” he said. "I don't blame you. My brother can be a right pain in the ass sometimes, but he's been through a lot, so if you're not interested in him, please let him down gently. He doesn't need any more women breaking his heart. He’s had enough of that already.”

It took me a few moments to register his words.

"I don't think Cedric and I are that involved that it would risk me breaking his heart." I frowned, my own words upsetting me.

"Just remember what I said, okay?"

"Okay,” I murmured, unsure about what I had just agreed to.

“I’m glad to hear that.” The large grin was quick to slip back onto his face. “Now, let’s hope things aren’t going to be too awkward between you guys because it seems like it’ll be a little while until it’s time for our parents to play.”

Before I could protest, Cillian reached out to circle his fingers around my wrist. He tugged me the rest of his way to his brother, no doubt sensing my clever plan of conveniently losing myself in the crowd.

“Well, I don’t need to introduce you both since you’re already so well acquainted,” Cillian chuckled once we had reached Cedric.

I opened my mouth to say something–I had no idea what–but no words came out.

What was I supposed to do? What could I possibly say?

Was I supposed to greet Cedric as if nothing had happened? Or was I supposed to go in for a hug because Cillian was right? We were well acquainted already. Would it be rude not to? I mean, we weren't friends, but we also weren't strangers. Honestly, we were probably more acquainted than most friends ever became.

“Don’t both talk at once,” Cillian chuckled, the mirth evident on his face.

It was rather comical when Cedric and I both scowled at him at the same time, neither of us the least bit appreciative of his efforts to make things even more awkward between us than they already were.

“Sorry, I have to take this.” Cillian made a show of pressing his phone to his ear even though the screen was blank, and I didn’t hear it ring.

I didn't know if Cillian thought we were idiots or he simply didn't care, but he slipped his phone back into his pocket not even a moment after he walked away from us. As if that wasn't bad enough, the new spot he chose to stand and cheer his parents on from was less than two feet away from us. It also didn't help that he was standing next to some children, so they did little to hide him from our glaring eyes.

"Your brother sure is a character,” I chuckled awkwardly, turning back to glance at Cedric.

Was it bad that all I wanted was to go back to arguing with him and going for each other’s throat after every other sentence?

"Yes, but arguably, you're far more interesting," Cedric murmured, keeping his gaze straight ahead as Alfie stepped forward, the first of the team to play. "Why didn't you text me back, darling?”

“Can we not talk about this now, please?” I sighed, pleading for him to drop this. At least for now.

"Then when do you suggest that we talk about this? How about when you were hiding in the pavilion?" Cedric countered with a quirked brow, but he still didn't turn to glance at me. Perhaps it made me a hypocrite, but it bothered me that he refused to look at me.

Was he really that upset with me?

I figured he was more angry about being jilted, but maybe I was wrong.

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