Page 141 of Trying Sophie

“Yes, I’m sure. It’s enough that you dropped everything to pick me up, no questions asked. I couldn’t make you sleep on a blow up bed as well.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll take my bed and you’ll get the air mattress. For what it’s worth, I’m not sure which is more comfortable.”

Katie plopped down onto my mattress and bounced a few times. When the springs made a horrible screeching sound, she looked up at me and laughed. Pointing her finger, she declared, “You wanted the air mattress!”

“Shh,” I cautioned her. “Don’t let me grandma hear you. She’s so proud the mattress is still ‘good as new after all these years.’ I don’t have the heart to tell her it needs to be burned.”

“No wonder you look tired,” Katie said sympathetically. “You probably haven’t had a good night’s sleep since you got here.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” I admitted, as I turned off the light and we made our way downstairs.

Just as we were finishing up the grand tour, Cian sauntered in for his shift and immediately Katie went on high alert.

Interesting.

* * *

“So… Cian?” Katie inquired some time later, her head angled his way.

I had no desire to get in the middle of whatever was brewing between the two. I’d watched as she’d laughed at everything he said and tossed her hair coquettishly to capture his attention. She was definitely interested in him, which worried me because I didn’t think Cian made a great rebound guy.

“Tell me everything you know.”

The problem was I didn’t actually know a whole lot about him. Cian and I hadn’t exactly been bosom buddies lately. We could be cordial with one another, but our budding friendship had cooled and he’d become even more reserved around me since Declan had dumped me. We still joked around every now and again, but I sensed he purposely kept our banter inconsequential, avoiding the elephant in the room.

“He’s kind of complicated.”

“Complicated how?” She grabbed my cider and took a large gulp.

I bit the tip of my thumb and considered how best to describe Cian. I thought he had the capacity to be a great guy if he put his mind to it, but he came with a lot of baggage she might not be ready for.

“Well, he can be a moody fuck, but underneath it all he’s a sweet guy who, I think, is trying to work through some things he wasn’t quite prepared to deal with.”

“That sounds ominous,” she remarked, snatching one of my fries and shoving it in her mouth.

“Do you want me to order you something?”

“Nope, not hungry.” She winked and reached over to swipe another fry from my plate.

“Right, and I’m the Queen of Sheba.”

I pushed the basket of fries between us so we could share.

“It seems like you care about him,” she replied, her curious tone catching me off guard.

She was right, in a way. I did care about Cian even if I didn’t know how to be the kind of friend he needed … and vice versa. Before the whole mess with Declan, I’d thought we were something almost resembling friends. I wanted him to be happy, and from what he’d shared the few times he’d opened up, I thought he needed some friends outside his old rugby mates. To be honest, I didn’t actually know who Cian spent time with. That was, aside from a few local ladies I was pretty sure he had on regular rotation.

“I do. He’s a good guy underneath all the brooding.”

“So … have you slept with him?”

I spit my cider out and tried to hold back my coughing fit as some of the liquid came shooting out my nose. Katie jumped up and smacked me forcefully on the back while I attempted to get my breathing under control, my eyes watering at the sting of bubbles forcing their way through my nostrils.

“I’m sorry, but what the ever loving fuck was that about?” I choked out.

She shrugged. “Sorry, it’s just that you got this sort of dreamy look on your face when you said you wanted him to be happy, and since I would very much like to sleep with him, I wanted to make sure you hadn’t already beaten me to the punch.”

“I can assure you I have not slept with him.”

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