Page 158 of Trying Sophie

Chapter Forty-Three

Declan

“Great game tonight lads! Way to show them what yer made of!” Coach hollered across the changing room as he left us to shower.

It had been a great game, which was good since The Wallaby had been in the stands. Even though I’d taken the field with a headache and queasy stomach, I’d scored a try and kicked four penalties so my chances remained good at getting the starting jersey, but I still might still have to apologize for that thing with his niece.

“You coming?” Liam asked, settling his bag across his body. “A few of us are heading out for a nightcap.”

“Nah, I’m good,” I answered, looking down at my phone as my heart kicked against my ribs. Fiona had texted me the second Sophie sat down next to her to let me know she was in the stands. “Sophie’s here tonight, so I’m just gonna …”

When the whistle had blown signaling halftime, she’d been standing and cheering with the rest of the crowd. Seeing her face beaming down at me had knocked the wind from my lungs. And there she’d been again, clapping and dancing along to our victory song, when we’d entered the tunnel after winning the match. Tentatively, I’d waved up at her and she’d waved back shyly. Even so, I had no indication if she planned on sticking around after the match.

“You’re just going to forget about us now that you’ve got a beautiful woman waiting outside?” Aidan joked, zipping up his jeans and pulling his shirt on over his head before punching me in the arm.

“Can you blame me?” I asked. “I mean, there’s someone like Sophie and then there’s your ugly mug.” I punched him back.

“Ooh,” he croaked, faking a hit to the heart. “You wound me.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Liam said, pulling up something on his phone and handing it to Aidan. “If that was waiting for you outside, you’d ditch us too.”

“Shit man. That’s Sophie?” Aidan asked, passing the phone my way. “I knew she was beautiful but fuck. She’s hiding some secret weapons under all those clothes she had on at the party.”

Liam had pulled up her Instagram account and scrolled to a picture of her standing on a beach in Vietnam wearing a very small, very revealing white bikini.

“I know,” I answered, both pleased at their envy and slightly off-kilter for it too. I didn’t know how I felt about my mates seeing so much of her skin. “She’s too good for me.”

“No shit.” This came from Eoin as he strolled through the changing room with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. “Everyone’s too good for you.”

“Don’t man,” Aidan warned me, putting a hand on my shoulder, as Eoin stalked back toward the showers. “It’s nothing personal. He’s pissed at everyone and doesn’t know how to keep his fecking trap shut.”

I’d let it go this time, but at some point Eoin and I needed to sit down and have a chat—about my sister and his lack of respect. I couldn’t let that shit stand since it would set a bad precedent with other players I wasn’t close with. If the youngest kid on the squad could get away with this type of insolence, what was stopping them from stepping to me?

I nodded my acquiesce to his request and shrugged on my jacket. Shaking Liam’s hand, I said, “Call me tomorrow, yeah?”

He looked at me shrewdly. “How about Sunday? You’re going to be busy.”

God, I hoped he was right. I crossed my fingers and went to find out.

“Declan!” Sophie called, raising her hand to catch my attention. As if I wouldn’t have zeroed in on her the second I walked out of the building. Like a magnet, I was drawn to her gravitational pull.

“Great game,” she said, her lips hitching up in a smile, when I reached her side.

I let my eyes rake over her, took her in from head to toe, and felt her presence like a punch to the gut. It’d been days since I’d seen her, and if it was at all possible, she’d only grown more beautiful during that time.

“Thanks,” I said, my voice breaking. I cleared my throat. “I’m glad you could make it.”

She laughed, a light tinkling sound that floated over my skin and settled in my heart. “I almost didn’t. Haven’t you guys ever heard of parking lots?”

She swiveled her head to take in the upscale, residential neighborhood, our stadium a hulking glass and steel presence built smack dab in the middle of it.

“Yeah, not so much,” I answered. “Were you able to get a spot nearby?”

I hated this. Hated how we made polite conversation as if we were nothing more than casual acquaintances. As if I hadn’t been inside of her. As if she wasn’t the fucking love of my life. But I didn’t know how to say what needed to be said, how to move the discussion from benign platitudes to the things that were important.

Like her. Like us. Like our future.

She pointed in the direction of my place. “I drove as close as I could but when I reached a bunch of roadblocks, I had to turn around. I got a bit lost, so I ended up plugging your address into my GPS. I parked in front of your house and walked the rest of the way. I hope that’s okay?”

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