Page 25 of Trying Sophie

“Peggy,” she chirped, holding my fingers in a death grip.

As gently as I could, I pulled my hand from her grasp.

“Hello Peggy, thank you for coming by.”

Generally speaking, I was always happy to greet fans—after all, them coming to see me play every week and talk about me on social media was how my agent justified my salary—but sometimes you had to know exactly when and how to nip an awkward encounter in the bud. Not that Peggy and her gal were bad sorts, but if I let them, they’d gawk at me all day.

“Can you sign something for me?” she blurted and I prayed it was something innocuous like a napkin.

“Sure,” I answered cautiously.

More than once after agreeing to an autograph, a woman had bared her tits and a Sharpie. The scary thing was it didn’t matter how old or young the bird was; teenagers and grandmas alike had been known to flash their boobs at me.

When she reached inside her bag and pulled out a folder covered in pictures I sighed with relief. And then I laughed when I saw photos of two of my teammates affixed to the corner. When I searched for a spot for my signature, she grabbed it out of my hands and flipped it over.

“Oh no, you’re right there.”

Oh my.

My face took up the entire back. I suppressed a smug smile, gratified I warranted more real estate than Liam and Aidan combined.

“Good picture,” I said with a wink as I signed my name.

“Thank you so much,” she replied breathlessly before running back to join her friend.

Remembering I still had Cian on the line, I pulled the phone from my chest and put it to my ear. “You still there?”

“Yeah, what was that all about?”

I could tell he was annoyed.

“Just a fan,” I muttered, not wanting to make a big deal about it since the last time we’d gone out, no one had recognized him.

“Must be rough, having women throw themselves at you.”

“Look man, she was practically a kid,” I barked, a little louder than I meant to. I glanced over to make sure the girls hadn’t heard me but they were still chattering away. “She turned red before she even said a word and I swear she was seconds from pissing herself when I shook her hand.”

“Speaking of pissing yourself.” Cian remarked cryptically. “You’re gonna want to come home soon.”

“Yeah? Why’s that?”

“Let’s just say there’s something going on here you’re going to shit yourself over.”

“Which is it, piss myself or crap my pants?”

“Probably both,” he said chuckling.

“And you’re not going to tell me what it is, are you?”

“Hell no! Not when I know you can’t stand being in the dark. It’s killing you right now, isn’t it?”

He was right. I hated not knowing something everyone else already did. It was a critical character flaw both Cian and Aoife had spent years exploiting. They knew if they had a secret, I’d move mountains to figure out what it was.

“And I have to come for a visit to figure it out?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely.”

And that’s how Cian got me to call my mam and tell her I was coming for a visit.

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