Page 38 of Trying Sophie

That he could, and so easily, left a sliver of doubt at the back of my mind.

Dropping his voice, he stepped closer. “You could fuck anyone. Hell, you do fuck anyone, but now you want to add Sophie to that list. I’m here to tell you it’s not going to happen.”

I took a step back. I wasn’t going to come to blows with him in the middle of the street like this.

Calming my anger, I said, “It’s not like that. You are blatantly misunderstanding the situation.”

“Am I, Declan? Am I really?”

“Whether you want to believe it or not, I swear it’s not like that. I told you, Colm and I have talked about this for years. He knows how I feel.”

“I’m sure he does.” He rolled his eyes.

“He gave me his blessing, alright!” I hollered angrily.

“He did what?” he shot back incredulously. “After everything he knows about you? Forget his heart; he’s lost his fecking mind.”

I sighed, not sure why I was continuing this conversation. He’s said all he needed to. And yet, I really wanted him to understand. To believe me. To know my intentions were honorable. Outside of rugby, what I wanted with Sophie was truly the only honorable thing I’d done in my life and sue me, but I wanted just a fucking ounce of credit for it.

And so even though I knew it was a losing battle, I kept going. “He and Maureen are the reason I’m even talking to Sophie in the first place. They sent me to the airport to pick her up. They know how I feel about her. They believe it’s genuine. I believe it’s genuine.”

When his eyes flashed with skepticism, I shook my head sadly. “Look man, you don’t have to believe me, but I want you to know that I am going to be with her. I’ve waited too long to let anything or anyone get in my way.”

“Even your best friend?”

“Yeah, man. Even you,” I answered, leaving him standing alone on the curb.

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