Page 30 of Ruck Me

“There’s a FIFA qualifier tonight at Aviva. Big one against Wales.”

“Ah, that explains all the red then. I thought it was a bit too soon for people to be out in their Christmas jumpers.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, still a few weeks left for that.” The holiday season didn’t truly kick off for another couple of weeks, but that hadn’t stopped all the stores from stocking up early on holiday wear. Which reminded me, I needed to pick up a new jumper up for this year’s round of parties. “Speaking of,” I said before I could stop myself. “Want to go shopping with me? I need a new jumper since Donal lit mine on fire lastyear.”

Aoife let out a hearty laugh and my spine tingled from the sound. I’d never noticed before how sexy it was, how it sounded like warm honey drizzled over vanilla ice cream. Which, incidentally, was my favorite fucking dessert of alltime.

“I’m sure there’s a story there.”

“Yeah, you know Donal.”

“Not really, but I’ve heard the tales.”

“He’s a maniac,” I confirmed. “But he’s good people, so …”

“Yeah.”

And just like that, the line went quiet. Well, Aoife went quiet. I could still hear the traffic in the background so I knew the call hadn’t been dropped.

“Anyhow,” she eventually said. “Do you think we could talk in person about what you said last week? You know, about us hanging out somemore.”

A spike of annoyance flared from out of nowhere. I hadn’t said we should hang out—I’d said we should date. Aoife was the one who’d thrown out the whole line about hanging out and seeing where it goes. Like we didn’t already know where this wouldlead.

Maybe she doesn’t, I thought, reminding myself she’d never been in a relationship before. I still had a hard time believing she’d never met someone she liked more than friends. Someone, she’d explained, who she’d felt an immediate spark with. I hadn’t understood at the time—honestly, I’d thought she was full of shit—but I was coming around to seeing what she’d meant. Because Aoife and me? We definitely had that spark. If she’d just stop overthinking things, I knew what we had could be explosive.

But I couldn’t be having those sort of thoughts right now. I had to take things slow, needed to let her come to that decision on her own. So instead I said, “Sure. I was supposed to be at a study group for the next couple of hours, but I can skipit.”

“Oh, I don’t want to pull you away from your studies. I know how hard your classesare.”

Most people thought athletes were just dumb jocks, but most of the younger guys on the team—Donal excluded—were juggling rugby with academics. And none of us were taking bullshit courses either. I’d graduate at the end of the summer term with a degree in computer engineering, while one of my roommates was working toward a degree in economics. I wanted to play rugby as long as I possibly could, but if my career was cut short by injury, I knew I’d be okay. I wasn’t the best coder in the program, but I could hold my own. A lot of ex-rugby players were lending their name to sports apps for marketing purposes, but unlike them I could actually build the damn things.

“Eh, it’s fine. This would be more about socializing and gossiping about the professor than actual studying. I can skip this week’s if you’re available.”

Aoife paused, and I could practically see her chewing on her lip while she considered it. “I’m supposed to go to this career fair thing right now so I can find an internship but I’m running late.” She laughed. “Not exactly the best impression, right?”

“Yeah, you may want to leave that out of your intro.”

“How about I pop in real quick, talk to the companies I’m interested in, and then we can meet up afterward?”

“Yeah, that works. I’m in Donnybrook so let me run back to my place and drop off my stuff.” I looked out the windshield and saw a huge black cloud building over town. “I’ll call a Hailo and meetyou …?”

“Hmm,” she mused. “Not too close to campus or we’d be constantly interrupted. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but you’re kind of a bigdeal.”

It was my turn to laugh. “That’s what they keep telling me. I’ll believe it when I see the ‘big deal’ paycheck.”

I’d been signed to a contract at the end of last season, but it was nothing compared to what the international guysmade.

“You’ll get there,” she answered knowingly. “With Con gone, they’ll have to pay you what you’re worth when your contract renews. Until then you and I can commiserate about being poor college students.”

That was the other thing about Aoife that I couldn’t get with any other girl. She knew rugby, knew what was reality and what was smoke and mirrors. A lot of people looked at my teammates and saw guys with charmed lives, but we worked long, hard hours for everything we had. I hadn’t left the field once since moving up to the seniors without having some sort of bruise or cut, usually on my face. And the Audi I was currently sitting in? It was mine as much as the house I shared with my three roommates was mine. A dealership had loaned the car in exchange for a picture of them shaking my hand that they could hang in their showroom. I didn’t know one single guy on the team who actually owned the car he drove, and that included Declan’s Range Rover.

“Can this poor college student take you to dinner?” I asked, holding my breath. I was asking her on a date and we both knewit.

I’d hated it when she shot me down before, but one thing about athletes was that we were stubborn, determined sons of bitches. If we weren’t, we couldn’t do what we did every week. It hurt too much to be any otherway.

“I’d like that,” she eventually answered, and I could hear the smile in her voice. “Why don’t we meet at seven at Elsa’s? After this event, I’m going to need a proper glass ofwine.”

“See you at seven then,” I replied and before she could hang up, added, “I’m looking forward toit.”

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