Page 32 of Ruck Me

“And then there was Twitter—”

“Did I say Twitter was better? Screw ‘em. Tumblr’s thebest.”

Eoin’s ridiculousness aside, I was smiling now and for that I was grateful. “Thank you. I neededthat.”

“What you need is another drink.” He raised his hand to capture the waitress’s attention. Not that he needed to—she’d been staring at him from across the room ever since he’d joinedme.

“Hey there,” she cooed while staring down at him with hungryeyes.

Funny, she’d been sociable enough when she’d taken my order.

It was obvious she wanted to get her pointy black claws into him. No really—her nails were filed into matte black spikes that were at least an inch long. How anyone got anything done with fingernails that looked like that was beyond me. Then again, looking down at my own ragged nails, I could probably do with a manicure myself. Maybe something much less dramatic though.

When she left to fill Eoin’s order, he leaned close and whispered conspiratorially, “I know what you’re thinking.”

“No, you don’t.” I picked up my glass, forgetting it was empty, and set it down with a frown. She hadn’t even asked if she could get me another glass ofwine.

“Don’t lie. You’re wondering how she wipes her ass with those fucking spikes.”

I let out a huge bark of laughter and several heads turned our way, “Sorry,” I mouthed before turning back to him. “If we get kicked out of here, I’m blamingyou.”

“Fair enough.” He smirked, leaned back, and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “So, you wanted to chat?” He raised his eyebrows expectantly.

My heart thumped a beat in my chest. I’d never had a conversation like this one, but if I’d learned anything today, it was that I needed to face the full responsibility of adulthood. And that included admitting when I’d been wrong. Or, not necessarily wrong, but dismissive. Because I could see now that’s what I’d done. I’d been caught off guard and was feeling vulnerable so I’d dismissed everything Eoin had said that night.

“I’m sorry about last week.” His jaw flexed and I continued. “It was kind of an overwhelming night and I was scared by everything that happened.”

He rested his forearms on the table and furrowed his brow. “I scared you? God, Aoife, I’m sorry.” He looked away then, his face etched with regret. “That’s not me, not who Iam.”

I reached across the table and laid my hand on his arm. “No, not like that. I’m sorry, I’m not very good at this.” Eoin turned his face back to me, his eyes beseeching. “The truth is, I was scared about what I was feeling.”

“What do youmean?”

“There’s a very good reason I’m still a virgin,” I answered, at the same moment our waitress came over and set Eoin’s drink down. Instead of leaving, she hovered with her hand on his shoulder.

Ugh, couldn’t she see we were having an important conversation? I leveled my best death glare her way, but because she refused to acknowledge my existence, she didn’t even see it. My annoyance spiking, I muttered, “It’s a good thing we don’t tip in Ireland,” which made Eoin chuckle.

Shrugging out from under the waitress’s touch, Eoin glanced up. “Can you bring my date another glass of …” He looked my way, his eyebrow raised in silent question.

“The Rioja please, and then the bill when you get a chance.”

When she walked away, she added an extra sway to her curvaceous hips but Eoin’s focus never wavered. “You were saying?”

“Right,” I answered, nodding. “I’ve been doing some thinking and I’ve come to the conclusion that guys aren’t the problem. Iam.”

“How do you mean?” he asked, taking a drink of hiswine.

“I just don’t inspire … I don’t know. Passion. Romance. That sort of thing.”

Eoin scoffed. “Bullshit. I’m pretty fucking passionate aboutyou.”

“Yeah, well, you’re apparently the exception to the rule,” I said, dropping his gaze and nervously rearranging my cutlery.

“You really don’t get it, doyou?”

“Get what?” I raised myeyes.

“How fucking beautiful youare.”

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