Page 45 of Ruck Me

Chapter13

EOIN

When I stalked back inside,shrugging out of my blazer and loosening my tie, Tanya and Aidan rushed up tome.

“What the fuck was that?” Aidan barked.

Tanya rested her hand on his arm. “Keep your voice down,” she whispered, her eyes scanning the lobby

Aidan pinched the bridge of his nose and blew out a breath. “If you’re trying to keep Declan out of your business, you’re doing a poor fucking job of it,” he whispered angrily.

“What did I just say?” Tanya asked, fisting my tie and grabbing Aidan by the belt before dragging us down the hallway to a more privatespot.

“I have exactly zero fucks to give about Declan,” I said once we were out of earshot of potential eavesdroppers.

“Careful kid. That’s your captain.”

“I’m not on the pitch,” I replied, crossing my arms over my chest and narrowing my eyes at my teammate. I wasn’t sure when it had happened, but I had an inch on him, and probably a stone or more. At the beginning of the season, we’d been the samesize.

“Doesn’t matter. Declan's your captain every moment of every day—until he’snot.”

“Oh yeah? Where’s our illustrious captain this evening? We won tonight, we’re in first fucking place, and he’s not here.” Aidan stayed silent, his mouth flattening into a thin, hard line. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“Look. You didn’t hear this from me, but he’s going through some shit right now,” Aidan confessed, running a weary hand through his hair. Or at least trying to—he used more hair product than most women I knew, so it was completely stiff.

“Newsflash Aidan: we’re all going through some shit right now, but he’s the only one behaving like an entitled little prick.”

“Okay, that’s enough!” Tanya interjected, stepping between us. “We can worry about Declan later. Right now we need to be thinking about the other O’Shaughnessy.” She turned to glare at me accusingly. “What happened back there? One minute Aoife was psyching herself up to talk to you and the next thing I knew, she was running out of here with her bloody hand wrapped in a wet towel.”

“How should Iknow?”

Tanya stared at me for a few beats, her head tilted. “I think you know exactly why she bolted.” Under the weight of her blunt scrutiny, I blinked and looked away. “There it is. What did you do, Eoin?”

“What did I do?” I laughed mirthlessly and shook my head. “You people.”

“If you break that girl’s heart, I swear to God you’ll wish you never fucking met her,” Aidan threatened as he stepped into my space.

“Fuck you!” I hissed, conscious of where we were, yet still flexing my hands into fists at my side. I wasn’t going to fight Aidan, but if he came at me first, I wouldn’t stand there and take it. “I didn’t break her heart, you asshole. She brokemine!”

My eyes went wide in shock the second the words were out, and Tanya sucked in a startled breath. Aidan relaxed his aggressive stance and studied me intently, his gaze turning contemplative. I hadn’t realized that’s how I felt until just this second. I was pissed at Aoife, frustrated with the world, and just so fucking over all the drama, but a broken heart?

I needed to figure this shit out—alone. I dropped my head forward, and my shoulders slumped in on themselves. “Just forget it,” I said, shuffling past Aidan.

“Nope. You’re staying right here while we figure this mess out,” he replied, pulling me back into the alcove.

Tanya wrapped her arm around my waist and, rubbing her hand in circles, asked, “Have you told herthat?”

I scoffed and shook my head. “Right. Would that have been before or after she said we had to keep our relationship a secret? Or when she admitted to believing I was the asshole Declan paintedme?”

“What did he say toher?”

I stared up at the ceiling and blew out a breath. “He told Aoife I only wanted to fuck her and that once I did, I’d ditch her.” My head dropped forward again, and I clenched the back of myneck.

“He said that?” Aidan asked. “You’resure.”

I stared him down. “You know how he is. Every guy joins the team gets taken aside, shown Aoife’s picture, and told if they so much as think of touching her, he’ll personally end their career. He’s a fucking lunatic.”

“He’s worried about his sister, can you blamehim?”

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