Page 46 of Ruck Me

“Yes, I can!” I snarled. “Aoife and I have been friends forever, and I know more about that girl than he ever will. He had the audacity to tell her that I’m as bad ashim.”

“He wouldn’t,” Aidan said, but Tanya set him straight.

“He did,” she confirmed. “Aoife toldme.”

“I don’t care what sort of shit he’s dealing with, he overstepped his bounds,” I continued.

Aidan clutched the back of his neck. “Fucking Declan.” He stared at the ground for a couple of seconds then raised his eyes to mine. “I’ll talk tohim.”

“To what end? He’s already poisoned her againstme.”

“I assure you, he hasn’t,” Tanya said. “She came to ask you to give her another chance. Aoife knows she was wrong to doubt you.” She let out a long sigh and twisted her hands together. “Aoife cares about you, Eoin. Like, a lot. I don’t think either of you expected that to happen, but it has, and you’d be crazy to throw something that special away.” Her voice trailed off as she snuck a furtive glance at Aidan. From the naked longing radiating off Tanya, I realized she might know a little something aboutthat.

“Fuck,” I breathed, running my palm over the back of my head. “What do I donow?”

Aidan took a step back, his hands raised. “Don’t look at me. I’m shit at relationships.”

Tanya’s cheeks turned pink, and her eyes looked everywhere but at him when she said, “I haven’t been in a relationship in years. You know what everyone says.” She shrugged like it didn’t bother her, but she’d have to be made of stone for it notto.

“Who’s still saying that shit about you?” Aidan growled, grasping Tanya’s arm roughly. When she eyeballed his hand on her exposed skin, Aidan dropped his hold like he’d been burned. “Sorry.” Stepping back, he muttered his apology a secondtime.

Tanya smiled sadly then turned to face me. “I think you have to talk toher.”

“We’ve talked in circles though,” I explained. “And each time we end up at the same place. We like each other—shit, we care about each other—but it’s not enough. I’m not enough.”

“If Aoife knew I was talking about this with either of you, she’d probably strangle me with her bare hands, but whatever,” Tanya said, crossing her arms over her middle. She looked to Aidan and then back to me. “I think it’s safe to say the three of us have a pretty good idea what that family islike.”

“You mean the fact that their mother is horrible?” Aidan asked, his tone not at all joking.

“That’s part of it,” Tanya agreed. “You’ve been around them the longest, Eoin. You have to have seen how Aoife exists almost as an afterthought.”

I slid one hand into my pocket and scrubbed the other over my face, wincing when I brushed against the cut under my eye. “It’s why she’s been acting out since she was a kid. That’s what the hair’s all about,” I continued, shaking my head. “She dyed it pink the day of her twentieth birthday. Ireland was playing in Paris, and her mom went without asking if Aoife wanted to go too. Colleen didn’t even wish Aoife a happy birthday until she got back three days later. She forgot her own fucking daughter’s birthday because Declan had a match.”

“What is with that woman?” Tanya asked.

“Don’t look at me,” Aidan answered, “I stay far, far away from Mrs. O’Shaughnessy. She’s terrifying.”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “She’s obsessed with Declan. But it’s always been that way, even before their dad died. Everything has always been about what was best for Declan—never Aoife.”

Tanya stepped out of her heels with a contented sigh and flexed her feet against the cool marble floor. “So, imagine you’re Aoife, and you've lived your whole life in Declan's shadow, where everything is all abouthim—”

“—And don’t forget the fact that he’s paying for everything now, too,” Aidan interjected.

“Yes!” Tanya agreed. “Their mom is basically dependent on Declan’s money, which includes paying for Aoife’s education and living expenses. So, from her point of view, she’s the spare kid who’s constantly told everything she has is because of her brother. Now, putting yourself in Aoife’s shoes for a second, what do you do when that same brother tells you not to date someone?”

“Fuck,” I muttered, digging my nails into my palm as I clenched my hand in my pocket. “I never stood a chance.”

“No! That’s not what I’m saying,” Tanya rushed to assure me. “You do stand a chance. You absolutely do. What I meant is that Aoife’s automatic instinct is to defer to whatever Declan wants because it’s what she’s always done. She cares about you Eoin, don’t ever doubt that. She’s been a wreck this past week. You saw what she did to herhair.”

“Ah shit, her hair,” I moaned. “All that beautiful fuckinghair.”

“It’ll grow back,” she waved away my concern. “Aoife’s more than her hair. She’s what’s in here,” Tanya placed her hand flat against her heart.

“You don’t have to tell me. I’ve known that girl her whole damn life. I know better than anyone who she is inside.”

“Which is why you can’t give up on her,” Aidan chimed in, drawing my attention. He’d been mostly silent during our conversation. He was as out of his depth as I was, but I admired him for going against Declan’s wishes for the sake of his baby sister. For my sake, too.

“I haven’t given up on her,” I muttered, wondering what fresh hell I was signing up for. Because as great as it was to have Tanya’s assurance that Aoife cared about me and wanted us to be together, there was no guarantee things would work out between us. Aoife could say she was willing to defy Declan's orders, but until she actually did, they were just words.

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