Page 59 of Ruck Me

“Don’t even get me started on her,” I said over my shoulder as I hung my coat in the closet. “She’s impossible.”

“You won’t hear me arguing. What happened thistime?”

“I told her I wanted the money from dad’s will so I could move out, and she said she had to ask you if it wasokay.”

Declan had the good grace to wince. “Ouch. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not your fault. Our mother is obsessed with you, though lord knows why. You’re hardly exceptional,” I told him with a grin and a wink which earned me a hearty chuckle.

Unwinding my scarf from around my neck and hanging it on a peg next to the closet, I smiled when I spied a lilac pashmina hanging there as well. I’d been unsure about Sophie when she’d broken up with my brother over a misunderstanding involving a girl he used to sleep with, but now that I’d gotten to know her better, I saw how good she was for him. Also, their relationship gave me hope. If Declan and Sophie could overcome their rocky start, surely Eoin and I stood a chance aswell.

Declan scratched at the stubble darkening his jaw. “I honestly don’t know what her problem is. She was like this even before dad passed.”

“Don’t beat yourself up. No one can understand what makes Colleen tick. She’s a terrible mystery.”

“Thank god you hired a housekeeper,” I observed, opening the fridge and pulling out a beer. “This place stunk to high heaven the last time I washere.”

Declan perched on a stool and fidgeted with an apple sitting in a decorative bowl. Definitely Sophie’s doing, I thought, as he bit into it. Speaking around his food, he said, “In case you didn’t notice, I wasn’t at my bestthen.”

“Oh, I noticed. That’s why Aidan and I were here in the first place.”

Swallowing his apple and grabbing the bottle from my hands, Declan took a long swig. “Thanks for that, by the way. I needed my ass kicked and you guys were the only ones who cared enough to doit.”

“You’re welcome,” I answered, taking the bottle back and finishing off what little remained. “And it’s not that people didn’t care. It’s that you’re a scary motherfucker and Aidan and I are the only ones not afraid ofyou.”

Declan laughed. “Bullshit. No one’s afraid ofme.”

“Not true, brother mine,” I answered, resting my forearms on the counter.

“Name one person.”

“I can name a whole roster.”

He rolled his eyes and cracked his knuckles. “Respect isn't the same thing asfear.”

For a brief moment I wondered how honest I could be, but then decided it did neither of us any good for me to try and tiptoe around the truth. “Why do you think it is that none of your teammates have ever asked meout?”

“Because I’ve told them all to stay the fuck away fromyou.”

“And they’ve listened.”

“Of course they listened. I’m their captain.”

“But I’m friends with some of them too, outside of rugby.” I drew in a deep breath and exhaled. “Eoin, for example.”

He raised his eyebrow but waited for me to continue.

“Why’d you tell us to stay away from each other?”

Declan laughed. “Sometimes I forget how naive you canbe.”

I stood tall and glared at him. “I am not naive.”

“Shelteredthen.”

“And whose fault isthat?”

“Yeah, okay. Guilty as charged." He shrugged. "But you don’t know the first thing about how these guys think. Especially guys like Eoin and his boys Ferg, Tadhg, and Donal. For me, rugby comes first. Always. Sure, I like to fuck--” he coughed “--um, you know, before Sophie, but I always understood there was a time and a place for that stuff. Not them. Even at practice, fucking’s all they talk about—it’s pussy this and cunt that. If you think I’m a dog, you don’t know the half ofit.”

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