Page 28 of SCRUMptious

Chapter11

D O N AL

When I showedup at Lauren’s apartment to pick her up for our date, I found her pacing a trail through her living room rug. I'd told her a hundred times she had nothing to be nervous about, but hanging out with Eoin and Aoife was giving her some serious anxiety.

“I'm telling you, it'll be fine,” I said as we sat in the back seat of a taxi on our way to the museum.

When I'd re-ruptured my Achilles and then spent the weekend in Lauren’s bed screwing her brains out, I'd rescheduled with Eoin for this week instead. Lauren didn't care what most people thought when they realized we were together, but she didn't want the guys not to think of her like some dirty old lady. And yeah, I'd gotten some shit from a few of them about my cougar, but I'd assured her Eoin and Aoife would be the least judgmental people she'd ever meet. I mean, you couldn't be when you'd been knocked up at21.

“Is it silly that I want them to likeme?”

“Theywill.”

As if I hadn't answered she continued, “I mean, I don't need them to love me or anything since I won't be around long, but since Eoin knows your story, I kind of want him to think I'm worthy ofyou.”

I laughed and squeezed her fingers. “Trust me. That won't be a problem.”

I'd lived with Eoin long enough that he knew all my worst flaws. It wasn't a question of Lauren being worthy of me, but vice versa. But she'd find that out soon enough.

Right now I wanted to talk about that other thing she'd brought up. I hadn't said anything about it, but I was getting frustrated at how often she mentioned her departure. We both knew it was inevitable, but lately, I felt like she was throwing it out there more frequently—as if to remind each of us that what we had wasn't permanent and we shouldn't get attached.

The problem with that was I alreadywas.

Fergus thought it was because Lauren had some magical pussy that I couldn't get enough of but that wasn't it. Okay, it was true I couldn't get enough of her delicious cunt, but there was way more to Chef Andrews than just her magic pussy. Shock of all shocks, I enjoyed her brain, including hearing her take on politics and economics. I'd learned more about world affairs from talking to her these past couple of weeks than I'd ever learned in school. No doubt I loved Lauren’s cooking, but I could totally see how she would have made an excellent diplomat or something if her dad hadn't died and she'd stayed at Harvard.

“Have you given any more thought to what I asked the other night?”

For the past week, I'd been trying to persuade her to stay in Dublin longer than she'd initially planned. Lauren’s contract with Dublin Rugby was for eight weeks, but her visa allowed her to remain in the country for a full 90 days. Since I wasn't playing anymore, we could use those extra days to see Ireland together. And secretly I hoped some more time together would help get her out of my system … because if things continued the way they were, I was going to be one sad puppy when she left. We'd talked offhandedly a couple of times about me flying out to LA to visit her--which I totally planned on doing--but I had a sneaking suspicion I wasn't going to be satisfied with that if I couldn't get her out of my system beforethen.

The taxi pulled to a stop outside the museum, and she turned to me. “Let's talk about that tonight, okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” I answered passing the driver a €20 and waiting for my change.

* * *

Inside,we met up with Eoin, who told us Aoife was in the toilet. Apparently, that was something that occurred a lot now. I'd be lying if I said pregnancy didn’t freak me out a bit. With the crazy shit that was happening to Aoife—the way her body wasn’t her own anymore—I was more than halfway convinced she was hosting an alien life form in her belly … not another human being.

“Hey, I’mEoin.”

Shyly, Lauren reached out herhand.

“For fuck’s sake. You already met,” I exclaimed, interrupting the exchange.

“Not really,” Eoin replied. “When Lauren was introduced, you zeroed in on her before anyone could get a wordin.”

With an abashed chuckle, I recalled how the second I'd seen her walk into the room carrying that heavy plate of food, I'd wanted to claim her. The response had been unlike anything I’d ever experienced. One glance at Lauren and the word mine roared through my head like a freight train on a collision course with destiny. I’d been so naive to think one taste of her would ever be enough. Shit, we'd only left her apartment 30 minutes ago, and already I wanted to drag her back there and strip her naked. I needed to leave my mark on her so that when she left in a couple of weeks, she never forgot about me … because I sure as fuck was never going to forgether.

This wasn’t how I’d seen things playing out that day. I’d wanted to mess around with her, get my mouth on her body, but I hadn’t anticipated things going any further than that. I didn’t take most things seriously, but I was serious as a heart attack about getting my fill of Lauren Andrews. Somehow, she’d managed to do something no other woman had: get under my skin and stay there. I was consumed by her, and it scared the fuck out of me. I was close to begging her not to go back to the U.S., but I knew there was only one way to make sure that she stayed. And I didn’t think either of us was ready for thatyet.

Breaking that thought, Eoin snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Hey man, you in there?”

I blinked. “Sorry. Spaced out there for a second.”

Lauren rested a hand against my shoulder. “You feelokay?”

“Yeah,” I said, scrubbing a hand down my face before giving her a reassuring smile.

The pain in my Achilles had ratcheted up the past couple of days, and I was having trouble sleeping. The pills the doctor had prescribed made me sick to my stomach, so I’d stopped taking them. But neither the pain or my sleepless nights were why I’d zoned out just now. That said, I was happy to let Lauren think they were because I didn’t want her to suspect the real reason my mind had just floated a million miles away. “Just tired isall.”

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