Page 34 of SCRUMptious

Chapter13

D O N AL

I drovethrough Lauren’s neighborhood, dodging bicyclists and college students, my vision blurred by the tears that were leaking out of my eyes. Keeping one hand on the wheel, I swiped a forearm across my face to get rid of them. I knew it wasn’t “manly” to cry, but goddamn … the woman I loved had just torn out my fucking heart.

What else was I supposed todo?

Drink, my subconscious answered. Whiskey, and lots ofit.

Turning onto my street, I acknowledged to myself that I’d pushed Lauren, but I’d really thought we were on the same page—especially after I’d told her I’d move to L.A. and she’d reacted with excitement. I’d known she was gun shy after what had gone down with that prick Javier, but I’d honestly thought she’d moved past all that. Now, I wondered if she’d ever be able to. If her response to me talking about us being together forever was any indication, I didn’t think she would.

My gut churned as I pulled into the driveway and parked my car next to my roommate Tadhg’s Citroen. I didn’t relish the idea of having to shoot the shit with him right now, so I hoped I’d be able to sneak upstairs to my room before he saw me. Walking into the house I shared with him and Fergus—Eoin having moved into Aoife’s apartment a couple of months back—I was surprised to see our former roommate camped out on the leather sectional with an X-box controller in his hand, Call of Duty playing on the 60-inch television on the oppositewall.

I might not be ready to talk to Tadhg or Fergus anytime soon, but Eoin was a whole other matter. Compared to what he and Aoife had gone through when she’d found out she was pregnant, my girlfriend problems paled in comparison.

“Hey, what’s upman?”

Eoin paused the game, his virtual weapon suspended in midair, and twisted over his shoulder. “Hey! We weren’t expectingyou.”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, then looked for the other two guys. When I didn’t see them, I said, “Yeah, me neither.”

“Shit, that doesn’t soundgood.”

I flattened my lips into a hard line and huffed out a frustrated sigh. Crossing the room, I peeked my head around the corner, expecting to see my roommates in the kitchen. When I didn’t see either, Eoin filled mein.

“Tadhg’s in the shower and Fergus is out with somegirl.”

I nodded. I loved Fergus like a brother, but this was not a conversation I wanted to have with him in the house since he had a big mouth and a tendency to speak before thinking. Eoin almost knocked him on his ass after he’d told us he was secretly dating Aoife and Fergus had mouthed off about what a hot piece of ass she was. Tadhg was the more sympathetic of the two, but he wasn’t really a relationship guy. He wouldn’t understand how or why I’d fallen for Lauren so fast. Hell, I barely understood it myself.

“You gonna tell me what’s goingon?”

I grabbed a beer out of the fridge and sat at the table. Popping the lid, I downed half of it in quick succession. Wiping the foam from my lips, I confessed, “I think I came on too strong with Lauren.”

Eoin pulled his own beer out of the fridge—he was here so often that he still kept it stocked with his favorites—and dropped down across from me. After swallowing a few sips of his own, he asked, “Howso?”

“You know how she’s supposed to be leavingsoon?”

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure I warned you aboutthat.”

I sighed. “Yeah, you did. But it was toolate.”

“I fucking know how that feels,” he commiserated, taking another pull from his beer. “So, what are you guys going todo?”

“She has some stuff going on in L.A. that she has to be back for, but she was planning on staying an extra week and we were going to go be tourists. You know, see all the shit you’re supposed to see but we never do because we fucking livehere.”

“Aww, how cute.” Eoin titled his head to the side and batted his eyelashes. “You all loved up on a B&B in Dingle.”

“Fuck you. You know I hate B&B’s and all that floweryshit.”

Eoin chuckled. He’d learned about my aversion to “all that flowery shit” after I’d stayed the night at his parents’ place a couple of years back and his mom had put me up in a room covered in pink rose fabric. She’d explained it was something called Laura Ashley, but I couldn’t have cared less if it was the fucking Queen herself. I’d felt like sneezing the entire night, absolutely positive the non-existent pollen would suffocate me while I slept.

“I take it that’s no longer on the table?” he asked, bringing the conversation back to the reason for the acid roiling in my stomach.

“I don’t know,” I admitted with asigh.

“You don’t know?” he asked, raising an eyebrow myway.

“We got to talking, and she asked if I’d come out and stay in California for awhile. Since I don’t have anything better to do—” I lifted my booted foot “—I figured why not. But then, because I’m me and you know how Iget—”

---