Page 50 of Problematic Summer Romance

He shrugs. “Not in so many words, no.”

“But?”

“The guy with the fringe tried to pitch me his dating app for adult diapers lovers.”

“Grant? Ialwayssuspected that he was a weirdo, but—”

“The weirdo is someone else,” a voice interrupts me. When Conor and I turn, Alfie is standing close by. Wasn’t it just the two of us, a couple of shots ago?

“Excuse me?” I ask. But Alfie’s not looking at me, and his face is ruddy, like he drank too much.

“You are the perv, aren’t you, mate?”

“Well, yeah.” Conor nods, unfazed. “Not sure how you found out about that, though.”

“Takes a single look. How old are you?”

“Thirty-five.”

Alfie’s smile is mean-spirited. I’ve never seen his face do anything like that. I like to believe that if I had, we wouldn’t have lasted as long as we did. “Do you know how old Maya is? Twenty. She could be your daughter.”

“You’re way overestimating the game I had at fourteen,mate.” Conor takes another sip of his stout, then sets it aside. “But it’s only fair that you worry.”

Alfie puffs up. “Glad you see the issue.”

“Of course I do. You care about Maya, who’s very young—younger than the both of us—and you wouldn’t want me to take advantage of her…naïveté, shall we say?” He must notice my scowl, because his fingers rise up behind me and drum against my spine.Patience. “You respect her, want the best for her, and cannot stand to see her hurt. For all you know, I’ll exploit her trust, and maybe even break her heart. And that would be so fucking callous of me, wouldn’t it?”

Alfie’s cheeks grow even redder—from the alcohol, the heat inside the pub, the shame, I can’t tell. All I know is that Conor’s arm is wrapping around my shoulder, tugging me closer, curling in to rub his knuckles against my jaw.

Nice. It’s nice.

“Word of advice, lad?” Conor says.

Alfie nods stiffly.

“Get out of my sight. Right now. And do not talk to Maya unless you’re answering a question she personally asked you.”

When Alfie looks at me wide-eyed, vaguely shocked by the threat, I smile and tell him, “You should do as he says. He’s so much older than us, there’s no telling what his impulse control is.”

Alfie bristles away. When he’s out of sight, I angle my body toward Conor’s, savor the unfurling warmth of the tequila, and say, “That was fun.”

“Was it?”

“Mmm. Maybe not for Alfie.” I smile up at him. After a while, Conor answers in kind. “We should go,” I tell him.

“Yeah. I think I’ve had enough of college students.”

“Hey.I’ma college student.”

He sighs. “And don’t I know it.”

It’s his hand on the small of my back that pushes me out of the pub.

Chapter 16

Present day

Taormina, Italy

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