Page 48 of Since We're Here
“Cara is Liam’s sister?” I swing my head back to Patrick.
“You two have talked about Cara?” Saoirse was the one who originally told me Cara’s name, but it was on our bike ride that Patrick had shared more.
“Y-yes. Just not the sibling part of the equation.” I look back at the group, now getting served by Ronan. The other man walks up behind Cara and slides his hands on her waist.
I turn to watch Patrick’s profile. He keeps his eyes trained on his ex-fiancée. So much makes sense. The soccer and brewery rivalry between Liam and Patrick. How they seem to despise each other. Why didn’t he tell me this other connection?
“She’s around town once in a while, but I haven’t seen her at the pub in ages,” Saoirse explains.
“I mean, why the hell would she come to her ex’s pub with her boyfriend?”
I hate the way the life and energy seem to have drained from Patrick. I miss our flirty banter, the way he was making me feel, how my insides fluttered when I won a hard-earned laugh.
Saoirse’s phone rings on the table andMAMpops up on her screen.
“I need to get this in case there’s something with the girls. I’ll be right back.” She reaches over and touches Patrick’s arm, but he doesn’t react.
“I’m going to go check on my kids as well.” Ian stands and follows Saoirse.
Now it’s just the two of us at the table.
“Hey, this is shitty, I’m sorry she showed up.”
He finally turns his head to me, and his eyes soften.
“It’s not your problem.”
“Fuck that, yeah it is. I hate that bitch.”
He chuckles, and I get one of those fluttery feelings.
“It’s bound to happen. This is a small town. I can’t avoid her.”
“In your pub? This is your territory.”
He pauses, and I think he’s done talking to me about Cara, but then he speaks.
“I hadn’t been in love with her for a long time when we broke up, but I didn’t realize that until much later.” It’s almostlike he’s talking to himself. “Her hooking up with that American banker... she did me a favor.”
“A shitty ass favor, Patrick.”
He’s quiet for a beat. “It was difficult losing her and Liam at the same time.”
I swallow, trying to absorb some of the pain radiating off him. He starts to turn back to the bar.
“Hey, look at me.” I reach up and gently put my hand on his cheek, moving his face toward mine. Our connection is warm and tingly, and his eyes blink a bunch of times when they meet mine. “Fuck her. She messed up and lost you.”
“But I don’t do crossword puzzles or knit.”
“Still a catch.” My heart skips a beat.
A smile creeps over his face. My hand is still on his cheek, and his eyes dart down to my lips. Someone drops a glass by the bar, and I look over to see Cara staring at Patrick. Her ex-fiancé, who has another woman’s hand on him. Her eyes are wide and her jaw drops open slightly.
Correction: Cara’s staring atus.
There’s a look on her face as she drinks him in, then me, then him again. It’s curiosity, longing, maybe regret. That’s what I think, anyway. She’s ignoring everyone around her—including the man with an arm around her waist—and watching.
I turn back to Patrick, and he hasn’t noticed her looking at us. Because he’s looking at me.
