Page 152 of Destined Lovers

“He calls me lass, too. I always thought it was Irish,” Sadie chimes in.

“No, definitely not.”

“When I went to Uni, Ethan’s roommate was Scottish and said it all the time. I forgot about it until I slipped and called Sadie it years ago and haven’t stopped. It’s just a nickname.” He shrugs.

“Huh,” Sadie says. “Who would have known.”

Soon after, Charlie starts to rub her eyes, and Declan announces it’s bedtime, “Say good night to Mammy and Auntie Pip.” She leans over to give Sadie a big kiss and then leans into me, taking me by surprise to kiss me good night as well.

He whistles for Buddy to follow, and then they all leave the room like this is the most normal occurrence. I think I stand there shocked until Sadie speaks.

“It takes a minute to get used to our friends. I get it. But we are a big family, and I’m happy you’re part of it.”

“My mam used to tell me that when you leave your friends and you’re in a good mood and excited to see them again, you know you’ve picked the right ones. ‘You only get one life, Nora. You decide whom you invest in. Choose wisely.’ She would say. I may not have chosen you lot directly, but I can tell you I was looking forward to seeing you again. And that’s saying a lot for me, so thank you for being so welcoming.”

Sadie wipes the tears that roll down her cheeks frantically. “Sorry, these pregnancy hormones are getting me emotional.”

“You’re always emotional, beautiful,” Wills says as he walks up next to Sadie and wraps her in his arms. “Ev and Marco just arrived. It’s time to go.”

21

Declan

I lean backon the wall, settling in to watch Nora across the dance floor. Happy to see her laughing, talking the craic with the woman, and finally looking carefree. She was so worried earlier, working herself up to hysteria. The momentary panic had her apprehensive about the whole night. I’ve never seen her like that.

Almost insecure.

Did she think I’d be friends with a bunch of arseholes?

Of course, they’re amazing.

Overbearing, yes. But it only comes from the best place possible.

After we spoke to the lawyer last weekend, we’ve had a few follow-up calls throughout the week. I think going over every detail of what happened to her parents and her life over the last ten or more years, plus meeting new people, made her more high-strung than usual.

For some reason, Nora has it in her head that she doesn’t get along well with other people or girls in general. It’s only because she hasn’t been around any, which now, looking back, was probably not the healthiest as a kid.

I had other friends growing up, mainly because I played sports and danced, as Nora kindly told everyone tonight. Plus, going away to boarding school forced you to make friends and grow up a lot faster. Still, I hung out with people in my neighborhood when we were kids.

Not Nora.

She would paint in her free time. When she wasn’t doing that, she would sign up for an art class after school or on the weekends, then wait for me to visit or for summertime to arrive so we could meet at our gran’s.

When we were younger, it was hard. There had been one year I’d only seen her over the summer and school breaks.

Of course, we always spoke on the phone, and she would send me letters with a new painting she had made for me. Her parents would always offer to pick me up for the weekend, but I felt like a burden considering it was over a two-hour drive; plus, I had parents that should have driven me, especially since they worked in Dublin.

And there was no way in hell I’d let her stay there with my toxic parents.

Occasionally, my gran would drive me, along with her granny, to Dublin during the weekend. We’d have dinner and hang out, but living that far apart made it difficult.

However, we made it work as best friends and then, later in life, as boyfriend and girlfriend. Though, that was short-lived since she moved soon after she turned sixteen.

The music changing tempo snaps me out of my thoughts, turning my attention back to the dancing queens.

I can feel my smile stretching my face as she shakes her hips to the music and raises her arms above her head. She shimmies down to the ground and then snaps back up. She has no idea about the attention she is getting.

Every man here is staring at my girl, with her tight as feck green dress that sits snug against her curvy waist and high on her toned thighs.

---