“Hey,” I said, throwing my keys up into the air and catching them. “You almost ready to go, love?”

Her eyes shot to me, and for a brief moment she looked like a deer caught in the headlights. I watched her swallow, scratch her wrist, and then straighten out her blouse before it hit me. The email I sent last night. She’d been reading it. She knew.

I swear I could feel my heart trying to pound its way out of my chest.

Now I was the one who felt like a deer caught in the headlights. Every feeling of doubt and insecurity I’d ever had flooded me all at once. Love me back, I begged. Please, if there’s any mercy in the world, make her love me back.

I cleared my throat and nodded to the laptop. I hardly even recognized my own voice when I spoke. “Anything interesting?”

She looked away and shut the computer down. “Oh, just the usual work stuff.”

She sounded shaky. I stood there, frozen, not knowing what to say or how to act. Then she got off the bed and walked toward me with some kind of determination.

She’s going to pull away, I thought. She’s going to run again, make up some excuse to leave and get a flight home early. And the scary thing was that I wasn’t sure I could let her go. I’d kneel at her feet and beg her to stay because I belonged to this woman heart and soul, and I needed her to belong to me, too. When she was less than a foot away from me, she stopped. Her big, bottomless eyes never left mine, both of us asking silent questions but receiving no answers.

I saw her hands trembling when she reached up and settled them on my chest.

“You’re nothing like what I expected you to be, Ronan Fitzpatrick,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

I drew in a breath in the exact same moment that she leaned in and pressed her lips to mine. At first I didn’t react at all; perhaps I was in too much shock. I just stood there as her lips caressed me, her soft tongue sliding into my mouth and licking along my own.

She wasn’t pushing me away.

When the realization finally sank in, I gripped her neck and slid my arm tight around her waist, pulling her body flush to mine. I kissed her back. I kissed her with everything I had inside me until she was needy and hot and whimpering. We only came up for air when my phone started ringing. I knew it was Bryan or one of the lads, wondering where I was. I was only irritated for a second before I realized it was the perfect distraction. Annie knew that I loved her now, and the hotel suite felt too small, too close. We needed to get out and let it all sink in.

“That’ll be one of the lads,” I said, smiling down at her tenderly. “We better make a move. Looks like we’re already late. It’s good to know you can hardly stand being in the same room as me without jumping my bones, though,” I teased and gave her a light pinch on the bottom. She yelped then laughed, her eyes shining brightly, and something inside me relaxed. We needed to be silly for a while. Things were turning too serious.

On the drive to Wes, I kept catching her watching me from the corner of my eye. Her body was turned to me, her cheek lying on the headrest. Her face bore a perennial blush, and there was a dreamy look in her eyes. My little distant Annie was coming closer; her icy exterior was thawing, and all because she now knew I loved her. I could have high-fived myself for having the idea to write to her Socialmedialite account. She could hold the knowledge of my love without having to admit any of her own feelings, and I didn’t mind. I wanted her to know that I was fully committed. Just like I’d told The Socialmedialite in my email, she was “it” for me.

Every time I let go of the gear stick, I put my hand back on her thigh, loving the feel of her beneath my palm. When we arrived at the pitch, I saw a couple of the wives and girlfriends hanging out on the sidelines, drinking coffees, and chatting.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you,” I said to Annie, taking her hand in mine. Her expression told me the last thing she wanted to do was meet yet more new people, but she let me lead her over nonetheless. Marta was there, alongside one or two of the women Annie had met last night, so it wasn’t so intimidating.

A loud wolf whistle rang out, and I recognized Tina, Desmond McAleer’s wife, as the culprit. I’d known Tina for years. She was flirtatious and loud-spoken, but it was all in good fun.

“Looking hot, Fitzpatrick,” she called as we approached. “When are we going to see you back on the field, eh? I’m sick of looking at the same old arses. You’ve been well missed.”

“Tina, it’s a pleasure as always. And you’ll get a good look at me today. But first I’d like to introduce you to my girlfriend, Annie.”

It was the first time I’d introduced her as my girlfriend since we’d arrived in Dublin. I didn’t see the point in pretending anymore. She was mine, and I wanted the whole world to know it. It took Tina less than a second to tuck Annie under her wing and begin introducing her to the other ladies she didn’t know. I gave her a soft, lingering kiss on the mouth which elicited several sighs from the women.

Then I headed to the clubhouse to change into my gear. Much to my irritation, Sean was there in all his blond pretty-boy glory. Somebody seriously needed to smack the self-satisfied look off the bloke’s face because the bashing I’d given him obviously hadn’t worked. I’d gotten myself suspended from the team, and he was still walking around looking like he’d just pissed in everyone’s cornflakes and was thoroughly delighted by the fact.

Someone was obviously trying to stir up shit because it turned out that Sean and I were nominated to pick teams. In the end each side had an even mix of professionals and amateurs. And in the end my team wiped the floor with Sean’s team. Yeah, Tevan came away with a bloody nose, I had a whole host of new bruises, and one of the young lads elbowed Sean in the face. It was apparently an accident, but I had my suspicions. And those suspicions had me grinning like a bastard.

I strode over to Annie at the end of the match, slid my hand around her neck, and kissed her with everything I had in me. She drew away, breathless, and her eyes had that dreamy look in them again. God, I couldn’t wait for her to look at me like that when I was inside her.

“You’re all dirty and sweaty,” she said, laughing and fixing her hair in place.

“Occupational hazard. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with getting a little dirty.” I winked.

“I like it,” she threw back as I was walking away, and I shot her a simmering look over my shoulder.

After I’d showered and dressed, I was sitting in the changing rooms pulling on my boots when Sean sauntered in. He had a towel tucked around his waist and wore a pair of designer flip-flops. He stood in front of me, and I cocked an eyebrow while he let out a long sigh that only the truly pampered and jaded can do justice.

“So, long story short, how would you like to get Brona back in your bed?”

I barked out a laugh. “Long story short, are you high?”

“I’ve grown bored, Fitzpatrick. Unfortunately, Bunny is quite like a roll of cellotape. She sticks. And now she’s been throwing around words like ‘wedding’ and ‘engagement ring.’ Quite frankly, I think it’s time I moved on. So, if you still have a thing for her, I could arrange for her to go running back into your big, strong, working-class arms. Call it a peace offering, a way for us to mend our bridges.”

I pointed to my face. “You see this look? This is my ‘go fuck yourself’ look. So, go fuck yourself, Cassidy.”

He tutted. “So aggressive. There’s no judgment here, Ronan. If you want her, you can have her. Even I can admit that she sucks dick like a Dyson. And I’ve had a lot of fellatio in my time. A lot.”

Seriously, this prick didn’t even know what he sounded like, did he? He was such a cliché I almost felt sorry for him.

“You must really be missing that hospital bed because you’re five seconds away from a return visit. I suggest you leave now. Otherwise, I can’t be responsible for fucking your shit up. Again.”

He raised his hands in the air. “No need for violence. I’m offering you an olive branch here. Let’s not allow a pair of plastic double-Ds to get in the way of our friendship. We have to put the team first.”

I shook my head at him and couldn’t help but laugh. “We were hardly best buds before all this. But seriously, if you’re so concerned about the team, then why did you even sleep with her in the first place?”

He shot a look toward the ceiling, shrugged, and then looked back to me. “I was drunk and horny. She saw an opportunity. There’s nothing very deep about it.”

“Well, no surprise there.”

He narrowed his gaze fractionally at my response. “So, do you want her back or not?”

The look I gave him said it all. “I’ve got a girlfriend who I’m very much in love with. And I’d rather stick my penis in a blender than go anywhere near that poisonous brat ever again.”

He sucked in a long breath then exhaled. “Fair enough. And I must say, congrats on the new bird, man. She is smokin’.”

“So much as look at her, and you’ll regret it,” I warned.

He threw his hands into the air. “Touchy, touchy. But okay, I guess I deserved that. Oh, and a word to the wise, you’re doing well in the press at the moment, whereas Brona’s looking like a twisted attention whore. However, I suspect she has something up her sleeve. Just a feeling. You may want to get your people on the case. Don’t say I never gave you anything,” he finished and then strode off.