“God, he fucks like a machine,” I heard whispered from behind me and my whole body seized up and ice filled my veins. I knew that voice. Every other sound in the stadium receded as my ears zeroed in on Maggie’s words as her friend joined the conversation.
“Oh shut it you cow. Everyone already knows you had sex with him, just like everyone also knows you aren’t the only one.”
Maggie let out an indignant huff. “I bet he didn’t pin them up against the wall and go at it like animals. I made him wild.”
Before I could prevent it, an image of Declan thrusting into her popped unbidden into my head.
“No, you didn’t,” the other woman said as she laughed skeptically. “That’s just how he is.”
“How would you know?” Maggie accused, her voice angry with accusation.
“Jesus Christ,” her friend answered. “Do you not hear how people talk about him? Do you not hear yourself right now?”
“You’re lying,” Maggie spat.
I heard her friend shift behind me. After a couple of seconds, she said, “Did he refuse to kiss you? Were you allowed to look him in the eye? Would he only take you from behind?”
“That’s the way I like it,” Maggie argued, her story growing flimsier by the second. “He said, ‘Tell me how to fuck you, lovely Maggie, and that’s what I’ll do.’ I called the shots, not him.”
Her friend harrumphed. “Sure you did.”
They fell silent and I tried to hold myself together.
You know when people jokingly say they threw up in their mouths a little bit? Yeah, that, except not so much a joke.
I gritted my teeth and forced air into my lungs in a series of deep, steady breaths that helped combat the roiling of my stomach. As adrenaline coursed through me, I recognized my fight or flight response kicking in. I didn’t think any woman overhearing the conversation I just had would fault me for leaving, but the part of my brain that wanted to stay and fight for my relationship reminded its other half this wasn’t new information. I’d always known Declan had been a first class slut before he’d met me. He’d also told me all about his sexual proclivities so nothing Maggie’s friend said came as a surprise.
The facts are irrefutable, I told myself. Declan had been with Maggie but his time with her had been short-lived and it’d happened well before we met. She was causing trouble because she wanted him back. The other irrefutable truth was the way in which her friend had described Declan was the exact opposite of how he’d been with me.
He’d taken me fast and hard too, but unlike Maggie it actually had been at my urging, was what I wanted. He’d also been gentle and tender and had kissed me long and slow until I thought I would melt. And despite what these girls said, Declan had no problem staring into my eyes as he made love to me. No, he held my gaze and whispered my name and kissed me like I was the only person in the world who mattered.
And yet despite all this, their words hit me hard. It was one thing for Maggie to insinuate that Declan had cheated on me; it was an entirely other to hear the specific details of their sexcapades. Confronted with the reality of those deeds, the knot in my stomach grew tighter and I wondered if I’d made a mistake coming here. Because I knew with a certainty Maggie wasn’t the only woman Declan had fucked who probably bragged to her friends about it. Had I been blind to what it would be like to be with him publicly? Were these the sort of whisperings and innuendo I’d be faced with every time we were out together? And if they were, could I handle it?
I wasn’t so sure because right now I wanted to turn around and smash Maggie’s plastic face to bits and then hurl up everything I’d eaten.
“You two should be ashamed of yourselves,” an older woman with bright red hair sitting to my right turned and hissed. “I don’t know why you even bother coming to the games since it’s not as if you actually pay attention to what’s happening on the field.”
As the woman turned back in her seat, her eyes caught mine and she smiled sympathetically. The gesture tripped me up because it looked almost as if she understood the debate I’d been having with myself.
“Fuck off Fiona,” Maggie muttered as she and her friend went back to whispering and giggling.
Turning to me, Fiona said, “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have had to hear that,” confirming I hadn’t imagined her piteous look. I didn’t know how, but she seemed to know who I was.
Extending her hand my direction, she said, “Hi, I’m Fiona. I run the season ticketing office. Don’t pay any attention to those girls. Maggie’s been hanging around the team for ages because she thinks she can trick one of the lads into marrying her.”
Maggie huffed behind us and her friend snickered.
Shaking her hand, I said, “I’m Sophie, but I think you already know that.”
“I do. I helped Declan with your ticket.”
“Thank you,” I answered and looked around and the stands. “These are great seats.”
“The best,” she agreed. “Everyone in this section has either been a season ticket holder for years or they’re somehow affiliated with the team.”
“I hope I didn’t take anyone’s spot,” I remarked, feeling guilty for the preferential treatment.
“Not at all. These seats belong to one of our sponsors but they had to bow out because of work travel. So here you and I sit instead.” She smiled and I got the impression she loved this particular perk of her job.
“Declan doesn’t ask for a lot of tickets, you know,” she continued. “His mom attends probably one match a season, and his sister shows up more and more frequently these days, but aside from them and an old family friend, he’s never asked me for extra tickets.”
“Cian?” I asked, assuming that’s who the friend was.
“Oh no, dear. Cian wouldn’t have to ask for a ticket. He can come and sit with the players anytime he wants but since his injury he hasn’t stepped foot back here.” She tutted and shook her head sadly. Brightening, she added, “Come to think of it, since you’re from Ballycurra, you probably know Colm, the family friend.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I might know him. He’s my grandpa.”
“Really? That’s very interesting.” Fiona scratched her cheek and opened her mouth to speak but then shut it. “I shouldn’t say anything; it’s not really any of my business, but Declan really loves your grandpa.”
“Oh, you don’t have to tell me. The feeling is entirely mutual. My grandpa thinks the world of Declan.”
“You don’t know how happy I am to hear that. Declan’s …” She stopped and shifted her head side to side as if searching for the words.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to hold your tongue for my sake. I think these ladies have maligned him worse than anything you could ever say.” I hitched my finger over my shoulder, and when I turned to look, I was surprised to see they’d snuck out at some point in the last couple of minutes. I hoped they stayed gone; I’d had enough of Maggie to last me a lifetime.
“Oh, I would never malign Declan,” Fiona answered emphatically. “He’s got a reputation—and deservedly so—and he can be a rascal, but he’s also one of the nicest boys to come through this club in ages. Do you know, he remembers my birthday every year and always buys me my favorite perfume? I never told him what it is—my birthday or the perfume—but he figured both out. He tries to pretend it isn’t him who leaves the box on my desk, but I watched him set it there last year so he can pretend as much as he likes. I know better.”
I smiled, my heart swelling with pride and love. I wasn’t surprised in the least. The Declan I knew had a softer side to him, one he didn’t often show to the world. I’d bet good money very few people in these stands right now knew that when he wasn’t training or helping out his mom, he spent hours visiting sick kids in the hospital, walking dogs at the shelter, or venturing into communities that didn’t have a lot of resources to mentor young boys. Unfortunately, he’d also spent the last several years on a sort of sexual bender, which tended to tarnish one’s crown.
“Do you mind if I ask you something, Fiona?”
“Of course dear. Anything.”
“Do you think everyone knows about … well, what he was like … before?”
She let out a huff and her face fell. “If you’re asking me if those girls are exaggerating, the answer’s no. Declan, Aidan, and Liam—those are ones he’s closest to—are as wild as can be. There are a lot of good things that come from being a professional rugby player, but they’d probably tell you the women are the best perk of all.”
“Hmm,” I mused. “That’s what I thought.”
“But if you don’t mind me speaking out of turn,” she continued, “I think if you can get past all that, you might find Declan worth it.”
“I’m trying my best,” I answered.
Because yes, I did think Declan was worth it.
Chapter Forty-Three
Declan
“Great game tonight lads! Way to show them what yer made of!” Coach hollered across the changing room as he left us to shower.
It had been a great game, which was good since The Wallaby had been in the stands. Even though I’d taken the field with a headache and queasy stomach, I’d scored a try and kicked four penalties so my chances remained good at getting the starting jersey, but I still might still have to apologize for that thing with his niece.
“You coming?” Liam asked, settling his bag across his body. “A few of us are heading out for a nightcap.”
“Nah, I’m good,” I answered, looking down at my phone as my heart kicked against my ribs. Fiona had texted me the second Sophie sat down next to her to let me know she was in the stands. “Sophie’s here tonight, so I’m just gonna …”
When the whistle had blown signaling halftime, she’d been standing and cheering with the rest of the crowd. Seeing her face beaming down at me had knocked the wind from my lungs. And there she’d been again, clapping and dancing along to our victory song, when we’d entered the tunnel after winning the match. Tentatively, I’d waved up at her and she’d waved back shyly. Even so, I had no indication if she planned on sticking around after the match.
“You’re just going to forget about us now that you’ve got a beautiful woman waiting outside?” Aidan joked, zipping up his jeans and pulling his shirt on over his head before punching me in the arm.
“Can you blame me?” I asked. “I mean, there’s someone like Sophie and then there’s your ugly mug.” I punched him back.
“Ooh,” he croaked, faking a hit to the heart. “You wound me.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Liam said, pulling up something on his phone and handing it to Aidan. “If that was waiting for you outside, you’d ditch us too.”
“Shit man. That’s Sophie?” Aidan asked, passing the phone my way. “I knew she was beautiful but fuck. She’s hiding some secret weapons under all those clothes she had on at the party.”
Liam had pulled up her Instagram account and scrolled to a picture of her standing on a beach in Vietnam wearing a very small, very revealing white bikini.
“I know,” I answered, both pleased at their envy and slightly off-kilter for it too. I didn’t know how I felt about my mates seeing so much of her skin. “She’s too good for me.”
“No shit.” This came from Eoin as he strolled through the changing room with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. “Everyone’s too good for you.”
“Don’t man,” Aidan warned me, putting a hand on my shoulder, as Eoin stalked back toward the showers. “It’s nothing personal. He’s pissed at everyone and doesn’t know how to keep his fecking trap shut.”
I’d let it go this time, but at some point Eoin and I needed to sit down and have a chat—about my sister and his lack of respect. I couldn’t let that shit stand since it would set a bad precedent with other players I wasn’t close with. If the youngest kid on the squad could get away with this type of insolence, what was stopping them from stepping to me?
I nodded my acquiesce to his request and shrugged on my jacket. Shaking Liam’s hand, I said, “Call me tomorrow, yeah?”
He looked at me shrewdly. “How about Sunday? You’re going to be busy.”
God, I hoped he was right. I crossed my fingers and went to find out.
“Declan!” Sophie called, raising her hand to catch my attention. As if I wouldn’t have zeroed in on her the second I walked out of the building. Like a magnet, I was drawn to her gravitational pull.
“Great game,” she said, her lips hitching up in a smile, when I reached her side.
I let my eyes rake over her, took her in from head to toe, and felt her presence like a punch to the gut. It’d been days since I’d seen her, and if it was at all possible, she’d only grown more beautiful during that time.
“Thanks,” I said, my voice breaking. I cleared my throat. “I’m glad you could make it.”
She laughed, a light tinkling sound that floated over my skin and settled in my heart. “I almost didn’t. Haven’t you guys ever heard of parking lots?”
She swiveled her head to take in the upscale, residential neighborhood, our stadium a hulking glass and steel presence built smack dab in the middle of it.
“Yeah, not so much,” I answered. “Were you able to get a spot nearby?”
I hated this. Hated how we made polite conversation as if we were nothing more than casual acquaintances. As if I hadn’t been inside of her. As if she wasn’t the fucking love of my life. But I didn’t know how to say what needed to be said, how to move the discussion from benign platitudes to the things that were important.
Like her. Like us. Like our future.
She pointed in the direction of my place. “I drove as close as I could but when I reached a bunch of roadblocks, I had to turn around. I got a bit lost, so I ended up plugging your address into my GPS. I parked in front of your house and walked the rest of the way. I hope that’s okay?”
“Sophie,” I intoned, reaching out to her but not quite covering the distance. After a few beats, I dropped my hand against my thigh and beat a rhythm with my taped fingers.
Sophie glanced down at my hand and then met my eyes. Taking a step closer, she said, “I miss you Declan.” Her smile faltered as her eyes flicked back and forth between mine. “Am I allowed to say that?”
Relief ripped through me. “Fuck yes,” I breathed out, dropping my bag on the ground and wrapping her in my arms. Holding her against my chest, I inhaled the scent of her hair, her skin, the very essence of her. “I missed you too baby,” I admitted on a ragged sigh and kissed her head, her ear, her cheek. “So fucking much.”
When I dropped my lips to her neck, she shivered against me. I nipped at her and licked the sting away, then trailed my mouth upward to suckle her earlobe between my lips. Everything fell away, the only thing in the world me and my girl.
Placing her hands on my chest, Sophie eventually pushed against me and leaned back. “We’re in public,” she reminded me, as around us people swept past, jubilant in the team’s victory.
With my back to most of them, I hadn’t been recognized yet but I didn’t know how much longer my good luck with hold. Picking my bag off the floor, I threw it over my shoulder and grabbed Sophie’s hand. “Come on,” I said, tugging her toward my house via a side alley that was mostly empty.
When the group in front of us veered off toward a pub and we were finally alone in the narrow lane, I swung her up against the wall, my lips crashing down. Her arms clasped around my neck, Sophie whimpered into my mouth and pressed her soft, pliant body into my rough, hard one. We kissed like our lives depended on it; as if we were the last two people on earth and the future of the human race rested on us. My cock aching with need for her, I wrapped my hand around her hip and pulled her closer. Sophie hitched her thigh up around my waist and rocked against me, the friction of our bodies against each other sweet, delectable torture.
“Touch me,” she whispered against my lips as I dove in for another hot, wet kiss.
Growling low in my throat, I trailed
my hand past the swell of her belly to reach the promised land. Even through her clothes, I could feel the heat of her pussy against my fingers.
“Are you wet for me? Tell me you’re wet.”
“I’m soaking,” she breathed, taking my earlobe between her teeth and biting down.
Her words sent a spark of red hot lust straight to my dick and I couldn’t wait another second to touch her. Flicking the button at her waist and tugging the zipper down, I shoved my hand into her panties and pushed my finger into her soft folds. She hadn’t lied; Sophie was dripping. I slid my finger past the hood of her clit and into her slick, wet heat. Biting her lip to stifle a cry, she bucked against my hand as I fucked her with my finger.
“Shit,” I groaned, wanting my dick inside of her—right here, right now—even as I acknowledged it wasn’t going to happen. The guy who did shit like that was the old me, the one who’d fuck any one, any time, any place. Names I’d never known; faces I couldn’t recall. I needed to pull my hand from her and take a step back. Put some distance between us before I lost control and couldn’t.
That’s what I meant to do until she told me she had other ideas.
“I’m close,” she moaned. “So, so close. I don’t want your fingers though. I want your cock in me when I come.”
She reached between us and palmed my dick, pressed down, and rubbed back and forth along my bulge. Someone with less control would have come in their pants. As it was, I walked a very fine line. Much more of this and I’d be a goner.
“Sophie,” I warned, even as the fingers that weren’t buried knuckle-deep inside of her wrestled to undo my belt. “Are you sure?”
In answer, Sophie’s deft hands slid my zipper down and then she slipped my cock out of my trousers. Shimmying her jeans down her thighs, I bared us to the cold night air. And then she was wrapping her long, lithe legs around me and guiding me to her slick opening.
Even now it wasn’t too late to step away. I was a hair’s breadth away from defiling her like I’d done before with all those faceless fucks I’d spent my life chasing. A hair’s breadth that felt as difficult to cross as a vast and sprawling canyon. I could still put a stop to this madness. All Sophie had to do was say no.
Trying Sophie: A Dublin Rugby Romance Page 36
