Chapter 44
Golden Point: When a game goes into extra time and the first one to score wins the match immediately.
Translation: Officially entering the Good Girl Era.
Wolf
A Few Months Later
I should’ve known the second she slid into the back seat of the Uber and fastened her seat belt that I was doomed. Everly
Fletcher can’t sit quietly in a moving vehicle for more than ten seconds without interviewing the driver like she’s hosting
her own dating podcast.
The driver named Shane barely got out, “Where you from?” before she was firing off relationship questions at him. We were
barely half a mile down the road, and the guy had unloaded his whole breakup saga to my girlfriend.
“So, what you’re telling me is that you’re still healing,” she says like she’s some kind of relationship therapist. “You’re
better off without her, Shane. Larissa was the wrong fit for you. I think you need a good girl. Someone who won’t play games,
you know? You’re clearly a hard worker and very responsible. I can tell from the way you use your blinker at every turn.”
“Christ,” I mutter under my breath, running a hand down my face.
She ignores me completely. “You said you had two dogs?”
“Uh . . . yeah,” Shane replies, glancing back at us. “Lemon and Poppy.”
“Perfect! I’m developing this app called PlusOne, where love is handpicked, not swiped. Basically, instead of people building
their own profiles, your friends or family build for you. These people end up on a matchmaker leaderboard and can earn badges
after successful matches. Anyways, if you want to be in my beta program, I’m sure I could find someone local for you. Oh my
God, you could have your first date at a dog park! Wouldn’t that be so sweet?”
She looks to me like I’m going to agree, and I can’t help but roll my eyes. Ever since Everly landed a job with an app development
company, she has become obsessed with developing her own app. The girl is always working.
“My dogs aren’t good with other dogs,” Shane says regretfully. “Dog-aggressive, you might say.”
“Well, shit,” Everly deadpans. “How about cats?”
“You’re unbelievable,” I chuckle and rub my hand along her back, which is exposed in a sexy little dress she’s wearing for
Finn’s wedding.
I glance out the window, anticipation vibrating through me as I prepare to see my oldest friend for the first time in several
years. I didn’t want to go to this wedding. I wanted to send my regrets and wish him the best. But Everly needled at me a
bit on it, and I eventually decided otherwise.
Out of the blue one day, I decided to call him. I didn’t want the first time we’d seen each other in years to be at his actual
wedding. I thought it would be light and just a simple catch-up.
It turned out to be so much more.
I confessed to him that I’d blamed myself for a lot of Finn’s scars. Both physical and emotional. I said I felt responsible that he’d been bullied—hurt—and that I hadn’t protected him. When I found the words to say that to him, he was silent. And then the fucker laughed.
Laughed.
The bleedin’ shite.
“Conri Reilly, have ye really kept all that locked up in ye bleedin’ head all this time? Do ye know who I hold responsible
for the fucked-up shite done to us? Those feckin’ eejits. Not you, ye plonker,” Finn says.
“Well, man, if I wouldn’t have gone off—”
“Stop. You were entitled to find some happiness, and I’m glad it was rugby that gave that to you. If I seemed distant, it
was just because I was embarrassed. Not feckin’ angry at ye. And then I figured you were embarrassed that I’d not found my
own way. If only we’d bleedin’ talked about it. Christ.”
“God, Finn . . . I’m sorry, mate.”
“Just get yer arse back to Ireland for me wedding and see for yourself how good my life is now, alright?”
“I’ll do just that, Finn. But do ye think you can add a plus-one for me, then?”
The relief I’d felt had been palpable . . . our conversation more cathartic than all the therapy I’d had at Trinity.
Finn even made me send him a picture of Rugby and told me that if I didn’t give him a bearded dragon as a wedding present,
then all is not forgiven, after all.
I can’t tell if he’s kidding.
And it makes me smile every time I think of it.
Of course, Everly is also excited to meet my parents on this visit.
I think it will be good to spend time with them as adults, not as kids.
Show them how well I’m doing. Tell them about the kids I’m coaching and how much of a difference I’m making in their lives.
Colorado was never in the cards for me, but now I can’t really imagine my life anywhere else.
The added bonus is we’ll get to catch one of Cliona’s matches while we’re here as well. I even convinced my parents to come
with us to watch. I can’t wait to see my sister crushing it in her rookie season. I know she’s going to soar, and I want my
parents to see that . . . for her.
We’re packing a lot into this quick trip to Dublin, and then it’s back to my spot with the Grizzlies. I was lucky they gave
me leave to go in the first place.
I watch Everly chat with the driver as the autumn sunlight catches her cheekbones just right, and for a moment, I forget about
the wedding, the city, even the noise of Dublin outside. All I can think about is how she’s the first person I’ve wanted to
show my whole self to, scars and all. And even though we’ve only been officially together for a few months, I’m confident
that this thing between us . . . it’s for the long haul.
I realize I’m staring. Really staring. And my chest aches with a kind of happiness I didn’t know I was capable of. I reach
for her hand, just for a second, and squeeze it. Not too tight, not too soft. Perfectly. And it feels like a promise I’ve
been holding in my chest my whole life: that I’m finally done hiding in the shadows.
“Hey, Stretch . . . can you stop matchmaking long enough to enjoy the view? We’re going by Trinity.”
“Aww . . . where we met.” Everly stops chatting with Shane and turns to look at the stunning architecture leading into the
grounds of the Trinity campus entrance. Memories of watching Everly walking around here with her long blonde hair hit me full
force, and I sigh and shake my head, still amazed that we somehow ended up here.
“Hey,” she says, turning my attention back to her. “Do we have time to make a pit stop at the Rubrics building before the wedding? I’d love to take a picture with you there.”
I glance at the time on my mobile and nod. “We have time, love.”
“Hang a right up here, Shane,” Everly calls out like she’s known the driver her whole life. “Me and my boyfriend are going
to go for a little walk on campus where we first met.”
I smile warmly, thinking someday this might be the perfect spot to propose to this beautiful woman I get to call mine. Proposing
to Everly Fletcher after only dating her for a few months might be too much. Or maybe it’s just enough.
Either way, that’s where I see our story going. This girl with her fluffy notebooks, her quiet but infectious joy, her crazy-arse,
season-ticket-holding family, and her visions of growing love everywhere.
She’s everything to me. And I can’t wait to head into the new chapter of my life with her by my side. Even if she still can’t
tell me what the purpose of a scrum is. Funny hugging thing, my arse.
The End