2. Michael
My baby sisterwas married to my rugby team captain and pregnant with his little rugger.
And what was I doing?
Packing up the two suitcases I moved to Dublin in and moving them in the spare room of the team’s publicist.
Fucking A, could life give me a break already?
I guess Ava’s apartment, my new place, was a longer cab ride than I would have liked from Liam’s penthouse.
And the building looked nothing like the fancy manicured lawn and buzz-in-to-the-building security.
No.
This was off a busy, cobblestone street lined with pubs and market shops that sold beer and tobacco.
If I were back in Ohio, I might have thought I was on the wrong side of town.
Looking down at my phone, I checked the address again.
Fucking A, the number matched with the tobacco shop. I guess it was above that.
Most professional athletes would have had a salary and a fancy rental set up for them.
But not as a first-year rugby center in Dublin.
Most of my teammates had roommates, and I took the first offer to crash at Liam’s place for free.
I should have looked at my other options and bunked with some of the other rookies.
When my sister wanted to visit before starting college, I thought it would be some fun bonding. She’d wander a lot around the city while I had practice.
Instead, I didn’t expect her to fall for the team captain and them to have a wedding and plan for a new baby by the end of the summer.
Now, instead of focusing on the season, I was pulling my suitcases up two flights of cement stairs toward apartment number 3B.
The door wasn’t even shut all the way; it cracked open, so I could see a sliver of light peeking out to the otherwise dreary hallway.
“Hello,” I called, gently pushing the door the rest of the way open.
Despite the dreary hallway, the inside of the apartment was filled with light coming in through a wall of windows framed with blue striped curtains.
There wasn’t much to the small place. It opened right into an outdated white kitchen with linoleum countertops. The breakfast bar faced onto a tiny living space with a plush-looking blue rug centering a buttery leather sofa.
There was even a faux fireplace with a German smear, holding a flat-screen TV.
“Hey, Michael, is that you?” Ava’s voice carried through the room before she opened a closed door.
She had a set of earbuds in, her long hair thrown up in a bun, and she wore an old faded green t-shirt and sweatpants.
I tried not to linger too long at her clothing or the lack of a bra holding up the swell of her ample breasts.
I could not get hard staring at my new roommate.
Especially while she was holding a hammer and looking at me wide-eyed.
“You know you left the door wide open, right?” I asked, gesturing to the now-closed door.
She rolled her eyes, setting the hammer down on an end table. “Well, yeah. I knew you were coming, and I wanted to fix a few things before you got here.
“Fixing things?” I raised an eyebrow.
She nodded. “Nothing big. My former roommate had some stuff hanging in the room, so I wanted to get the nails out and patch them up before you got here. But I knew you were on the way and didn’t want to miss you, hence the open door.”
I frowned, setting my suitcase down next to the couch. “You know, you really shouldn’t leave the door open like that, especially a woman living alone in this neighborhood.”
She scoffed. “Well, it”s a good thing I have a big, tough rugby man as my new roommate, who can defend against any of the pub goers who would climb the three flights of stairs to get to me.”
My fists closed involuntarily, and I had to shake off the possessiveness that was taking over me.
Ava was just a co-worker and my roommate, yet I still felt the need to protect her.
Just as quickly as she seemed annoyed, she turned her face into a bright smile. “So you want to see your room? It’s nothing fancy like you probably had at Liam’s place, but Ella did leave her bed and a dresser.”
“Ella?” I asked, taking a step forward. “Ella, as in Liam’s ex and the team physical therapist.”
She winced, glancing at me over her shoulder. “Yeah, is that a problem? If you”re wondering, she and Liam didn’t do anything on this bed. I never saw him here. She wasn’t here much anyway, either. Too far from the stadium for her, which is why she moved since she ended up sleeping in her office or the break room at the hospital when she picked up a shift.”
I nodded because I didn’t know what to say.
I didn’t know the two of them lived together, not that I knew much about Ella or Ava, for that matter.
And maybe it would be the same roommate situation for us. I probably wouldn’t see her much between practices anyway. This was just a temporary stop. Soon, I’d get a commercial deal and could start looking for my own place.
“Okay, well, this is it,” Ava exclaimed, pushing the door open.
The room really didn’t have much to it. It was small and freshly painted white. The only thing in it was a bare twin-sized bed and dresser framed under a single window, which let in the late morning light.
“If you need anything, I do have extra sheets and a bedspread. Oh, and curtains, too. Or if you want to run to Tesco later, my car is parked a few blocks down in a lot.”
“I’m good,” I said, waiting for her to stop rambling.
Yeah, it was cute, but after everything she said about this being Ella’s room and bringing up Liam, the full reality of the situation came flooding back to me.
If nothing else, I just needed to put on some music, get my stuff unpacked and think.
Or not think and pass out.
“That’s American slang for you want me to get the hell out of your hair, isn’t it?” Ava said with a laugh and a cute little giggle. The sound of it going straight to my dick.
I kept my back to her, looking out the window and willing my cock to not think about her that way. “Yeah. I’ll let you know if I need anything. Gonna do some unpacking.”
“Okay, I’ll see you later,” she said quietly, and then I heard the door shutting behind her.
Putting in my earbuds, I tried not to think of the sound of defeat in her voice. Like she wanted me to ask her to stay.
But I couldn’t let that get to my head. I needed to focus.
Unpack.
Nap.
Not think about my new braless roommate’s hard nipples.
I didn’t even know I passed out until the smell of something savory tickled my nose.
Was it fish?
No, it didn’t have that oceany smell, but something spicy.
Slowly, I sat up, glancing out the window to see that the sun was low in the sky.
I’d succeeded in unpacking my measly belongings and then clearly fell asleep for longer than I intended.
Following my nose, I padded through the room, opening the door to be hit with a wave of steam coming from the kitchen.
Taking the few steps, I stopped, leaning against the counter.
Ava’s back was to me, but it was clearly her, her red hair still up in that bun as she swayed her hips, softly humming as she stirred the steaming pot.
“Do you have any leftovers for me? If it’s in the team diet plan, that is,” I called.
She gasped, whirling around, her eyes wide as she held her wooden spoon up. “You scared me,” she said.
I swallowed hard. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I just…what are you cooking? It smells amazing.”
She smiled. “It’s nothing really. I have some Colcannon potatoes and lemon-parsley fish in the oven. Don’t worry; all are team diet approved, at least according to Ella.”
“You asked her about the team diet?” I blinked hard, wondering what else she told the team’s physical therapist.
“Well, she lived here long enough that I pretty much have it memorized, and I wasn’t going to cook you anything you couldn’t eat.”
“You cooked this for me?” I couldn’t contain the shock in my voice, and my mouth gaped open.
Her cheeks flushed as red as her hair, and it was freaking adorable. “Well, it’s your first night in, and I thought we could eat together. If you have time, that is?”
I couldn’t remember the last time a woman cooked for me.
Never.
My mom barely even did it.
And now this woman, my new roommate, was setting her little table with bright blue dishes and serving me some of my favorite Irish recipes.
My mind flitted to thoughts of her doing this every day.
A future where she wasn’t just my roommate but the one I came home to after work and gave a kiss on the cheek before greeting our kids.
Kids?
No.
Whoa.
I wasn’t thinking straight.
Maybe I did need to eat.
Or take things further with my roommate to see what happened.
“Are you okay there, Michael? It looks like you zoned out on me for a second there,” Ava said, plating the last of our food.
“Yeah. I’m good.”
No.
I was anything but good, and if Ava’s cooking and sweetness foreshadowed what was to come, I would have to spend a lot more time alone in my room if I didn’t want to think about my new roommate.