“Evenin’,” he croons. “You’re lookinglovely, Layla.”
“Thanks,” she murmurs, face reddening even more.
Ro grabs a chair from a neighboring table, turns it around, and straddles it, arms propped up on the back. “Hello, ladies. What’s the craic?”
We’ve spent enough time around the Irish trio to understand most of their colloquialisms by now that we knowcraicmeans “fun.” Their accents, however, never grow old. Even the non-single ladies sit in rapt attention when they speak
We’re sitting around chatting and drinking, the conversation never stalling. Mostly because Ro is a master storyteller. He’s so animated that we’re laughing and rolling our eyes the entire time he’s talking. If a story isn’t made up, he’s embellished it so much that there’s barely any truth left to it. He’s in the middle of such a story when there’s a loud commotion at the entrance of the pub. We all look up to see Mac and a few of the other players from the team stumble inside, clearly intoxicated. Mac is worse off than the others. Looking at Eamon, we exchange a silent conversation. Did Myra finally tell him about the baby? I grab my phone to send her a quick text to find out.
Norah:Hey, we’re all at Paddy’s, and Mac just came in completely trashed. More so than normal. Did you tell him?
Myra:OMG. Of course he is. Yes, I told him a few hours ago. He handled it about as well as I thought he would. Looks like this is how he’s coping.
Norah:I’m so sorry. Are you okay? Do you need me?
Myra:I’m okay. You stay. Amelia is coming over when she gets off work. Make sure he doesn’t kill himself with alcohol poisoning. Idiot.
Norah:Will do. Let me know if you change your mind.
Norah:About coming over. Not letting him kill himself. ;)
Myra:LOL well… kidding. Kind of.
I angle the screen towards Eamon, who snorts at the last part.
“Should I bring him over here?” he asks.
I shrug, feeling at a complete loss. “I’m not sure. He needs some water or something.”
“Ro,” Eamon says, catching his friend’s attention, “Go get that arsehole and have him come sit. Get him some water too, will ya?”
Ro looks at Eamon like he’s grown an extra head. “Will I, yeah? It’s not my fault he’s in ribbons.”
“Aye, true enough, but you’re the only one he’ll respond to without being a complete tool,” Eamon answers.
Ro rolls his eyes but gets up anyway. We watch him saunter up to Mac and toss an arm over his shoulder. He says something that makes the blonde laugh while mouthingwaterto Paddy. After filling a couple of glasses, Ro leads Mac and the rest of the guys to our corner. Eamon and Teagan pull another table and some chairs over to connect them. When Mac collapses into the seat, he looks around suspiciously at us.
“Did you hear the news?” he slurs, looking pointedly at me. “I’m going to be—”
“Completely wrecked tomorrow?” Eamon interrupts him.
Mac pauses to glare at his teammate, then his eyes go wide. “Youknew? Before me? Of fucking course you did. Not sure why I’m surprised when you’re fucking one of her friends.”
“Easy, Mac,” Eamon warns. “You don’t want to go there.”
“What did I miss?” Ro pipes up, eyes alight with excitement at being in the middle of drama.
“You mean you don’t know? I thought for sure all of you were in on it!” Mac bellows belligerently. “What you missed is that I knocked up Myra. Surprise! I’m going to be a dad!”
Charlie and Layla gasp loudly while Ro and Teagan sit there stunned, jaws dropped.
I cover my face with my hands. Myra is going to be livid.
“Mac,” Eamon commands, getting his attention, “not the time or place, mate.”
“Fuck off, Irish. It’s my kid, I can tell the whole world if I want!”
Leaning forward, I stretch a hand across the table and place it on his forearm.
