Page 22 (1/2)
This time I actually walked away, because a man who says clichéd shit like that doesn’t deserve to call any wo myself that she was probably busy Hell, I didn’t even know if Sara had friends other than Chloe and Bennett I couldn’t exactly ask her that, could I? Fuck, no She’d put her shoe in my eye socket But what exactly did she do when she wasn’t at work? I played rugby, drank beer, ran, went to art showings Everything I knew about her was related either to how she fucked, or to the life she’d left behind I knew so little about the life she’d started to build here Maybe she’d love to do so with me after the shitty day she’d had yesterday
Time to man up, Stella
Finally, I shoved
"Hello?" she answered, sounding confused Of course she’s confused, you ass You’ve never actually called her
I took a deep breath and let out the odly ra, I knoe aren’t doing the boyfriend-girlfriend thing, and after Congresset your aversion to relationships, but last night you came over and were a bit out of sorts, and if you wanted so to do (and even if you did, not to imply that you don’t have other options), but if you’d like you could con of life on the other end of the phone "Nothing clears the head better than watching a pile ofto break each other’s feby Come watch my match today Or, if you prefer, meet us all for drinks at Maddie’s in Harlem afterward"
For what felt like a week, she re"
I walked across the roo the park "Think louder"
"I’an, and I felt a sut when she uess I could be up for drinks later What tiit than before, I made a little fist pump of victory and io until three You could meet us at Maddie’s around four"
"I will," she said "But Max?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you think your tea with a bunch of depressed,to crush them
We kicked their asses I rarely ever felt bad for the other teah it wasn’t their fault they didn’t have rugby in their blood, it usually felt great to tromp the to score about halfway through I had to attributethat Sara would meet us after But only in part By the end of theup ten-year-olds in the uilt
We roared into the bar, carrying Robbie on our shoulders and yelling the words to a rather filthy version of "Alouette" The bartender and owner, Madeline, waved when she saw us, lined up twelve pint glasses, and began filling them
"Oi!" Robbie shouted to his wife "Whiskey, lass!"
Maddie gave hilasses anyway,alone
I scanned the roo my disappointment, I turned to the bar and took a deep drink of ame had started late; it was already close to five and she wasn’t here Was I really surprised? And then a horrible thought occurred to me: had she been here, waited, and left?
"Fuck," I muttered
Maddie slid a shot of whiskey to ain
"What’s wrong?" a familiar husky voice asked from behind me "Looks to me like you dirty bastards won"
I spun around on ht of her She looked like a cake topper, in a pale yellow dress and a tiny green pin in her hair "You look beautiful" Her eyes closed for a beat, and I murmured, "Sorry we’re late"
She weaved a little where she stood, saying, "Gave me time to have a few drinks"
I hadn’t seen her drunk since the night at the club, but I recognized a faht of that Sara reappearing was fking fantastic
"You’re pissed?"
Her brows pinched together for a brief pulse and then smoothed as she smiled "British for drunk? Yeah, I’m tipsy" She stood on her toes thenand kissed me
Holy Fuck
Beside irl on your face"
Sara pulled back and her eyes widened in realization "Oh, crap"
"Calives a fk e are They hardly remember my name every week"
"Patently untrue," Richie said "Your na at Sara "Like I said"
She held out her hand and gave Richie her wide-eyed smile "I’m Sara"
He took her hand and shook it I could see the istered how ridiculously pretty she was He immediately checked out her chest " ’m Richie," he mumbled
"Nice to meet you, Richie"
He looked at me, eyes narrowed "How the fk you land that one?"
"No idea" I pulled her closer, ignoring her et her dress dirty But then she wiggled free and turned to Derek, on my other side
"I’rimy hand across his mouth "Fuck yeah you are"
"Sara’s with me," I muttered