Allison Parr - Running Back

“Natalie is just a friend, Mom,” Mike added. “We’ve barely even known each other a month.”

Kate raised her brow. “If you insist,” she said, in much the same way my brother Evan said the lady doth protest too much.

Something hit my shin. “Ow!”

A horrified expression crossed Lauren’s face. “Oh my God, I am so sorry, I was aiming for Mike.”

Mike leaned his head back and groaned.

Anna laughed.

Kate held out the breadbasket in my direction. “Would you like another piece, Natalie?”

“That sounds great,” I said, and took one.

Mike pulled himself up out of his embarrassment to look at his mom. “So what’s the schedule? Did you see Patrick’s wife?”

Kate stabbed more forcefully than necessary at a beet, sending it skittering across her plate. “We’ll swing by Friday morning. Tomorrow we need to go shopping.” She directed a pointed look at her youngest. “Anna, despite bringing a wardrobe entirely in black, doesn’t have a single appropriate outfit for the—what’s it called?” She turned to her eldest daughter.

“The month’s mind.” Lauren looked at me when she explained. “It’s like a month after someone dies, family and friends go to mass and have a meal to remember the person. We missed the funeral, so we’re going to it instead.”

“He’s already buried,” Anna said. “I don’t see what the big deal is.”

Lauren rolled her eyes. “It’s a matter of respect.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? How is it respectful to skip out on the funeral and then run around town?”

Kate frowned. “Anna. Do not swear.”

She slammed her fork down. “For Christ’s sake, Mom. What are you going to do about it? Ship me away from my friends and my boyfriend and my job for the summer? Oh, wait. That already happened.” She shoved back the chair and stomped out of the room, her combat boots heavy on the pale wooden floor.

Wow. I wished I’d been that ballsy at her age.

Kate turned to me. “I’m sorry. I wish I could say she wasn’t always like this...”

“Is she?” Mike sounded surprised. “She definitely had an attitude when she visited New York, but I didn’t know it was this bad.”

Kate smiled flatly as she raised her drink again. “That, dear, is because you don’t live with her.”

Family politics were above my pay grade. With a smile and a flurry of pleasantries all around, I left them to their squabbling.

Back in my room, I video-called Cam, and to my shock and delight she answered. I could see her bed and posters behind her. She stared squealing immediately “You’re there! Oh my God! How is it?”

“Ireland’s gorgeous. Haven’t seen the village yet. As for the inn—well. I’m staying across the hall from Michael O’Connor. I met and then had dinner with his entire family just now.”

She started laughing and flailing her arms about. “Ahh! I’m so excited!”

I couldn’t help grinning. “It’s so awkward. I actually like him as a person, but I feel weird about the whole Kilkarten excavation disagreement thing. How are we supposed to act?”

“You could try to get him to reconsider.”

“If only.” I paused, and then rushed my next words. “I did kind of have a thought.”

She raised her brows and gestured regally. “Do go on.”

“He has two sisters. And I kind of wondered... What’s their take on the excavation? Maybe they just have great poker faces, but when I said I was an archaeologist interested in the area, they acted like they’d never heard of me. Shouldn’t Mike have talked to them about the dig before he rejected it?”

She shrugged. “Maybe he owns the land outright and didn’t need their agreement.”

“Maybe,” I agreed, but that sounded dubious. I sighed. “It probably doesn’t even matter. Anyway. How are you?”

“I sat through a three hour meeting and listened to people argue about a color scheme. I was like, what does this have to do with anything? Why am I here?”

“How very existential.”

“Oh, but then I was thinking about the color red, and did you know it’s a biological turn on? Like, people are more likely to say they don’t like red lipstick or find red dresses too much, but they actually find it hot. So your football player is scientifically more sexy than others!”

“In Ancient Greece they thought redheads were vampires.”

“Well, that is a great tidbit that you should never mention again.”

I groaned. “His family’s also super nice. They invited me to have dinner with them. Who does that?” I sandwiched my nose and mouth between my palms and pulled them down. “I think I’m going to go knock on his door and try to de-awkwardize this situation.”

“Because going over to his room late at night isn’t awkward?”

I glanced at the clock. “It’s only eight-ten. And won’t admitting this is strange be better than saying nothing?”

She shook her head. “There’s no avoiding awkwardness. You just have to muddle through it until everyone’s made peace.”

Despite that, I still headed across the hall after disconnecting from Cam. I collected my half eaten bag of Reeses, and glanced quickly in the mirror. The reflection wasn’t impressive, but I wasn’t supposed to care about that. I made a face and then stepped out through my door, closing it firmly behind me.

Mike’s door loomed ahead. Well, the bird decal and light green paint kept the looming from being too impressive, but still. I stared at that bird for at least a minute, breathing shallowly, before I took two quick steps across the hall and banged loudly on his door.

It swung inward almost immediately. Mike stood there, ruffling his gleaming curls with a towel. He’d slung another around his waist. It dipped dangerously low. “Hey.”

Instead of answering, I watched water trickle down his neck, tracing down his bare, tan chest, and slipping over his well-defined abdomen.

“Like what you see?”

I dragged my gaze up to his grinning face. “Shouldn’t you not open your door half naked?”

His grin widened and he shrugged nonchalantly.

My gaze slipped down again, and I yanked them up as my cheeks burned. “Uh. Sorry. I can come back some other time.”

His eyes danced. “Just give me five.”

I nodded as I backed away, but once I’d closed my door I leaned against it and let out a moan.

Apparently not quietly enough, because I heard a low chuckle through my door. I tossed the candy on the dresser and then flung myself onto my bed, this time using my pillow to muffle my embarrassment.

For five impossibly long minutes, I tried to make myself breathe deeply and think of something calming and non-sexual. Unfortunately, I was having a hard time coming up with non-sexual objects. Or not just straight up picturing Mike’s body.

I had the worst timing in the history of the world.

Then again, he could have thrown a shirt on. Who answered the door practically naked? I could have been room service. He could have scarred someone.

Then again, he hadn’t seemed surprised to see me, and my door had a peek-hole. So maybe he’d chosen not to put a shirt on.

Okay. I had to stop overthinking everything.

Over five minutes had passed, so I picked up the goods and went back to his door. This time, Mike wore jeans and a Leopard’s T-shirt when he opened the door.

“Sorry,” I said automatically. “About—earlier.”

“No worries. What’s up?”

I lifted the Reeses. “I brought peace offerings.”

He stepped back and I moved inside his room. It had the same set up as mine, but there were already marks of his presence, sneakers and shirts tossed carelessly about. A set of weights lay in one corner, a football beside them. I wondered if he had anyone to practice with here.

The door clicked shut behind me and I turned back to Mike. He cocked his head at the half-eaten bag of candy. “That’s a pretty paltry olive branch.”

“I know. I was munchy earlier.” When he sat on his bed, I took it as my cue to curl up in an overstuffed mint-green armchair several feet away. He didn’t look away from me as he leaned against the headboard, his long legs sprawled out before him.

I took a deep breath. “Look, I know it’s a little awkward, me being here. Especially when I’m sort of a work problem and this is your personal life, and your family’s here... If it bothers you, I can get a room in Cork.” The bus ride would take an hour to get to the village, but that would be preferable to dealing with Mike if he didn’t want me here. “So, I don’t know, I just of thought if you had any issues you wanted aired, we could air them. Now. Until we’re cool.”

He stared at me.

I sank my head into my hands. “I’m sorry. I’m not a very eloquent speaker. Which sort of sucks, because I have a speech to give in September and I’m already freaking out about it.” I sighed and looked up. “How are you so together?”

He popped a Reeses in his mouth. “I’m not together.”

I scoffed.

“Didn’t you see my family down there?”

His warm, entertaining family that was so comfortable with one another that they could pick and snap at each other without fear of damaging their relationships? “Yeah. They’re wonderful.”

“Wonderful in moderation.”

“I mean it. They’re great.”

He cocked his head at my tone. “What’s that mean?”

All right, maybe I’d been a little too emphatic. I lifted my shoulders in slight embarrassment. “They were great.”

His eyes widened. “Are you kidding? Didn’t you notice my little sister storming out?”