Chapter Twenty
Connor walked into the lunchroom and saw Julia, Christina and Susan sitting together. None of them were talking to each other. They were ignoring him too.
Bloody ridiculous.
Maggie wasn’t there, either. Plain wrong. He picked up an empty coffee mug, squeezing his hand around it until his knuckles whitened.
With a coffee in hand, he strode toward the table where the girls sat, still in silence.
“How are you?” His lips curled in self-derision.Nothing like the polite niceties to get started.
“Connor!” Christina seemed startled by his presence. Heck, they all did.
“For fuck’s sake,” he muttered, knowing the swearing would piss them off. “Did you think I wouldn’t talk to you? I’d like to think we’re still friends. The reason I liked hanging out with you was because you never pulled this girly shit.”
The three women glanced at each other before looking back at him.
“Have you seen Maggie?” Julia asked.
“No, she said she didn’t want to see me again.” Connor wouldn’t say it out loud, but Julia looked like shit. Sad. Fragile.
“Why?” Susan asked.
“That’s private,” Connor said. “Maggie might refuse to see me or take my calls, but I love her, and I want her back. You’re going to help me.”
They stared at him, their reactions varied but containing varying degrees of shock.
Christina shut her gaping mouth before saying, “You’re serious about her?”
“Yes.”Serious enough to want her permanently. He hated his empty bed and missed her like hell. Their emails were the highlight of his day. Not even the upcoming final against the North Shore Raiders was enough to excite him.
“You can’t help who you love,” Julia said, a hitch in her voice.
Connor’s heart ached when he saw the sheen of tears in her eyes. He spoke quickly hoping to stave off an uncomfortable bout of crying. Every time he offered to listen, she cried. In the end, he’d decided to wait. She could keep her secrets. Julia would talk when she was ready. “I’ve loved Maggie for a long time.”
“You love her? What about the parade of blondes?” Christina demanded.
“Yeah! What she said.” Susan shot him a challenging look, her brows arching up in emphasis. “If you love Maggie, why so many blondes?”
Connor glared back at them. “I don’t kiss and tell. You’ll have to take my word on it. Maggie is the one I love, the one I want.” He’d ridded himself of Sylvie by making her face the truth. He was in love with another woman. Then he’d introduced her to some of his rugby teammates and she’d moved into her own flat. Now it looked as if she might hook up with his flatmate.
“Why all the sneaking around?” Susan demanded.
“Susan, you know why—” Christina cut off, her eyes widening behind the lenses of her glasses.
“Spill,” Connor said in a tight voice. He’d guessed there was something else going on with the women.
“In hindsight, it wasn’t such a good idea. After we met you, we decided we enjoyed having you around, your male input and the way you never hit on any of us. You treated us like friends, almost like sisters. We loved that and didn’t want to screw things up. We decided we’d make a pact and promised we’d never hit on you or go out with you in a romantic way.” Julia shrugged, her discomfort doing nothing to halt the burning anger inside Connor.
“And Maggie broke the pact,” Connor said, his voice rough around the edges. “So you pushed her away when she needed you most.”
“We didn’t push, but we weren’t nice either.” Christina scowled. “You don’t have to glare. We are sorry. You’ve made your point.”
“It’s weird without Maggie around,” Julia said.
“The next time you see her, you will act friendly instead of snubbing her,” Connor ordered. “She needs her friends now.”
“She’s not answering her phone,” Julia said. “I rang her two days ago to thank her for the flowers she sent me.”
