Darragh groaned and shook his head, suddenly sheepish and my eyes met with Ronan’s.
“Was it not the wee girl who’d be wearin’ the bows in her hair, like?” he said. “Pretty thing, dark haired.”
Both Seamus and I burst out laughing, glancing at one another.
“What?” Darragh spluttered, cheeks flushing. “What ya laughin’ ‘bout?”
“That's Pearl,” Seamus chuckled. “Y’might wanna rethink, lad.”
“How’s that?”
“Pearl is…” I trailed off, searching for the right word.
“A wee geebag?” Seamus interjected with a grin. “She’s a good laugh but can be a right piece o’ work when she wants ta be, like.”
Darragh shrugged, puffing himself up. “What ya sayin’, like? Think I can’t handle her, eh?”
“Aye,” I chuckled. “Ya too soft f’a girl like Pearl, fella. She’ll eat ya up.”
When Darragh grew flustered, we all started laughing again.
“‘Sides, ain’t she all up in Declan?” Seamus asked, tipping back a bottle of beer. “Always see her sniffin’ ‘bout, like.”
“Ah, feckin’ hell, like,” Darragh groaned. “Declan’d not be a good-lookin’ tattooed fella, aye?”
“That's the one.” I nodded.
“Ah, f’sure we’d be seein’ her all over him the first night we got here, eh, Darragh?” Ronan replied. “Tol’ ya she wasn’t f’ya, like.”
“Best be believin’ me and John Francis know what it’s like livin’ in Declan feckin’ Furey’s shadow, eh, fella?”
“Aye,” I mumbled sheepishly, fighting a smirk when Ronan caught my eye knowingly.
“Aye, well, Declan ain’t here now, is he?” Darragh said, flicking up the collar of his polo shirt so it stood upright. “Y’think ya could introduce us, like?”
Seamus grinned, downing the rest of his drink before turfing the empty bottle away. “Aye, suppose we could, now.” He nudged me. “Y’comin’?”
“Nah, ya on ya own,” I replied. “Had enough o’ those wee geebags ta last me a lifetime.”
“Fair.” Seamus shrugged before looping an arm over Darragh’s shoulders, roughing him about. “C’mon then, lover boy.”
“Ah, feck off!” Darragh grumbled.
Ronan and I watched the pair of them heading away across the camp, sidling up beside the girls as they worked up the nerve to chat to them.
“Darragh doesn’t stand a chance, now – does he?” Ronan asked, casting me a smirk.
“Nah, not even a wee one.”
We chuckled to ourselves, both of us painfully aware we were finally alone. God, I wanted to touch him… I found myself sneaking glances out of the corner of my eye as if I needed to constantly remind myself of how fucking hot he was. After the third time of catching me looking at him, Ronan frowned playfully.
“What? Whatcha lookin’ at, now?”
“Y’wanna go someplace else, like? Just us.”
I held my breath as Ronan considered my offer. He looked back at his cousin and Seamus, now posturing and flirting with the group of girls.
“Aye don’t think they’d be noticin’ us leavin’,” he eventually replied, keeping his voice down. “Where to?”
