Why is he still here? I told him he could leave hours ago.
“Don’t get smart, lad. I’ve been watching rugby longer than you’ve been wiping your own arse.” Dad aggressively stabs his finger towards the telly from his chair.
“And when was the last time you hobbled to the optometrist to have your eyes checked, you old geezer?”
I’m standing just outside the sitting room, holding my breath, waiting to see how Dad will respond to such a brazen insult.
Dad pauses before throwing his head back laughing, until that laugh turns into a cough, and he tells Tieran to go make him a fresh cup of tea. Tieran, to his credit, hops off the two seater couch to head into the kitchen, doing as he’s told.
But he can’t get to the kitchen without passing me, and in my scramble to act like I wasn’t listening in on them, we end up colliding in the tiny foyer of my dad’s home. Tieran reaches out, steadying himself with his hands on my waist, fingers twitching and involuntarily tightening where they lay. Shivers dance up my spine from the touch.
I immediately pull out of his hold, stepping a healthy distance away from him before I start toward the kitchen, indicating for him to follow.
When we reach the linoleum-lined floors of the kitchen, he moves past me and starts filling the kettle with fresh water, setting it to boil before pulling a mug out of the cabinet and grabbing a sachet of PJ Tips from Dad’s teabag jar on the counter.
“You certainly seem to know your way around my dad’s kitchen.” Seeing him in my father’s home was making me distinctly uncomfortable. It was far too familiar, felt too natural.
“This isn’t the first cup I’ve made him,” he chuckles, dropping the teabag in the mug. As he waits for the water to boil, he moves to the fridge and grabs the milk in preparation.
“Why are you still here?”
“Why not?”
“Don’t be cute.” I roll my eyes.
“But then I wouldn’t get to see the delightful little furrow happening here,” he reaches forward and presses his thumb to my skin, “right between your striking eyes.”
I swat his hand away. “Stop. Why haven’t you left?”
He shrugs, leaning against the counter. “I like Archie. We’re having a good time, and I had nowhere else to be.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “I thought you were going toyour parents’?” He hesitates, turning to grab the kettle when it signals it’s done, pouring the scalding water into the cup on the counter. “Tieran,” I say sternly.
“Gotta go, boss. Your old man gets cranky if he has to wait too long for his tea.” He skirts past me, making his way back into the sitting room, where he hands Dad the cup and claps him on the shoulder, the way one would a friend.
His eyes light up, making my chest squeeze painfully.
“Thanks for keeping me company today, Arch, but I better get going,” Tieran says, and I watch Dad’s face fall slightly.
“Already? But the match isn’t even over yet.”
“I know, it’s sacrilege, and I should be strung up by my boot laces. But my dog’s been up too long, and I didn’t ask her walker to come by today. It’s in my best interest to get her out before she retaliates by using my couch as a toilet.”
I can’t help but think he’s making light of it all because he can see the disappointment in Dad’s face and wants to make him feel better. I hate him a little for making it so hard to remember why I need to push him away.
“Well, next time, bring the pup with you.” His hands shake as he brings the cup to his mouth and takes a small sip, testing if it’s too hot before taking a longer pull. “Fine cup of tea.”
“Will do, mate.” He turns to me, giving me a magnanimous nod before he leaves, his hulking frame dipping out the small front door.
His departure allows me to breathe again for the first time since arriving, but the room around me feels colder—duller, somehow, now that he’s gone.
“He’s a good lad,” Dad says. “You ought to be looking for a man like that, not like those prissy twats you dated back in Los Angeles.”
“You never met any of the guys I dated in L.A.,” I point out.
“Didn’t need to. If they were good enough for you, youwould’ve introduced us. You’ve only been in England for a few weeks, and I’ve already met this one.”
“Tieran and I aren’t—it’s not like that, Dad. He happened to be there and wanted to help.” I’m trying to keep my blush at bay, desperate for him to not read into the situation.
