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Frankie hung up, feeling more confused than ever. She’d been trying to set Alison up with Will and had absolutely no idea Rocco was even a possibility.

She had some cheek running the Canine Cupids Christmas Club, she thought. Frankie clearly hadn’t a clue about affairs of the heart, human or canine.

CHAPTER 50

ROCCO

Rocco knew he was walking around Drumkeldy on Christmas Eve with a large grin on his face and he didn’t care. He couldn’t help it after having such a fun evening with Alison. They’d drank champagne, talking and laughing until Alison realised it was almost one in the morning and needed to get home. Rocco had never hit it off with someone so well. Their chat was effortless. She was funny and interesting. And sexy and cool.

He was smitten.

And he was seeing her again that night, when he’d be cooking dinner for them both.

It took every ounce of self-control not to pop into the chemists and see her, just to say hello, but he realised there was a fine line between keen and stalkerish. Rocco settled on sending her a little text.

Looking forward to tonight.

He was heartened when she fired straight back.

Me too.

Rocco picked up his order from the butchers and walked down North Street with a spring in his step. He then popped into the café to order a coffee. Waiting in line, he was dangerously close to breaking into song along with the Christmas tunes playing in the background. Luckily he got to the front of the queue before he started harmonising with Bing Crosby on “White Christmas”, but when he asked the server for oat milk he chuckled and got a really odd look for his trouble. But he didn’t care.

Taking the cardboard cup to go, he inhaled the coffee, the smell of cinnamon in the air and, heady from lack of sleep and surge of endorphins left the café… only to walk slap-bang into someone.

‘Sorry, I wasn’t look—’ Rocco started to apologise then he realised the person he’d bumped into was Jay.

They stood looking at each other as people walked past.

It had been less than a month since Jay had been back. Less than a week since Frankie’s party. And in that time Rocco had done more introspective soul-searching than he thought he’d do in a lifetime.

‘I’m sorry.’

Jay gave him the briefest of smiles. ‘No damage done, I’ll live.’ He made to walk past Rocco but Rocco stepped to the side, blocking Jay’s escape.

‘No. I mean, I’m sorry sorry. Sorry for everything sorry.’

Jay exhaled, as if all the air had deflated from his lungs. His very blue eyes darted between Rocco’s as if he was calculating his next move, so much so that Rocco started to feel nervous. What was Jay going to say. Or do?

But all Jay said was, ‘I’m sorry too.’

‘You have nothing to be sorry for. I was a complete dickhead. Everything was on me. To say what I did twelve years ago. I had no right. Not for you, or Frankie.’

Jay sighed and jammed his hands in his coat pockets. He sniffed and looked up the street for a moment before turning back to Rocco. ‘I hardly handled myself with aplomb either. Neither back then, nor when I came back.’

‘No,’ Rocco said with force. ‘It’s all my fault.’

Jay gave a half smile. ‘Are we going to argue over who’s most sorry, or at fault?’

‘We don’t have to. It’s me. I was hateful back then. I was acting like an entitled prick and although I was trying to protect Frankie, I was probably acting more out of jealousy. You had every right to be pissed off when you came back.’

‘I wasn’t.’ Jay took a breath. ‘Okay, I was. I had been. But then, after we talked that day in Mum’s car, I realised I just didn’t want to be angry anymore. All I wanted was my old friend back.’

‘Me?’

Jay rolled his eyes. ‘I wasn’t meaning Brian from the Drumkeldy Arms, you twat.’

Rocco laughed. A booming laugh of relief.