“We kissed, okay? Happy now?” she pouted and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She grimaced at the stinging pain in her ankle.
Conner went to the kitchen and rummaged around in her freezer. He pulled out one of the pea bags that Brennan had dropped off this morning. Brennan had mumbled something to Calum about having too many bags of peas at the pub, and he figured he’d give some to her for her ankle. And he was right. The swelling had gone down before game night at Kayla and Duncan’s. But standing and walking back and forth from the car hadn’t been the best of ideas.
Conner rested her ankle on top of two throw pillows on the coffee table and took off her sneaker and sock. He sat down next to her foot and held the frozen pea bag on the damned ankle.
“Do you want to talk for real now or do you want to hear another stupid joke?” He rearranged the frozen bag over her ankle. He evaded her eyes. Everyone knew it was hard for Errin to talk about her feelings.
Errin had no problem talking someone’s ears off about anything and everything. Even when she met a person for the first time, she often ended up having the weirdest conversations about aliens or online life hack videos showing how to easily peel garlic or remove the skin from roasted peanuts.
She often talked with Maureen, her seventy-six-year-old neighbor, about old movies, Coco Chanel, and other vintage stuff. She trash talked with her brothers and now even with the Mills brothers here in Austin. Errin always spoke her mind. Without a doubt, she rubbed people the wrong way with her confrontational questions or crude remarks.
But talking about her feelings? No. That’s not Errin. She never let people close enough to see inside her head.
She had opened up to Pops last night and laid all her cards on the table. She’d confided in him about how unhappy and sometimes even miserable she’s been in Austin. She’d been rejected yet again for an audition, and now she’d taken on this literally shitty job at the dog kennel.
She loved nothing more than dancing, but that wasn’t working out. The last time she’d danced professionally had been months ago, back in Jersey.
Her sisters were solely focused on their boyfriends and had started an actual life out here in Austin with proper jobs and new friends. Although she lived with Kate, her sister only ever came home to pack a fresh change of clothes to take with her back to Donovan’s.
Errin’s homesick phone calls over the last few weeks to her brother Conner and the rest of her family back home were getting longer and more frequent. But now there was this broody, attentive, and gorgeous guy who interfered with her pity party.
“I don’t know, Con. I…” she shook her head.
Conner sighed but didn’t push it.
“He gets under my skin,” she said. “You know? He’s just this old moody guy, always grumpy and ready to speak his mind and give people his two cents.”
“Are you talking about Pops or Brennan here?” Conner grinned.
“Brennan,of course,” Errin snapped.
“Well, sorry to burst your bubble. I know how much you’ve grown to love the old man, but you just described Brennan exactly like Pops.”
Errin busted out laughing, not taking his words seriously. She clutched her side.
“No, for real. Listen,” he said, holding up his fingers to tick off each item. “Old. Grumpy. And always speaking his mind.”
She shook her head in denial. Could it be? Did she like Brennan? Okay, the man is hot as sin. But now she evenlikedhim? Likereallyliked him?
“Why did you lie to Kate about hurting your ankle while stretching?”
Her brother knew there had to be a reason for Errin to keep a secret from her sister. The Walsh sisters told each other everything. But she didn’t want to get into it now. What was she to say? Kate was never around anymore and when she was, she wasn’t involved.
Earlier, Errin tried to downplay what happened at Brennan’s. Her sister Kate had asked her about her ankle during game night in front of everyone. Luckily, the one Mills brother who’d been absent tonight was Brennan.
“Con, I love Kate. I really do. But lately, we’re just not that close. She’s always spending the night over at Donovan’s or having lunch with Bree, her new BFF.”
“Well, how do you think I feel with thousands of miles between me and my sisters? Do you think your brothers don’t miss you girls?”
“Yeah, I know, but—”
Conner shook his head. “No, Bunny. Think about it.”
He motioned his hand in between them. “We make it work. We text, right?”
Errin nodded and released a big breath.
“I see your big mouth almost every other day via a video call. I see more of you now than when you were living just a train ride away.” He chuckled, and she joined him after playfully slapping his chest.