Meet Me on St. Patrick's Day by Bryony Rosehurst

Author:Bryony Rosehurst [Bryony Rosehurst]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rachel Bowdler
Published: 2022-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

16

Fifteen

In hindsight, maybe Brennan had overreacted a little bit. But he’d been flustered and confused and hurt, and Quinn had popped up out of nowhere with a narrative he couldn’t remember participating in. And she’d called him “baby.” And his stomach had flipped as though he liked it.

They hadn’t spoken since. They’d been tending the bar in silence long after the Beetles had completed their set and Rebecca had left, and now the pub was empty and there was no way to avoid her any longer. Not speaking to her again after they’d finally found their old selves, their old way of conversation last night, was torture, and he didn’t want it to stay this way.

“Well, I’m off. I’ve got a hot date. ‘Ringo’ is waiting to get a drink with me.” Harper tugged on the ties of Brennan’s apron in her final act of being a nuisance before waving.

“Have fun,” Quinn mumbled, her voice emotionless and hollow as she mopped the floors.

“Aye. Goodnight,” Brennan said.

He turned around to find Harper gesturing wildly at him. She pointed at Quinn, who was oblivious, and then kissed the back of her hand dramatically. Brennan rolled his eyes and shooed her away. There would definitely be none of that now — he’d made sure of it.

Harper flashed him a thumbs up before finally leaving, and then it was just the two of them. Brennan whistled uncomfortably as he propped the chairs on the tables, knowing that he would have to say something to break the ice eventually. But he didn’t know what. He still didn’t know how he felt about Quinn lying to Rebecca, and it would no doubt get back to Richie. That meant his best friend would expect to see Brennan with a date at his wedding. Which… wasn’t a bad thing, really. He and Quinn had fun when they were… them. It’s just that when they weren’t them, when something went wrong, they were a mess.

“The band was good tonight,” he commented finally, pathetically. Quinn only hummed, wringing the mop in its bucket.

“Look, Quinn….” he sighed and paced his way toward her, unable to bear another moment of her glaring at him.

“The floors—”

He wasn’t listening, too busy planning his apology. He didn’t even know what ‘the floors’ meant unless she was putting forward their next tribute act, which he was sure he’d hired before in place of the Doors. “I’m really, really—”

“The floors, Brennan!” she said, more urgently this time.

And he didn’t have to wonder anymore, because, at the same time, his feet skidded over the tiles around the bar. Damp tiles, freshly mopped. He flew into the barstools and, in his attempt to clutch onto them, ended up pushing them to the floor, too. They all clattered down like dominoes.

“Oh,” he whispered, slightly winded and more than slightly embarrassed as he sat up. The damp was already seeping into his clothes. “The floors.”

“The floors,” she confirmed a final time, her mouth twitching. She brought her hand to her mouth, eyes wide, and from the way her shoulders shook, he was certain she was laughing.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.