“We have tickets for Monday, a week after the ceremony. That should give us a couple weeks tae get settled before the crazy begins.” I try to keep the mood light but I can’t coax even a smile out of Claire. “Have ye had second thoughts?”
“No,” she says almost immediately. That’s something, at least.
“But?” I ask, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Alex, do you not think we’ve rushed into this relationship? We barely know each other and we’re going to fly off to England without a second thought? I just…” She looks down, pushing her salad around her plate.
“Ye just whit?” With a deep breath, she looks up at me.
“I just worry that you’ll get over there, become this big star and wonder why you settled for me.”
“Fuck, Claire!” I hiss out, drawing looks from the tables near us. I apologize to them before continuing. It pisses me off when she can’t see how amazing she is, how lucky I am to have her.
“Ye listen tae me, yeah?” I growl at her. “Whether I become a big star or naw disnae matter. Every fucking day I’ll thank God that I have ye tae come home tae. Everyone will look at my sexy, brilliant, capable wife and think how the fuck did that lucky bastard land her?”
Her face slowly turns red before she shrugs at me. “Naw, dinnae fucking shrug. Ye’re it for me, the one. I’ve known it from the second ye pointed tae the chair across from ye in the fucking library.” The other customers near us are glaring at me because of my language, but I don’t care. I need her to understand.
“I’m scared,” she whispers to me.
“I’m fucking scared too, but if ye’re willing tae be there with me, I know it will be okay. I’m naw gonnae stop ye if ye dinnae want tae go, but Claire,” I say reaching across the table to take her hand. “I really want ye there. I want tae be with ye, for us tae be together.” She studies me for a moment before nodding her head.
“Good, now let’s go home. Just as soon as I buy everyone within hearing range of my mouth dessert.” I walk back up to the counter, paying for all of the brownies they have to be distributed around the bistro before taking Claire’s hand to leave.
That evening, I kiss Claire as she climbs out of the Uber at Maggie’s before it takes me to Grayson’s house. I’ve settled on several hundred dollars in cash, hoping I’m not quickly separated from my money. Claire helped me settle on a bottle of Chivas Regal for the night.
I’m the last to arrive but it doesn’t look like the party has quite started yet. I make my rounds shaking hands before I find a drink slid into my hand.
“Whit shite am I drinking?” I ask Colin who is standing behind the bar.
“That was the rest of the Jameson,” he says as I take a drink.
“Ye’re feeding me Irish piss? Whit’s wrong with scotch?” I ask with only slightly exaggerated indignation. Colin rolls his eyes at me.
“Name one good thing that the Scottish gave us.”
“Golf,” I say with real indignation this time. “Penicillin, Grand Theft Auto, fucking scotch!” I yell at him as he laughs. I hand him the Chivas with a glare.
“Don’t let him jack with you,” Grayson says, coming up behind me. “He’s trying to get in your head. Easier to get you to part with your money.”
“I dinnae think he’ll have tae work that hard.” I laugh as Grayson takes my glass, pulling out the Highland Park Scotch. “That’s more like it,” I say as he pours me a glass.
Crossing to the bar in the kitchen, I survey the food spread. Fixing myself a plate, I visit with Marcus until Colin announces it’s time to start. Taking out my cash, I exchange it for chips.
“So Manchester City, huh?” Colin asks me, sitting down. “Pretty big deal. What does that mean in the world of soccer?” I give him a glare. “Don’t give me a stink face, you’re the foreigner,” he says, shrugging. “Do you have to have security to keep the fans at bay? Picked out your yacht yet?” Grayson rolls his eyes at him, turning to me.
“Seriously, how will your and Claire’s life change?” I’ve learned over the last couple of months that Grayson is a man of few words, but when he does ask a question, he really wants to know the answer. Colin, however, is a man of many words, so I ignore him.
“I’ve known Claire since her freshman year of college,” Marcus adds. “I don’t see her embracing the parties and I know she hated growing up in her stepdad’s mansion.” Grayson holds up his hands to stop the conversation, motioning me to speak.
“I’m naw sure whit all it includes yet. I’m naw Renaldo or Neymar, so I dinnae think we need security or a driver. We are staying at a hotel until we can find somewhere tae live. I dinnae want tae pick a flat withoot Claire there tae pick it oot.”
“They have someone tae help with transitioning tae the new club and I know she plans on job hunting as soon as we get there. She wants tae help with the fitbaw foundation, but she also wants her own career apart from me.”
I look around the table. “I’m hoping her friends will come tae visit, help keep her from being too homesick?”
“I’ll make sure Lily gets over there this summer,” Matt says with a nod.
“Yeah, Maggie is dying to go to England. Sounds like we have a good reason now,” Colin adds.
