“Wait . . .” He threads his fingers through his beard. “I thought you said you and Georgia were an item now. Aren’t you?”
“Well, yeah, we are.”
His answering expression is of utter bewilderment. “You told me, ‘I don’t know if I can be the guy who cheats on his girlfriend.’”
“I did say that, didn’t I?”
He nods. “Honestly, those words have been floating around in my brain since the moment you said them.”
“They have?”
“I knew that as soon as you and George became exclusive, whatever we were doing had to stop.”
Urgh, he’s right. This had been our agreement all along. It doesn’t stop the disappointment rising in my stomach like seven pints of Guinness, though.
“Isn’t that what you wanted?” He puts his hand on my shoulder. “I only didn’t show up because I thought that’s what you wanted. Honestly, if I’d known you were waiting for me, I would’ve fucking smashed down that door to get there.”
It makes me feel a little better, but not much. There’s still a weird, unidentifiable ache lurking in my chest.
“Yeah, no, you’re right.” I straighten out my shirt collar, let out a breath. “I guess it’s just that . . . if I’d known our last time together was gonna be our last time, well, I would’ve . . .”
“Bent me over the back of the sofa and fucked me?”
I laugh and look around at our surroundings. Nobody notices or cares, it seems. “Well . . . yeah.”
Eggo combs through his hair. He has a fresh wound from today’s match below his right eye, and the beginnings of a shiner are blossoming. “Okay . . . okay . . . So, I’m going to get a taxi back to my place now because I’m super tired all of a sudden.” He fakes a yawn. “We could . . . share a taxi, you know, save money and all that. And I won’t say anything to anyone if you maybe wanted to hang out at my place for a bit. There’s still one major thing to tick off our list of things to try, so . . . if you fancychecking that one thing off, I think that’s more than okay. I see nothing wrong with that.”
“Well . . . when you put it like that . . .”
Fuck, I’ve got a girlfriend. I should thank him for clearing the air and leave. Do I really want to jeopardise whatever future I might have with Georgia for one last spin with Eggo? Is it worth it?
Actually . . . yes. He is.
“We could . . . just try it once. Get it out of our systems?” I suggest, locking eyes with him.
“Oh, for sure. We’ll only do it the one time. And it’s not like you guys have even been official for longer than twenty-four hours yet.”
I don’t tell him we made that decision on Thursday. Semantics. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt either of us.
“I haven’t prepped,” I say.
Eggo’s hand closes on my hip. “Do you need to? I read that not every person needs it. And you literally washed your butthole about two hours ago. I watched you. Plus, I have . . . the necessary tools at my house if you wanted to get ready there.”
“Okay, one . . .” I hold up a finger. “You’re doing your own research now?”
“Yes. Though I’m not sure how much of it qualifies as research and how much is simply just bashing one out to porn.”
I shrug and see-saw my hands. I guess I’m also guilty of that. “And two, you were watching me in the showers? Like how?”
His thumb slips up under the hem of my shirt and grazes the bare flesh above my hip bone. “I’m always watching you, princess.”
“I’ll book an Uber,” I say.
Chapter 22
Finn
Saturday 14th February 2026
