Page 43 of An Irish Hope

“Sounds like you and Aisling would balance each other out,” Rory said. “Ash could probably do with a little more structure in her life.”

“Rory,” Aisling said in a hushed voice. “I can’t believe you just said that. I’m not a slacker.”

“I’m not suggesting that. Just that sometimes you may find it easier to relax than complete a task.”

Aisling eyed her with a frown.

“Hey.” He waited as Aisling’s attention turned to him. “I know I need to learn to relax. Rest is important. So is having fun.”

“And Ash certainly knows how to bring the fun factor, don’t you?”

“Oh my gosh,” she muttered. “Now she’s making it sound like I’m a party girl.”

“I don’t think your sister meant to suggest that.” Except, it did sound a bit like that.

Aidan’s phone buzzed, distracting Rory. Leaving Andy to peek at her sister and wonder what she was thinking of. She sighed, playing with her paper straw.

“So today’s exercise didn’t bother you?”

Her smile was more like a grimace. “In case it escaped your notice, my skin always feels bothered by exercise.” She pointed to her face. And yes, it was flushed still. “I’m sure I look like a tomato.”

He chuckled. “You look fine.”

She sighed. “Just what every girl longs to hear. That she looks fine.”

He sipped his drink, suddenly nervous. Was she hinting that she wanted him to say something more? What had she asked yesterday? That’s right. She’d wanted to know if he thought if she was pretty. And he’d said without a moment’s hesitation that yes, he thought she was. So for that to descend to mere levels of “fine” could be considered a challenge. Except he was in no position to admit his attraction to her. He didn’t want to stir up feelings he couldn’t reciprocate. Which meant he needed to tread very carefully.

Somehow the conversation steered around to what to do later, like dinner and a movie, and somehow he found himself agreeing to join them in Kilkenny.

“Mind you, I don’t know what’s playing,” Rory said. “But sometimes it’s not so much the movie as it is the experience of being elsewhere and going out.”

He glanced at Aisling, who was biting her lip. “Did you want to go?”

Her nose wrinkled. “I really don’t want this to seem like a setup. I’m happy not to go if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m happy with whatever.” Although on second thoughts, hadn’t he just realised the importance of not stirring things up? Maybe he should decline, and avoid her, and say—

“In that case, let’s do it. It’ll be fun, even if the film is dumb.”

He swallowed. Nodded. So much for avoiding her.

Her smile flashed. “You know, for someone who wanted to go to the Olympics, you seem pretty relaxed about things.”

“I’ve had some time to learn to deal with plans not working out.” He studied her. “How did you find out?” Had she Googled him? If so, why?

She blushed. “It’s not like you aren’t in the newspapers.”

“I haven’t been in the newspapers for some time.” Which was just the way he liked it.

“We might have found an article online,” Rory said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

He shrugged. “It’s fine.” It wasn’t really, but what was he going to do? It wasn’t like he could wear a big placard that said ‘Please don’t look me up on the Internet’. But he hoped their investigation had stopped there. He suspected there might be a corner of the Internet somewhere that had news about his failed relationship with Greta. And he’d really prefer to be the person talking about that, not having Aisling’s opinion of him shaped by what she had read online.

For a movie that he’d never wanted to see this one wasn’t bad. He wasn’t a fan of epic sci-fi movies involving space wars. They’d never made much sense to him, because why would aliens want to invade a planet with clearly inferior beings? But just as Rory had said, this wasn’t so much about watching the movie, but about getting out and hanging with people he was starting to consider his friends.