Jeez. In six lines, he had turned me to mush. What kind of a man writes notes in this day and age? The freakin’ awesome kind, that’s who! I flattened out the note and put it inside my favourite book. Still dazed, I brushed my teeth and changed into my pyjamas. Tonight, I was walking on air, and for the first time in a long time, I was happy.
I WALKED MY TRAY DOWN the lunch queue, contemplating the delicate balance of craptastic culinary experiments on offer, bearing in mind my modest budget. The salad was fresh looking and cheap, if not a little basic, and my stomach grumbled as I thought about Mike’s spectacular quarter pounder with cheese, lovingly known as ‘the Daisy Burger’. If O’Connell ever took a break from training, then a Daisy Burger would be my treat.
“Right, then. Spill. You’ve been mooning around this canteen for ten minutes looking like you’ve just won the lottery, and you never smile like this, so what’s going on?”
Albie gently butted into the queue and dumped his tray down next to mine. He loaded it with enough food to keep me in lunches for a month, and then followed that with two cartons of milk.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I answered. “I am merely perusing the canteen’s many culinary delights. If I’m smiling more than usual, it’s probably because I’m overwhelmed by the overabundance of decadent menu choices on offer today.”
Albie looked at me stunned, and then laughed deep and heartily. “You’ve just said more words to me in one sentence than you’ve said to me in the whole time I’ve known you. Horniness makes you verbose.”
Humour gone, I stared at him gobsmacked, my cheeks reddening.
“I am not horny. Who told you I was horny?” I spluttered.
“No one. But I can’t imagine you floating about like this unless you were hot for some guy. Plus, you do have that ‘I’m thinking about a man naked’ look about you,” he laughed.
“No, I do not,” I blustered indignantly.
I absentmindedly reached for a piece of carrot cake, then put it back again when I realised that I didn’t need it and couldn’t afford it.
“Em, you’re so easy to wind up.” He smiled as he carried on loading up his tray.
“I’m glad you’re happy,” I huffed.
I wasn’t used to being teased and it was hard allowing myself to feel excited about my fledgling friendship with O’Connell. Whenever I’d had anything to feel good about, Frank had taken it away. It gave him a kind of perverse pleasure, but coveting my happiness didn’t need to daunt me anymore. I had friends, I was happy, and I needed to stop worrying about hiding the fact. If anything, I should be grabbing O’Connell by the hand and shouting at the top of my lungs, “Holy shit, can you believe that this unbelievably, hot as fuck, man mountain actually wants to date me!” Okay, so that might be a little extreme, but sharing a little of my happiness with my friends shouldn’t be such a big deal. We paid for our trays and, as I sat down next to Albie, was cornered by the gang.
“So, you hooked up with Hottie McTottie yet then?” Nikki said teasingly.
“Who’s Hottie McTottie?” Ben asked.
“Only the six-foot-five, dark, built, intense, brooding fighter who’s been mooning over Em for the last few weeks,” Nikki replied.
“He hasn’t been mooning over me, and we’re not together,” I corrected. “We’re friends, that’s all.”
Nikki grinned, but Albie laughed out loud. “Sweetheart, we’ve only seen you both together once, and you were setting the place on fire. Seriously, I saw my life flashing before my eyes when I offered to walk you home. It’s not a big jump for us to imagine you two together.”
“Well, it’s a big jump for me,” I admitted, quietly.
“We know,” Nikki soothed. “But that boy has it bad for you, and it’s only a matter of time before he wears you down. If he fucks it up, though, he’ll have to answer to us.”
I really wasn’t that much of a prize, but it was nice of them to care. I did giggle a little at the thought of Nikki, who was probably only a little bigger than me, pounding on O’Connell for some perceived wrongdoing. I’d bet he’d had splinters that hurt more.
“You do realise who O’Connell is, don’t you, Nik?” Ryan volunteered, and I bristled, waiting for the insult.
“Everyone knows who he is, Ry,” Albie answered. “But I’m telling you, man, you didn’t see the way he looks at her.”
“Just be careful, that’s all I’m saying,” Ryan warned.
I knew more than anyone that my guard should be up, but it had been up my whole life, and it felt good to let it down. If O’Connell was going to trample all over our friendship, then so be it. Every moment that I’d spent with him so far made the risk worth it. I had finished my salad and contemplated leaving, when a plate slid in front of me. Albie grinned as he passed me the carrot cake I’d been eyeing.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“That ridiculously big piece of cake you talked yourself out of. It’s a celebration,” he answered.
“What are we celebrating?”
“Finding something decadent that you know is bad for you and sinking your teeth into it.”
I was about to remind him that O’Connell and I were just friends, when he winked teasingly at me. Accepting the gesture with a smile for the act of kindness that it was, I plunged my fork into the moist cake, groaning at the first bite. We chatted about our plans for later, but I already knew what I was doing with my afternoon, and Albie had been my inspiration.
“WHAT IS IT?” Tommy asked later that night, as he stared at the tin like it might be filled with anthrax. I opened the lid as he held it in his hands.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” He grinned, and I was pleased that he looked so impressed.
“What’s going on, Em?” Mac, one of the gym’s other ridiculously large fighters, asked.
“I’ve baked Tommy’s mum a chocolate fudge cake.”
“Seriously?” Tommy asked. “That’s fudge in the middle?”
“It sure is, and if you heat it up, the filling should melt so the chocolate fudge sauce will cover the cake.”
“Why’s Tommy got chocolate cake?” Kieran pitched in.