we’re both losers this week, then.
I managed to multitask by responding while feeding Maggie and pulling a beer out of the fridge. As long as we’re losers together.
But what happens when one of us wins?
That looked pretty doubtful at the moment, for either the Tigers or the Devils. Then we’ll try not to lord it too badly over the other one. Maybe some comforting will be involved.
I like the sound of that. Even better than the beer. Bloody mixed signals in light of the incident on our first date. Just have to make sure our differences don’t tear us apart like any other doomed romance. To quote INXS, they can never tear us apart.
64 | SEAN KENNEDY
Declan obviously had no shame in acting like a sap or a geek. I wished I was at that stage. But it always took me a while. Like it took me a while to reply to that last message. Yeah, well, to quote Aimee Mann, you’re with stupid now. Stuck with stupid, huh?
For a while, at least.
Goodnight, stupid.
Goodnight, doofus. As I closed up my phone again, I could hear Roger’s indignant words replaying for me: “No wonder you’re always fucking single.”
Maybe I was getting ahead of myself, especially as some things with Declan were still obfuscated by his actions, but perhaps I wasn’t going to be for much longer.
TIGERS AND DEVILS | 65
“SO, we need to have that talk.”
And that was how it started. It was Tuesday, and I had just gotten in from work. Monday night I had come home from having to endure a meal with the family to find that Declan had left me a message on my answering machine. I was disappointed he hadn’t tried to reach me on my mobile, but it wouldn’t have been easy trying to field his call at my folks’ house either. I had thought it too late to call him back as he would probably be training the next morning, and he must have been because he didn’t call me at work.
“Hello to you too,” I said. “And that sounds really ominous. You might want to tone it down a little.”
“Sorry,” Declan replied. “I just wanted to clear up this… thing between us. And, uh, hi.”
I nestled the phone between my ear and shoulder awkwardly as I spooned Fancy Feast into Maggie’s bowl. “So you’ve noticed the… thing?”
“How could I not notice the thing?”
“Well, you were doing a good job of avoiding it.” I threw the can back into the fridge and made my way back into the loungeroom.
“So were you.”
“I was the injured party. Of course I had to wait for you to bring it up.” I collapsed upon the couch and used the arm as a shoe lever to prise the sneakers off my feet. They fell noisily upon the carpet.
Declan was silent.
I sighed. “So talk to me, Dec.”
Somehow, all it took was this affectionate shortening of his name. “I just couldn’t do it right then.”
I hated myself for letting that part of me sneak through, but I guess like any human being I needed that reassurance. “Was it… me?”
He laughed, and I felt like he had just skewered me with a meat fork. “Wait,” he said quickly, “I wasn’t laughing at you. It’s just, I was going to say it’s me and realised how clichéd it sounded.”
66 | SEAN KENNEDY
Relieved, I agreed with him. “Yeah, it would’ve.”
“But it is me. It’s stupid, and I’m embarrassed to tell you.”
“Is that why you wouldn’t tell me on the night?”
Declan paused. “…it’s just that you want everything to go right on the first date—”
“I shouldn’t have been so stupid to—”
“No, shut up for a minute. We had a great night and believe me, I wanted things to go further.”
I wanted to scream Then why didn’t they? but I bit my tongue. He stopped again, and I waited for him to continue. He didn’t.
“Dec? Are you there?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“Well, I’m listening.”
“I still feel bloody stupid.”
“Well,” I said, trying to sound wise. “We’re not going to get past it if you don’t tell me, are we?”
“It was the night
I managed to multitask by responding while feeding Maggie and pulling a beer out of the fridge. As long as we’re losers together.
But what happens when one of us wins?
That looked pretty doubtful at the moment, for either the Tigers or the Devils. Then we’ll try not to lord it too badly over the other one. Maybe some comforting will be involved.
I like the sound of that. Even better than the beer. Bloody mixed signals in light of the incident on our first date. Just have to make sure our differences don’t tear us apart like any other doomed romance. To quote INXS, they can never tear us apart.
64 | SEAN KENNEDY
Declan obviously had no shame in acting like a sap or a geek. I wished I was at that stage. But it always took me a while. Like it took me a while to reply to that last message. Yeah, well, to quote Aimee Mann, you’re with stupid now. Stuck with stupid, huh?
For a while, at least.
Goodnight, stupid.
Goodnight, doofus. As I closed up my phone again, I could hear Roger’s indignant words replaying for me: “No wonder you’re always fucking single.”
Maybe I was getting ahead of myself, especially as some things with Declan were still obfuscated by his actions, but perhaps I wasn’t going to be for much longer.
TIGERS AND DEVILS | 65
“SO, we need to have that talk.”
And that was how it started. It was Tuesday, and I had just gotten in from work. Monday night I had come home from having to endure a meal with the family to find that Declan had left me a message on my answering machine. I was disappointed he hadn’t tried to reach me on my mobile, but it wouldn’t have been easy trying to field his call at my folks’ house either. I had thought it too late to call him back as he would probably be training the next morning, and he must have been because he didn’t call me at work.
“Hello to you too,” I said. “And that sounds really ominous. You might want to tone it down a little.”
“Sorry,” Declan replied. “I just wanted to clear up this… thing between us. And, uh, hi.”
I nestled the phone between my ear and shoulder awkwardly as I spooned Fancy Feast into Maggie’s bowl. “So you’ve noticed the… thing?”
“How could I not notice the thing?”
“Well, you were doing a good job of avoiding it.” I threw the can back into the fridge and made my way back into the loungeroom.
“So were you.”
“I was the injured party. Of course I had to wait for you to bring it up.” I collapsed upon the couch and used the arm as a shoe lever to prise the sneakers off my feet. They fell noisily upon the carpet.
Declan was silent.
I sighed. “So talk to me, Dec.”
Somehow, all it took was this affectionate shortening of his name. “I just couldn’t do it right then.”
I hated myself for letting that part of me sneak through, but I guess like any human being I needed that reassurance. “Was it… me?”
He laughed, and I felt like he had just skewered me with a meat fork. “Wait,” he said quickly, “I wasn’t laughing at you. It’s just, I was going to say it’s me and realised how clichéd it sounded.”
66 | SEAN KENNEDY
Relieved, I agreed with him. “Yeah, it would’ve.”
“But it is me. It’s stupid, and I’m embarrassed to tell you.”
“Is that why you wouldn’t tell me on the night?”
Declan paused. “…it’s just that you want everything to go right on the first date—”
“I shouldn’t have been so stupid to—”
“No, shut up for a minute. We had a great night and believe me, I wanted things to go further.”
I wanted to scream Then why didn’t they? but I bit my tongue. He stopped again, and I waited for him to continue. He didn’t.
“Dec? Are you there?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“Well, I’m listening.”
“I still feel bloody stupid.”
“Well,” I said, trying to sound wise. “We’re not going to get past it if you don’t tell me, are we?”
“It was the night
Similar Books
