Page 61 of Playing Dirty
I nod, leaning in.
"Just local slang for an old friend, more or less." His brow furrows. "I think it's just a Dublin thing, actually. I’ve never onceheard my cousins up in Donegal say it. But aye, a term of endearment."
“Is it from the Irish language? Sorry, I don't even know what it's called." I give a sheepish smile and sip my Guinness.
"Don't be sorry. In English we just call it Irish. Gaeilge is its own name for itself." He tilts his head, then laughs. "And I don't thinkauld segotiais even Irish. Haven't a clue where that one came from, if I'm honest."
"Do you actually speak it? Gaeilge?" I ask, doing my best with the pronunciation.
"Some." He gives a so-so wobble of his hand. "It's much stronger out west where I grew up than here in Dublin. I used to speak it fairly well. But it's one of those things where if you don't use it you lose it. I'd say I can get by, but I understand more than I can speak these days."
"Hmm. And what about some of the other slang words? I heard someone sayeejitandgobshite."
He lets out a low laugh at my attempt at the accent. "Those are basically just ways of saying idiot. Though they can be affectionately derogatory, depending on the tone. Honestly, most of our slang is derogatory. Anything we can do to put a friend down, really."
I burst out laughing. "Yeah, I picked up on that the more I listened in tonight."
We look at each other for a long moment, and the music and chatter seems to dim around us. He shifts his weight against the bar, his face going slightly more serious, like he's working up to something.
"You know," he says, voice dropping low, "the family's all having dinner together tomorrow night. You should come."
"I don't know, Cillian." I hesitate, the alarm bells starting up in the back of my head. "Wouldn't that be a huge risk? If the press catches wind of us socializing like that. Even being heretonight is dangerous. And we still haven't talked about what we are, or where any of this is going, or if..."
I bite my lip, unable to finish the thought. It's glaringly obvious what's happening between us, and I can't even bring myself to care about the no-athletes rule anymore.
"You don't have to," he says, his smile turning gentle. "But I think we could manage it discreetly. And as for what we are... let's just view it as a dinner between friends. Just twoverygood friends hanging out."
A laugh bursts out of me, loud enough that a couple of heads at the bar turn our way. "Friends. Right. That's the framing we're going with."
"Strictly platonic." He's fighting a grin now. "Wholesome, even."
"Mhm. Two upstanding professional colleagues sharing a wholesome family meal."
"Exactly. Anything else would bewildlyinappropriate."
I laugh, shaking my head at him as he grins back, his eyes crinkling at the corners. I look at him for a long, quiet moment, weighing the logic against the longing.
"Okay. I'll come to dinner tomorrow."
16
Cillian
"Lord above, aren't you just a vision? You're like a proper movie star!" Mam says the second we clear the doorway, her whole face lighting up as she takes Margot in.
I feel a sudden, ridiculous surge of pride, as if she's already mine to show off to the world.
"That's so kind of you to say!" Margot smiles. "I'm not sure I'd go quitethatfar, but thank you so much."
Mam doesn't even hesitate, pulling her into a bone-crushing maternal hug before stepping back to give her another once-over. "Well, it is a grand delight to finally have you here, Margot. And I am just so terribly sorry about that whole mess in the stands. It was anabsolutedisgrace, those men laying hands on you like that."
Margot smiles and shoots me a quick look. "Yeah, well. I had a knight in shining armor on hand to sort it out."
"Aye," Mam says, smiling at me. "Now, I've spent my life maintaining that violence is never the answer. But I also raisedthis lad to never stand by when there's a wrong to be righted, so I suppose I can't be too hard on him for the result."
"Alright, alright," I say, laughing as I lean in to press a quick kiss against her cheek. "Thanks for having us for dinner, Mam."
She beams and ushers us further into the house, and immediately the quiet is murdered by the arrival of my sisters. Fiadh calls out from the back of the hallway, throwing a playful wink at Margot, and then the chaos truly begins.
