Page 33 of Try Hard

Eve

W hen Tanika rejoined the group, Ophelia wasn’t with her. I scanned the club immediately.

“Where’s Fia?” I asked, leaning across the small circle our group had formed to speak to Tanika.

She grinned knowingly. “She’s at the bar.”

I looked again, eyes narrowed. There was no reason for the anxiety building in my chest. Ophelia was an adult who absolutely knew how to handle herself. But I knew she wasn’t keen on this many people trying to talk to her, expecting socialisation from her.

Plus, Adnan had conveniently disappeared, and that felt sketchy. Sure, he was a good guy, but I hadn’t missed the way Ophelia hated him checking her out. The way she’d stiffened and hidden half of her body in my side had screamed her discomfort, but he hadn’t picked up on it.

“Don’t worry about her,” Sammy said, her hand finding my back again. “You don’t need to watch after her constantly.”

I stepped away from her touch. Maybe Ophelia had been right. Sammy was more persistent than I’d given her credit for. And, when she dismissed Ophelia’s needs, she was starting to stretch even my endless patience.

It wasn’t that I thought Ophelia couldn’t handle herself. I knew she could. It was that even the strongest people in the world deserved love, protection, and care from those close to them. And God knew she hadn’t received nearly enough of that over the years.

Maybe I was on a one-woman mission to finally provide Ophelia with all the devotion I’d been carrying for her since we were teenagers—and all the care she should have been receiving in the interim. I was fine with that. And I wasn’t letting Sammy interfere.

An awkward conversation was probably in my future.

“I’ll be back,” I told Kieran as I patted his shoulder, careful not to disturb his balance as he danced.

There was no way Ophelia had moved far from where I’d last seen her—that stunning moment when the whole world seemed to stand still and all that mattered in the universe was her.

It reminded me of one of our GCSE English classes.

It had been my turn to give a speech to the class—only the second person to go by virtue of having a last name beginning with A—and, while public speaking didn’t bother me, there was always something a little uncomfortable about standing in front of your class and talking at them for several long minutes.

Ophelia had watched intently through the entire thing, nodding occasionally, her face betraying when she found something new or interesting, and, in the end, I’d only really been talking to her.

The other twenty-five kids and our teacher faded into the background, and I’d have willingly kept talking to her for hours.

As I approached the bar, my eyes scanned frantically for her deep red hair. There really was no reason for the frantic pounding in my chest and head, but I knew it wouldn’t settle until I found her. And, when I finally landed on those familiar waves, the relief was only momentary.

Ophelia was ramrod straight, one hand curled tightly around the smooth edge of the bar, barely looking at Adnan.

“Give the lady room to breathe,” I said, coming up beside him and clapping him on the back.

He was the picture of ease, clearly having an entirely different read on the situation and Ophelia than she and I did. He stood up from where he’d been leaning and laughed. “Not to worry, Archer. We’re just chatting.”

I pasted on a grin as my eyes ran over Ophelia, noting the way the fingers of her free hand reached subconsciously towards me from their position at her side. She wasn’t required to ask out loud for me to understand what she needed.

“Yeah, I’m sure you two have loads to catch up on,” I said, smiling at Adnan as I angled myself between them—not enough to seem weird or possessive, but enough to give Ophelia the sense of distance and blockade she clearly wanted.

“I don’t know that we ever even spoke at school,” she said stiffly, though she often sounded like that, so I doubted most people would notice anything off.

Adnan laughed heartily. “Oh, I’m sure we shared a few words at some point.”

I wasn’t convinced that was true. Sure, they knew of each other, our school was small enough for that, but Adnan hadn’t been in any of Ophelia’s classes as far as I was aware, and I couldn’t think of any reason the two of them would have been chatting recreationally.

However, any recollections that might have occurred slipped straight out of my head when I felt Ophelia’s fingers against the back of my thigh.

She was simply seeking comfort, gripping the fabric like a lifeline in the ocean. But I couldn’t help the way my heart soared from her touch. I was the one she felt safe around, the one she sought comfort from. I’d spent decades wanting to be that for her.

Plus, even if I was a rugby player and touching people’s thighs was par for the course, it still felt different when it was Ophelia touching them.

Adnan was not in a position to see what had happened, but he shot me an amused look like he was under no illusions as to what was going on. “So, I guess Kieran was right, huh?”

“Maybe,” I replied, unable to hide my amusement—and pride, honestly. Kieran had managed to forget to reply to my text all week, but of course he’d discussed the contents of it.

In truth, I wasn’t sure he had forgotten to reply.

I suspected he’d simply planned the whole thing knowing I’d forgive him in person at his own stag party.

I hadn’t even been that annoyed when I’d sent the message.

I’d already made my peace with the fact that he was bound to tell Kim all our secrets, and, if him telling her I’d always fancied Ophelia helped get her here, I was never going to be upset about that.

But, even without Adnan hearing from Kieran that I’d been complaining about him outing my crush to his future wife, he’d already known about it.

He’d been there for it back in school. I guess he finally understood where I’d been coming from, even if only in a superficial way.

Ophelia was incredibly beautiful, so it wasn’t like I could blame him for realising that.

What I blamed him for was never noticing it before.

And for only having the barest clue of just how gorgeous she really was.

You didn’t get the whole picture until you got to know her, and there was no way she’d been letting Adnan in before I’d arrived.

He nodded and took a step back, raising his hands in surrender. “Maybe don’t fuck it up this time, Archer,” he said with a laugh before he disappeared back into the crowd and out of view.

Had I fucked it up the first time? Not the way that phrase generally meant maybe, but being too much of a coward to just ask Ophelia out had been one of the biggest fuck ups in my life.

Although, if I’d asked her back then, we’d probably have fallen apart as uni and careers pulled us in different directions. Maybe, now, if we got another shot at it, we’d go the distance. Careers were still a problem, mind, even if we were at least residents in the same country again.

Ophelia collapsed into my back once Adnan was gone, the remaining stress draining from her muscles.

Without even needing to think about it, I wrapped my arms backwards around her.

It was both a little awkward as an angle and something that seemed desperately coupley.

I tried very hard not to have my hands rest on her ass.

That was not what she needed, no matter how much that would be where they fell naturally in this position.

“Are you okay?” I asked seriously.

“Yes.” She nodded against where her head was nestled between my shoulder blades.

“Do you need a minute away from the chaos?”

“Please.”

I moved to take her hand again—that was becoming ridiculously easy and natural. If I didn’t get that second shot at not fucking up with her, I was really going to miss her. I already felt the loss of contact against my back far too keenly.

Ophelia let me lead the way outside like she’d have followed me anywhere. The ego boost of it was only furthered by the way she refused to untangle our hands when the bouncers pressed reentry stamps to the backs of them. She simply held our joined fingers up and twisted so hers was accessible.

The queer bouncer looked delighted to see me again and had clearly decided they thought Ophelia and I were adorable together.

Sure, we still hadn’t discussed the intricacies of being with me and the unwanted attention that would subject Ophelia to, but I preferred the fans who found it adorable over the ones who saw it as an obstacle to overcome. Like with Sammy…

The night was dark and cool outside, but, even for me, it was refreshing as I led Ophelia around the side of the building for a moment of privacy.

“Here’s good,” she said once we were away from prying eyes, and I was surprised when she pulled me around to face her and instantly fell into my arms.

Her head fit perfectly under my chin when she was in sneakers, our arms wrapping around each other like they knew exactly how we slotted together.

“Did Adnan hurt you?” I asked softly, allowing space for any kind of hurt she might have felt.

She shook her head and I breathed the scent of her in relief.

We were quiet for a moment, and I was fairly certain she was listening to my breathing, matching hers to it.

Then, without warning, she pushed lightly against me.

I went willingly, allowing my shoulders to hit the wall behind us as Ophelia stepped into the space between my legs, keeping us locked in the hug, even at an angle.

I laughed gently and watched the way it disturbed a couple of her mesmerising hairs.

“Adnan was perfectly fine,” she said finally, her voice hushed. “I shouldn’t have been so uptight about it.”

“You’re allowed to feel however you do, at anything.”

“I just…” She sighed heavily. “This isn’t the place for that whole conversation, but it wasn’t really about him or anything he did. Not exactly.”

I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, lingering through three steady breaths, my heart racing. With her ear pressed against my chest, Ophelia had to have heard it, but she didn’t move or comment, so neither did I.

Everything with her was starting to feel so much like dating, and I wasn’t convinced it was only because I wanted that. Not anymore.

That was probably another conversation I needed to have. I liked this one more, even though the outcome terrified me far beyond the one with Sammy.

“We can talk about it later?” Ophelia asked, and her timing was perfect even if she was asking about a different conversation.

I hummed. “Of course. Whenever you want to. But, just so you know, whatever happened and whatever caused it, I’m not going to judge you.”

She laughed, the sound emotional, like I’d surprised her and hit upon the exact thing she needed to hear.

I smiled and adjusted my grip to slip my hands inside her blazer, reducing the layers between us.

“You know Sammy wouldn’t like this?” she asked, changing tack so she’d be ready to go back inside and face everyone.

“On the contrary, I’m sure she’d love me to hold her like this.”

“Oh, so you finally admit she does want you?”

“I suppose it would be a little foolish to keep denying it at this point. But we don’t always get what we want, you know?”

Ophelia hummed and wrapped her arms a little tighter around me. But, before I could worry too much, she said, “I’m sure she’ll be devastated.”

“I’m sure Soph would too, to find out she’d missed out on hugging you ‘round the back of some club.”

Her laughter was light and lyrical and extraordinary. “She’ll cope. Besides, I’ve heard I’m having dinner with her tomorrow night.”

“Oh, have I been uninvited?”

“Yes, Archer,” she said, her tone snarky again. But the way she pressed herself into me, inching further between my legs, took the bite out of her words completely. “I’m hoping to go on a double date with your sister, your mum, and her boyfriend.”

“You’re breaking my heart, Ophelia,” I said with a laugh, even if a tiny part of me worried about the possibility of her actually wanting that.

She shook her head, her hair tickling my neck and chin. “I’m not coming to dinner if you’re not there.”

I beamed. “In that case, count me in for every dinner from now until eternity. Can’t have you going hungry, can we?”

She finally stepped back, but her hands dragged slowly over my back and lingered on my hips as she stood before me with narrowed, amused eyes. “You want to be careful with promising things like that. I might hold you to them.”

“Do it,” I said with a grin, like it was a challenge. She could hold me to anything she wanted, and I would move heaven and earth to give her all of it.

She shook her head, barely hiding her smile. “Come on, let’s get back inside before they think we got lost. That bouncer fan of yours will be sending out a search party any minute now.”

I went willingly, truly happy to follow her anywhere, but especially when she slipped her hand back into mine.

The way she looked down, refusing to make eye contact, was one of the cutest things I’d ever seen her do.

Every part of me wanted to weave my fingers with hers, but she’d already been through enough tonight.

I’d save that for another day, and spend forever hoping that day would come.