Ruck Me (Dublin Rugby #2) (Dublin Rugby Romance) Read online

  Ruck Me

  (Dublin Rugby #2)

  Rebecca Norinne

  Copyright © 2017 by Rebecca Norinne. All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental or meant to lend credibility and authenticity in the story. The use of brand names and locations should not be read as an endorsement of this author’s work.

  Contents

  About This Book

  Name Pronunciation Guide

  Part I

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Part II

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Ruck Me Playlist

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  More Dublin Rugby Romance

  Other Books by Rebecca Norinne

  A Note from Rebecca

  About This Book

  RUCK ME (DUBLIN RUGBY #2)

  I’d called Aoife O’Shaughnessy a number of things, but dumb was never one of them. Through all the trouble she’d gotten into over the years, I never once thought she was actually stupid. Until now. Because I just heard her plan to lose her virginity to the biggest asshole we know.

  My first thought? How the fuck is Aoife still a virgin? The second? Over my dead body.

  So I volunteered for the job instead.

  It might be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but once the words were out of my mouth, I couldn’t take them back. I didn’t want to. Suddenly, I couldn’t stop wondering what it would be like to kiss the pink-haired sprite I’d known my whole life, to hear her moan my name when she comes.

  And I know she’s wondering about me too.

  It was only supposed to be about sex, but now I'm in deep. I never meant to fall in love with Aoife; this wasn’t supposed to happen. And what came next? Well, neither of us planned on that.

  To my long-suffering husband, who humors my obsession with rugby.

  And also to all the readers who understand exactly why I have one.

  Name Pronunciation Guide

  If you didn’t grow up speaking Irish or already know people with the names of the characters in this book, then you’re going to have some trouble with the pronunciations. I’ve lived in Dublin for almost two years and I still struggle with some of the names I come across. To help you out, I put together this handy dandy cheat sheet so you’re not pronouncing things the way I did the first time I read Circle of Friends.

  Since I’m not a linguist, I pulled the pronunciations from an Irish baby names website and asked my Irish friends if I had the gist of it. If anything is incorrect, the fault is entirely mine.

  Aoife: EE-fa

  Eoin: O-in

  Donal: Dho-nil

  Tadhg: Tie-g

  Aidan: Aid-n

  Declan: Dec-lan

  Liam: Lee-am

  Brienne: Bree-en

  Clodagh: Clo-da

  Ainsley: Ains-lee

  Niall: Nye-al

  Chapter 1

  EOIN

  Over the years I’d called Aoife O’Shaughnessy a number of things, but dumb was never one of them. When she’d jumped into the freezing cold ocean in her deb dress instead of changing into a bathing suit like every other girl had, I’d called her mad. When she shaved off the left side of her hair two weeks after term ended, I thought she’d lost her fucking mind. But then, three months later, when she dyed it all a bright, bubblegum pink, I told her she’d made the biggest mistake of her life. Aoife being Aoife, she just laughed in my face and said I didn’t understand the first thing about women or fashion and that she felt sorry for me.

  We’d been trading light-hearted insults ever since.

  And yet through all of the insane things Aoife had done over the years—all the trouble she’d gotten herself into—I’d never once thought she was actually stupid.

  Until now.

  Because I’d just overheard that eejit tell Tanya O’Reilly she was going to ask the vilest human being I knew to punch her v-card.

  My first thought? How the fuck was Aoife still a virgin? The second? Over my dead body.

  I really shouldn’t have gotten involved, but if I didn’t say something and Declan found out I’d known about his sister’s plans, he’d tear my balls off and feed them to me for breakfast. What I should have done was call the asshole up and tell him to get down here and take care of his bat shit crazy sister, but he’d been under a lot of stress lately and was starting to act weird. Case in point: he’d skipped celebratory drinks with us in favor of going home and sleeping—alone. With three important matches coming up, Declan needed to snap the fuck out of whatever funk he was in and focus on winning. Him having to deal with Aoife would only be a distraction.

  So, being the nice guy that I was, I crossed my fingers and hoped I could talk her out of her latest scheme.

  “Ladies,” I said, shoving my chair between Aoife and Tanya, interrupting their whispered conversation. “Nice night for a pint, wouldn’t you say?”

  Tanya’s eyes roam over my broad, muscled chest and roped biceps before returning the greeting. “Evening Eoin. You’re looking fine. Good match tonight.”

  I smiled and winked because that’s what Tanya liked. Everyone said she was a whore but the truth was, in the year I’d been playing on the senior team, I’d never actually seen her leave the pub with any of the lads, save Aidan. And since he seemed to like her well enough, I figured she was all right by me.

  “I was just telling Aoife she needs to come out more,” Tanya remarked, gesturing around the packed pub appreciatively. “She can’t hide away in Ballycurra forever.”

  Aoife’s eyes narrowed and her lips pursed as if she was trying to send Tanya some sort of telepathic message. When Tanya ignored the not-so-subtle hint, Aoife tried switching the subject. “So, about the match tonight …”

  Given what I’d just overheard though, I wasn’t about to let the topic go. “Yeah, Aoife. You need to get out of Ballycurra. I can’t believe you haven’t left already. Or are you too afraid to leave your mammy?”

  Honestly, I didn’t care where Aoife lived, but if she stayed in Ballycurra she’d have ample opportunity to approach Kevin Dempsey, and I knew he’d happily take her up on her offer. Which meant I either needed to persuade her to move out of her mam’s or help her find someone else to pop her cherry.

/>   I didn’t have the first clue how to convince her that Kevin was the worst sort of asshole without revealing exactly what I knew since I’d promised never to tell anyone what had happened. The problem was, for as big a gobshite as Kevin was, he could turn on the charm when it suited him. If he thought that Aoife was into him, she’d be powerless to stop his advances. For whatever reason, girls turned into idiots around him, a fact he exploited often and without shame. I was surprised some of the fathers of Ballycurra hadn’t run him out of town already with pitchforks and boiling oil.

  “Shut the fuck up, arsehole,” Aoife responded. “It’s not like you live in some palace.”

  She was right, of course. I shared a shit hole four bedroom house with three other guys and, thinking about it now, wasn’t sure the bathroom had been cleaned in over a month. “No,” I agreed. “But at least I live on my own. When are you going to get out from old Colleen’s thumb? It’s gotta be shit living with her still.”

  “Yeah, well, we can’t all have someone else picking up the tab for our places, even if they should be condemned.”

  “I hate to break it to you,” I responded, ignoring her jibe since she was probably right, “but your brother is loaded. I’m fairly certain he could get you a place if you really wanted to move out.”

  “It’s not that simple, okay? Let’s just say Declan isn’t exactly convinced I’d be fine on my own.”

  I chuckled under my breath because the man had a point. Like I said before, Aoife wasn’t dumb, but she had a habit of doing things that other people didn’t … or wouldn’t. She was a bit unconventional, which was one of the things I liked most about being around her. The amount of time I spent training didn’t leave much in the way of relaxing or goofing off. Add studying for my engineering degree to the mix, and blowing off steam was practically impossible. I got a lot of mileage out of living vicariously through Aoife’s exploits.

  “You think he wouldn’t help you out, even if you found somewhere with roommates?”

  She shrugged glumly. “Maybe. I dunno. I’d have to ask.”

  “Why haven’t you then?”

  Aoife twisted to face me, her glare unnerving. “Can I be honest?”

  I shifted in my seat, breaking her stare. I didn’t like it when Aoife looked at me that way. Mad, daft, and as insane as she could be, she was also observant as fuck and I had a hard time holding up under her scrutiny. The ability to keep a secret was one of the things I was best at, but where this girl was concerned, I’d say almost anything. If I’d learned anything over the years, it was that the longer Aoife stared, the more forthcoming I became.

  It had all started back in primary school when I’d ratted out my best friend for taking the class hamster home. Aoife had told me I needed to do the right thing and then stared me down until I actually did it. I just needed to make her think moving out of Ballycurra was her own idea. More than anything else, Aoife hated being told what to do.

  “Absolutely. You know you can tell me anything.”

  She sighed and ran her hand through her bright pink locks, twirling a piece between her fingers. “The truth is, I feel bad asking Declan to foot the bill for me to move out. He already pays for too much as it is.”

  I wasn’t sure exactly how much Declan made but I knew it was more than anyone else on our team. When he’d signed his new contract last year, the press speculated it was to the tune of €400,000 a year, but he also had a ton of endorsement deals too. He even had his face on a carton of milk. Milk!

  “If you’re worried about asking him for the money, maybe you could move into his place?” I asked, hoping no one overhear lest the suggestion get back to Declan. I was pretty sure his little sister moving in was the last thing he’d want. Still, desperate times called for desperate measures and all that, so I kept going. “I don’t know what a single guy needs a big old house like that for anyway.”

  “Oh god no! It’s bad enough I had to grow up across the hall from him! You know what he’s like.”

  The thing was, I knew exactly what Declan was like. And since Aoife was disgusted by her brother, I probably shouldn’t tell her I practically worshipped at the altar of Declan O’Shaughnessy. Not only was he the best rugby player Dublin had ever seen, but he also started every game for the Irish national team too. But my adoration wasn’t just about the sport. Declan was a legend with women. If I managed to pull even half the pussy he did, I would die a very happy man. Hell, a quarter of that and I’d be extremely satisfied. Because if there was one thing I loved nearly as much as I loved rugby, it was women. Any color, age, shape, or size … kissing them, licking them, fucking them. I had two happy places: the pitch and between a girl’s legs. Basically, I wanted to be just like Declan O’Shaughnessy when I grew up. Which his sister absolutely did not want to know.

  “Okay, so you can’t live with Declan and you won’t ask him for money to get a place of your own. I hate to break it to you Aoife, but that basically has you living with Colleen until you’re old and gray. How many cats would you be thinking of getting?”

  “I know, alright. Trust me, I know.” She dropped her head forward and stared at her hands, defeat resting heavily on her shoulders.

  As much as I wanted to prevent Aoife from making a mistake with Kevin, I didn’t like that I’d made her feel bad about herself. She got enough of that at home; I didn’t need to add to it. I nudged her knee with my own. “Ah … Aoife, I’m sorry for giving out to you. I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

  She raised her head and stared at me for a beat before answering. “I love my mam, really I do. But you’re right, I have to get out of there. Between being all the way out in Ballycurra and having Declan for a brother, I …” Her eyes widened and she trailed off. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”

  I scooted my chair closer. It wasn’t like anyone was paying attention to our conversation, what with Tanya sitting on Aidan’s lap and Liam getting a neck massage from some girl I didn’t recognize. Her unwillingness to complete her thought intrigued me.

  “What is it? You can tell me.”

  “I don’t think I can,” she whispered, her eyes flicking between mine.

  “C’mon sprite. We’ve known each other since we were both in nappies. You’ve seen my dick, for chrissakes!”

  At the mention of us playing naked together when we’d been babies, she brightened and a light chuckle escaped her lips. “And to think, I was the first.”

  Come to think of it, she had been the first to get a look at my dick which, from the way it just twitched in my jeans, wasn’t as repulsive an idea as I’d previously thought.

  Huh. Funny that.

  I placed my hand on her knee and squeezed. “I promise to keep it a secret. After all, you’ve never told anyone about my one-inch willy,” I joked.

  “I’m sure it’s grown since then. You’ve got to be at least two inches by now.”

  “Fuck you,” I said laughing. “I can assure you, I’m much bigger than that.”

  “Maybe,” she shrugged. “Or maybe not.”

  As much as it pained me to admit it, all this talk of my dick growing had it filling out right this second.

  And once I came to that realization, my mind decided to play a very dirty trick on me by wondering what Aoife would do if she saw my cock now. She was somehow still a virgin, but maybe she didn’t need to stay that way for long. If she was willing to throw it away on a tosser like Kevin Dempsey, maybe she’d consider a different idea—a different someone. After all, it wasn’t like I’d fuck her and forget her the way Kevin would.

  Suddenly a very dangerous idea began to take shape in my addled brain. We were friends. If we did this right, we could even stay friends afterward.

  I’d never thought of Aoife that way before, but now I wondered if I’d been a fool not to. Objectively speaking, she was pretty by anyone’s standards, but when you factored in everything about her, she wasn’t just pretty … she was unique. In a sea of same, she stood out. She made you remember h
er, whether you wanted to or not.

  I picked up my beer and swallowed a few deep gulps, feeling very uncomfortable with the direction of my thoughts. This was Aoife O’Shaughnessy, for fuck’s sake. I’d known her literally my whole life. Her brother was my team captain, and as sure as I knew anything, I knew sisters and ex-girlfriends were off limits. And yet I was about 10 seconds away from doing something I shouldn’t. Five seconds until I changed everything between us, forever. One second away from opening a door I would never be able to close.

  I leaned forward, my beer bottle resting between my spread knees. “Don’t do it Aoife.”

  She sucked in a quick, startled breath. “Do what?” Her eyes darted this way and that, unwilling to meet mine.

  “I overheard what you said to Tanya.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Undeterred, I placed my beer on the table and moved closer. Close enough that I could lay both my hands on her knees. Close enough that if I leaned in any further, I’d be near enough to kiss her. Close enough that she couldn’t get away.