BIDDIES was packed. Loud chatter, clinking glasses, and rugby lads spread across booths and stools. Tadhg stood near the jukebox with Joey, Johnny, Hughie, Gibsie, and Patrick, pretending to laugh at something—but his eyes kept flicking toward the door.

And then she walked in.

Hair swept up, cheeks pink from the cold, eyes scanning the room—until they landed on him. She didn’t hesitate. She made her way through the crowd like she wasn’t shaking, like her heart wasn’t about to give out.

Tadhg stiffened.

She stopped in front of him. “Do you have an answer?”

The lads went quiet. Everyone did, really. It was that kind of stillness where even the music felt like background noise.

Tadhg opened his mouth.

Closed it.

And that’s when she broke.

Her voice cracked—too loud, too raw. “It’s me or her, Tadhg.”

Whispers rippled through the room.

“Do you want me,” she asked, eyes shimmering, “or do you want her? Why can’t you just say me?”

“Tadhg…” Johnny warned, low.

But Tadhg’s eyes were only on her. His lips parted, her name forming on his tongue, barely a whisper at first.

“[Her name]…”

She shook her head. “Say it. If you want me, just say it.”

“[Her name]…” he said again, louder this time, stepping forward. “It’s you. It’s always been you.”

Her expression faltered.

"Then why didn't you bloody tell me that..or turn her down?"

His gaze dropped, how mouth opening and then closing again.

Why had he hesitated? Why hadn't he immediately rejected that girl?

She clenched her hands into tight fists and turned out to walk out of biddies.