Kieran took a sip of his pint, watching Eileen and hoping she'd be appropriately excited. He'd been half-exasperated when he got the vote, mostly because it had meant that he had to make a decision — but underneath that had been excitement, because he finally had a choice. He hoped it was the same for Eileen.

But he got distracted by his optimism by Jude finally, finally, noticing. Kieran grinned over his pint at Jude. "I did," he said, pride clearly leaking into his voice. "Ainsworth put a good word in for me." He'd indulged them with the thing with the brother, and now he had this — and he was dreadfully proud of it.