Page 224 of If You Give an Artist a Killer Muse

I am the Queen of baking stuffed chocolate chip cookies. Rurik should be home soon after having brunch with his asshole stepdad, so I want to surprise him with his favorite cookies. I can’t wait to hear what the asshole has to say after Rurik told him about me. I wonder if Philip will even recognize my name…

Speaking of cookies, I take another bite and groan at the sweet taste. I made sure to use those so-called healthy, taste-like-sugar-but-it’s-fake types of chocolates because, though I don’t know much about heart health, I don’t want to risk anything that may cause his heart to fail him.

If I had known about his health all this time, I would have stayed away when I pursued him.

Who am I fucking kidding? I still would have gone after him like some love-sick puppy.

I still wish I knew, though. I was a little miffed when I found out Nat and Oscar knew the whole time. While Rurik was away, I called Nat and Oscar to update them on everything happening.

When I asked them why they never told me about Rurik’s health, they said it wasn’t their business to tell me. I asked Nat why she tried to warn me away from Rurik, and she confessed that that was part of it. She did believe he didn’t belong in our world and that his heart wouldn’t take it.

Obviously, she’s wrong because Rurik has an asshole of a stepdad, so he is part of our world… Fortunately and unfortunately.

I’m placing the cookies in a container when I hear the door open. I turn around to see Rurik walking in and fuck.

How can this man become more beautiful with each passing day?

“Hey, angel!” I greet him, taking a cookie and putting it on a plate. “Before you ask, yes. I stuffed the cookies with peanut butter cups. I may have eaten like five so far, sorry.” I turn around to give him his plate but pause. “Rurik?”

Normally, whenever he came home and smelled me baking something, he would tackle me out of the way to get to his true love — baked sweets.

So imagine my fucking surprise when I see him just standing there, one hand still on the door handle, and his face is blank and empty.

He’s not even looking at me.

“What happened?” I ask slowly, putting the plate down and walking over to him.

He releases a breath when I cup his face with my hands.

“I’ve been doing some thinking,” Rurik says, his tone lacking intonation.

“Don’t hurt yourself.”

He just stares, blinking.

I sigh, “What were you thinking about?”

Rurik releases another breath and moves his face away from my hands, finally closing the door behind him and walking over to the couch to sit. “Whatever we have is extremely toxic, Briar. It’s not good for our mental health, you know?”

I freeze. I can’t move. What the hell is happening right now?

He glances at me quickly before darting his eyes away again. He continues, “Besides, we were only physical, right?”

“Rurik, I think I have an ear infection.”

His head shoots up to finally look at me fully, confusion all over his face. “What?”

I sit beside him to show him my ears, “I could have sworn you said the most bullshit thing I ever heard, but it could just be my earwax.”

His face flushes red. “I’m not joking, Briar.”

“Neither am I. Besides, I thought I was your muse. You really wanna get rid of your inspiration, angel?”

“Get over yourself.”

“I’d rather you go over me, but okay.”

“Briar, stop. We have to end things.”

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