Page 90 of The Good Boys Club

“Good morning, angel of my paradise,” I said back, before I caught myself. Ah, what did it fucking matter any more? “How you feeling?”

“Like my brain and nervous system are staging a mutiny on my skull.” He sat opposite me.

“From what I witnessed last night, that sounds about right.”

He groaned.

“You hungry?”

“Fucking starving.”

I took his plate from the oven and placed it in front of him.

“Oh my gods, this looks perfect.”

I sat back down. “So . . .” How to broach the subject of Cian’s rejection . . .

“So?” he repeated.

“Do . . . you remember anything from last night?”

His face found his palm. “Urgh, fuck, what did I do this time? Please tell me I didn’t hand my resignation in?”

“No, you didn’t quit your job. You did talk a lot about quitting, though.” And leaving Remy, and breaking my heart . . .

“Shit, in front of James? It wasn’t in front of James, was it?”

“No, it wasn’t. You only said those things to me. You’re good.”

Cian let out a long sigh of relief.

I had to find out. “So, you don’t want to leave? The city, I mean.”

“I mean, I do. I can’t stay here forever. But I need to secure something else first. I’m not about to quit Howl without another job lined up.” Duh. How stupid of me. Why would I think Cian would up and leave like that? He’d never been that rash.

“So, you’ll live in Remy until you find a new job?”

He tilted his head to the side and regarded me through narrowed eyes. “Of course. Why? What did I say?”

That you want to move away from me. That you’re sick of me. That I’m holding you back. “Uh . . . you said you were bored with work, and this city, and the men here.”

He snorted out a laugh and rolled his eyes. “Urgh, same old shit then.” After a few moments of me debating whether or not to mention what was said last night—my half-baked love confession, his heart-pulverising rejection—he spoke, interrupting my thoughts. “You alright?”

“Oh.” I pushed the chicken around on my plate. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Guess I wasn’t going to bring it up. Maybe I never would.

Can’t Fight the Moonlight

Present Day

Mash

“MASH!”came Cian’s voice, distant and growing more distant as I ran at full pelt down the road towards the house.

Except, I wasn’t heading towards the house. Misdirection. By the time Ci got in his car and chased me down, I would have slipped into one of the tiny lanes that led towards Mam’sworkshop. I’d hide out there, at least until I’d figured out what I was going to say to him. Mam wouldn’t be there, it was too late for her now. Or maybe she would be. Maybe I just needed to be with someone who loved me and didn’t ask me to explain stuff about myself I didn’t fully understand yet.

That had been the plan, until a vehicle honked its horn directly behind me. I jumped out of my skin and fled into the closest gap through the trees. I knew where the workshop was. I headed in that direction. Ci wouldn’t be able to follow me with the car, and his legs were so much shorter than mine. There was no way he could catch up with me.

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