Page 81 of Verses Of Us

“Hmm.” His shoulders slouched, and he dropped his head.

“What is it?”

“Just thinking about something… crazy.”

Her gut told her to keep quiet, to not press further, but her heart knew what he was thinking.

Still, she asked. “How crazy?”

“Why don’t you stay a little while longer?” He glanced at her over his shoulder.

She chuckled, but it sounded all wrong. “Can’t. I need to go home. I have work.” She stopped herself from admitting she had a few days left of vacation, ones she was planning on spending in her pool or gardening.

“Stay with me. In the country.”

She gave a mirthless laugh. “You’re right. That is pretty crazy.”

“I mean it.” He faced her, his expression severe.

She tugged on the duvet as she sat up, the bright morning sunlight harsh against her exposed skin. “And I mean it, you’re crazy.”

“Hear me out. You stay a couple more days. We hang out at my place. Like we used to.”

“Like we used to? So that means symphonies and nightclubs?”

A darkness shadowed his face as a muscle in his jaw twitched.

“What about the arguments?” she added, her tone a little more patronising. He lowered his gaze. “Ciarán, come on. You remember how things ended last time, don’t you?”

He waved a hand through the air. “Yes, but that was back then. We were both so young and—”

“Exactly. We were young and very stupid.”

“Don’t you want to feel like that again?”

“No, I don’t. We’re not the same anymore.”

“I think we’re the same. I’m only saying take a few more days off—”

“And spend them with you?”

She didn’t mean for it to sound so insulting, but it did. The way he knitted his brows and dropped his chin told her she’d hit the target even though she hadn’t aimed for it.

“Would that be such a bad thing?” He looked the bed over, the fussed sheets, the comforter hanging off the side. “We had a good time last night. Didn’t we?”

The memory of Ciarán’s touch set her skin afire. She glanced down, noticing a dark spot on her inner thigh. Seeing the hickey made her blush and shove her leg under the blanket.

“We did. It was… great. But it might be better to just appreciate those few hours and not push this.”

“What are we pushing?”

“Something that never fit.” She crawled over to him, resting her hand over his. “Ciarán, even with good intentions, you know as well as I do this wouldn’t end well. We’re too old to keep setting ourselves up for failure like that.”

“I’m older than you, and you don’t hear me using that as an excuse.”

He gave her a tight-lipped smile. From up close, she saw faint freckles dot his cheeks and nose.

“I can’t stroll over to your place for a few days because the whim strikes you. We’re not kids anymore. We have responsibilities and—”

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