Page 39 of Ronan
But dinner comes and goes with no contact from him whatsoever. This is unlike him — from what I know about him, anyway —and it’s starting to piss me off. Is my phone broken or something? Is that why it’s not ringing and no one’s answering?
I doubt it.
So, I sit here and freeze, trying to distract myself with documentaries, trash tv, comedies, romances, but nothing is working. And the longer I sit here, the colder it gets, the lonelier I feel, and the higher I jump when the phone finally does ring.
Glancing down at the screen, my stomach flips when I see it’s Ronan. I almost don’t answer. “Hey,” I force out, making sure my teeth don’t chatter. “What’s up?”
“Hey. What’s going on with your heat? I heard Emma yelling some shit near my door, but I only caught the gist. Is it out?”
“What?” I stall. “Heat? Uh... I mean, yeah. It’s not working and my landlord isn’t answering, but it’s fine. It’s not that cold in here.”
“What exactly is the temperature, Atley? Not an estimate, go look for me.”
It’s a wonder I even want a Dom when I could just call my step-brother if I want to be bossed around. “It’s at forty-two,” I admit without moving. “I’m under about forty-three blankets though, so I’m fine. It’ll be fine.”
“That’s ridiculous. My heater works and I’ll toss a blanket in the dryer right now for you.Get over here, Atley. I already ordered us dinner.”
God, why does he do this to me? It’s so tempting I almost can’t stand it, but what if Night comes again? What if...
What if nothing. Night hasn’t texted me fucking once today, so what am I waiting for? A man who won’t even tell me his first name? Screw it. I’m not freezing my ass off over a man who might not even show, not when Ronan is being so... Ronan.
“Fine, you twisted my arm,” I say with a soft smile. “I’ll be there soon.”
“Good girl.” He pauses abruptly like he realizes how that came out. “I mean... not like... yeah, just get your ass over here. Bring a bag.”
He hangs up before I realize I’ve been holding my breath, and I find myself disappointed that he’s not offering his clothes up again.
Oh well, I have Night’s.
Packing quickly, I grab my charger and a water bottle and head out, only stopping for a moment to glance back at my front door and wonder if Night will break into an empty house tonight.
And if he does... what will he do about it?
16
Ronan
Good girl.
I can’t believe I called her a good girl with my whole chest. There’s no way she didn’t think about how I sounded just like Nightbreed when I said it, but she didn’t call me out yet. I’ve been pacing ever since, but her location shows me she’s right outside, so if she did happen to notice my voice, I’m about to find out in five seconds.
Knock knock.
Make that two seconds.
I open the door and find her shivering, rushing past me to get inside the warmth. “Fucking balls, it’s cold. Hi.”
“Hi.” Okay, she’s not accusing me of anything so far, but maybe she’s too cold. “Sit on the couch, I’ll grab the blanket.”
I rush off to pull it out of the dryer, and drape it over her like she’s incapable of taking care of herself. But I can’t help it. I want to take care of her.
A warm smile breaks out across her face as she turns to me. “You’re smart, you know that? My dryer’s working just fine and I didn’t think of this.”
“Probably because you were too cold. I also ordered Mexican and requested they put some of their diablo salsa on the side. That’s one way to heat you up all the way to your core.”
Among other things.
Fuck. Flashes of our time together at her house push their way to the forefront of my mind, and it takes everything to shove them back. I cannot get a boner right now.
