Page 194 of Their Arrangement
“You want the truth?”
I didn’t answer. He gave it anyway.
“I don’t like Barron.”
My eyes snapped to his. That I hadn’t expected.
“Never have,” he added. “Too proud. Too used to people doing what he says just because he says it.”
He pointed at me with his mug.
“But you? You didn’t fold.”
“I kind of did.”
“Sure. But you got back up. That counts.”
I didn’t know what to do with that. So I held my cup tighter. Sipped. Burned my tongue. Didn’t flinch.
“You’re better than you think,” he said, quieter now.
“You barely know me.”
“I know Wolfe.”
The silence that followed was a different kind of heavy. Wolfe. The man who touched me like I was made of breath and silence. Who looped a chain around my neck and called it protection.
“He’s scary when he cares,” Royal said.
I looked up. He was staring into his coffee.
“But he listens to me. He trusts me. And right now? That trust is sitting on that couch with bruises and bare feet and a ring she probably shouldn’t be wearing.”
I didn’t say anything. Couldn’t. But I felt the lump in my throat swell until I had to breathe through my nose just to keep it down.
“So no,” he finished. “I don’t hate you.”
“Then what?”
He looked at me. Eyes tired. But honest.
“I’m rooting for you. Even if I don’t know why yet.”
I didn’t answer. But my eyes stung in a way I didn’t expect. Royal leaned back in the chair. Crossed one ankle over his knee. Like he hadn’t just said something I’d remember when I woke up at 3 a.m. not knowing why I felt like I was falling.
“I’m not good at this shit,” he added.
I tilted my head.
“What shit?”
“Making scared girls feel safe without sounding like I’m flirting.”
I blinked.
A beat passed.
Then—unexpectedly—Ilaughed.
