Page 28 of Twisted Secrets
At least she asked him instead of just accusing him of brawling like everyone else had. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they walked down thehall toward the kitchen at the back of the house. “Oh, you know me, always leading with my head.”
“Don’t tell me you ran into a door.”
He was about to make a joke, but the tight way she held herself stopped him. She was genuinely worried, and fuck if that didn’t make him feel even worse than his parents and Aiden combined. “It was a wrong-place, wrong-time kind of thing. I know it doesn’t help, but I wasn’t out looking for trouble.”
“Are you sure?”
He stopped short, and she made it another three steps before he caught up to her. “What kind of question is that?”
“I’m not blind, Cillian. Everyone else might be occupied with their own issues, but I’ve noticed that you come and go at all hours of the night, and most of the time it’s on foot. It doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots—you’re out trolling for trouble.” Her gaze rested on his bandage. “It looks like you finally found it last night.”
“That’s not fair.”
She shrugged. “Maybe not. But I’m right, aren’t I?”
Yeah, she was. Or she had been. He’d been a ship without an anchor, drifting wherever the current took him, until it was only a matter of time before he wrecked himself on the rocks. But things were different now. As cliché as it was, last night with Olivia had shifted things for him. He wasn’t magically okay or any bullshit like that, but he felt like he had part of a purpose for the first time in over a year.
If he told anyone else in his family that, they’d laugh him out of the room. Sloan, though…Sloan might actually listen. “I met a girl, squirt.”
“A girl.” If anything, her voice went even flatter.
“Well, a woman.” He pushedopen the door to the kitchen and held it for her. “She wouldn’t give me the time of day. Not that I blame her.”
“I can’t decide if that makes her smart or a fool.”
“Sit down.” He waited for her to do so before he went to raid the fridge. Their cook usually left the makings for snacks tucked away in case any of them got hungry between meals. He opened the bottom drawer. Sure enough, there were three different kinds of deli meat and the good sliced cheese that had probably actually seen a cow at some point.Perfect.
He brought it all out and set it across from Sloan. “Turkey, ham, or beef?”
“I’m not hungry.”
Yeah, he just bet she wasn’t. He put on a stern face. “Well, I am, and you know Mother would smack me if I ate in front of you without making you one, too.”
Some humor appeared in Sloan’s eyes. “You must be thinking of someone else. Our mother doesn’t lower herself to smacking.”
“You’re right. She’d just level one ofthoselooks at us.” He shuddered, putting a little extra shake into it for her benefit. “Don’t throw me to the wolves, squirt. Let me make you a sandwich.”
She sighed. “If you’re going to insist, I’ll take a turkey. No mayo, please.”
“I remember.” Ever since she was a child, his sister hadn’t been a fan of condiments. He could understand some of the aversion—too much mayo was fucking disgusting—but she didn’t even eat ketchup.
She waited until he had the bread laid out before she spoke again. “So…this girl. Tell me about her.”
“She’s about your age, I think, and she’s a bartender down at Jameson’s.” He slathered mustard onto one side of his bread. “She’s got a kid. And a past, if I’m not wrong.”
“You’re joking.”
“What?”
“A single mother?Really?”
He tried and failed not to be insulted by the shock in her voice. “What’s wrong with a single mother?”
“Nothing.” Sloan crossed her arms over her chest, her shoulders hunching even as she met his gaze. “But you’re…you. You have a history of dating blondes with bigger chests than brains—and that’s if what you do could even be called dating.”
She was right, but that didn’t take the sting out of it. He carefully placed the meat on the bread, not looking at her. He’d known what his family thought of the way he’d gone about his life, and he’d never cared before. Now he did. He wasn’t sure when that switch had been flipped, but he didn’t like it. “I’m nowhere near as worthless as everyone seems to think, you know.”
“Oh, Cillian, that wasn’t what I meant at all. It’s just that you like your freedom and you like to party, and it doesn’t seem like a single mom worth her salt has much time for either of those things.”
