Page 85 of Harbinger

“Going out and having you on my arm?” he says with a smile, kissing my neck. “that’s a win enough for me, Princess.”

I smile, patting his cheek before squirming to get out of his hold. He lets me go, heading to the bathroom to freshen up for the night.

“How are you feeling?” he asks after a moment. I can tell that he doesn’t want me to think that he’s treating me any differently while also curious. It’s clear that we have something, and it’s clear that both of us want each other, but neither of us has made a move yet, and it’s hard.

I smirk at him, shrugging. “I think I’ll be okay.”

“You were hurting just last night, though, I just don’t want to do something that’ll make things worse. I was looking it up at work and—”

Ronan goes on to tell me about everything he learned about endometriosis when he was at work, hanging out at his desk. He looked at everything. Ways that it could be made better, what it actually is, and things he could help me with. He thought of everything, and he looked it all up.

My mind goes numb halfway through, trying to process the fact that someone likes me enough to make a significant effort to help.

“If you don’t want to keep using the sock, there’s these portable heating pads you can get,” he tells me as he sits on the bed. He hasn’t shut up for the last ten minutes, and it sends butterflies through my stomach.

“I don’t know about that. I really like the sock.”

“You have to go downstairs to warm up the sock, though. And then what if someone else comes down and asks why you’re microwaving a sock.”

I shrug. “It’s a sock full of rice. I feel like it’s pretty self-explanatory.”

He stares at me for a moment before shrugging.

“What?” I ask as I laugh, the sound ringing through the room. “They use those socks for migraines, too!”

Ronan’s face doesn’t really look like he believes me.

“It’s true!”

We bicker for a little longer until we hear a sharp knock on the door. “You guys ready?” Elena calls from the other side.

Gathering our things, Ronan pulls me into him, kissing the top of my head before patting my butt as we head out.

* * *

“Jerry was banned from one of the last clubs we went to, so this is a totally new one for us,” Brandon tells me, annoyed.

I’m in the backseat of his car as Ronan rides in the passenger seat. Elena is next to me, smiling at me. “She got in a fight with one of the bouncers. It was a night we had guests there with us, too. I’m really glad they left early.”

If there’s one thing I can see Jerry doing, it’s getting in a fight with enforcement of any kind. Whether it be a club bouncer, a cop, or another agent, she’s a little argumentative.

“I loved that place,” Brandon says.

“I’m sure if we wait it out just a little bit, we can go back,” Elena tells him, patting his shoulder from behind.

When we pull up at the new club, Smitten’s, I look around, excited to be back in the city.

It’s always been home to me. The place where I feel safest. Until now, I think.

Ronan opens my door for me, grabbing my hand and helping me out. Holding me to him, he leads me up to the front of the line with the others. A female bouncer sits at the entrance, and all Jerry has to do is bat her eyes, and she’s let in.

Following her into the club, I’m overwhelmed by the lights. I’ve never been here. Never even heard of it, actually.

And for a moment, I wonder if Adam would come here. Would I see him? I need to call him at some point.

I wonder how much of this I could tell him or if I’d put him in danger.

Sadness washes over me for only a moment as I worry about how much he would be able to be in my life if I chose this other path, but it’s short-lived before Elena is pulling me to the bar.

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