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Chapter Fourteen

Aurora went to Idaho. For what? I have no fucking idea. She said she’d be gone the whole weekend but she got back last night. It’s now Sunday. I could wait another day to see her at school, and I probably should. But I don’t want to.

Which is why I’m hanging out at the empty church she’s sitting inside. I don’t want to interrupt her. I might be an ass, butI’ve been raised Catholic my whole life and whatever Aurora’s relationship with God is, I’m not interfering with it.

She stands and I watch as she makes the sign of the cross before turning around. Her steps stop when she sees me. “Connor?” She looks around, probably to check if anyone else is here, but we’re alone. “What are you doing here?”

“Me? I’m here to talk to my old friend Jesus, obviously. We’re like this.” I hold up my crossed fingers.

“Really? Well, don’t let me stop you,” she says.

“I must say… I’m surprised to see you here.” I walk towards her.

“Why? You don’t think I go to church?” she asks.

“No, I figured you’d burst into flames the moment you stepped through the doors.” I smirk. I’m honestly surprised she hasn’t. I know I’ve said the wrong thing when her face drops. It’s only for a split second before she recovers.

“Funny. If running that crappy Irish wannabe crime family doesn’t work out for you, you could try stand-up,” she says.

I laugh. “I have no intention of taking over the family business,” I admit out loud for the first time.

“Really? Pretty sure the heir doesn’t usually get a choice, Connor.”

“Pretty sure everyone has a choice.”

“To live or die maybe.” Aurora lifts one shoulder. “Did you follow me here?”

“No.” I didn’t follow her. I followed the GPS location of her phone.

“I should go.”

“Or… you could stay.” Taking hold of her hand, I pull her towards the side of the church.

“What are you doing? Where are we going?”

“Somewhere we can be alone.” I take her through the back and up the stairs, and Aurora groans.

“Really, Connor, why are we climbing up here?”

“Because no one else is going to come up here,” I tell her. This staircase leads to the bell tower.

“No shit, because no one in their right mind is climbing these stairs,” she grumbles. Once we’re at the top, I sit on the floor. It’s a small space, but we’re alone. Aurora sits next to me. “Is this where you push me out the window? Let me plunge to my untimely demise.”

I laugh. “Why the fuck would you come all the way up here with me if you thought I was going to throw you down?”

“Because I’d make sure I took you with me.” Aurora’s lips tilt up into half a smile.

“What happened?” I ask her.

“What do you mean?”

“You seem… distant.” She’s more closed off than she has been over the last few weeks. We’ve had a lot of fun together, had a lot of conversations. I know her. And I know that something’s wrong.

“I’m just tired,” she says. “So, if not to throw me out the window, what did you bring me up here for?”

“To talk?”

“Connor, I don’t want to talk right now.” Aurora rises up onto her knees, pulling her top over her head and revealing a blue silk bra that’s struggling to contain her breasts. Along with two knives that are attached to a matching halter.