Page 48

The memory spikes through my system, and my nipples tightens under the loose cotton of my shirt in response.
Holy shit, what the hell is wrong with me?
Crossing my arms over my chest just in case my nipples are as hard and swollen as they feel, I bounce a glare between the both of them because this is not how I saw this going down and I’m suddenly way out of my depth.
“It’s okay, Grace.” Declan takes a step back and pulls Ryan off the wall, visibly bracing himself to take his weight if Ryan decides to take a header down the stairs. “I’ll take him to Henley’s. I’m sorry I wok—”
I think about how upset Henley was when she got here. She tried to hide it but I could tell that whatever happened today, it went beyond Ryan’s penchant for assault hospital staff. Something happened between them and I don’t think she’s in any shape to see her brother in this condition.
Making up my mind, I open the door all the way and take a step back. “You got him all the way up here,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest again. “You might as well bring him in.”
“Grace.” Declan shakes his head, suddenly reluctant. “I can take him to Henley’s.”
I ignore his offer. “Last room on the left,” I say, dropping her arms away from my chest to motion them inside.
“That’s my room,” Molly pipes up, and I look down to find her scowling at me. Hefting her onto her hip again, I give her a smile. “Lucky you then, because that means you get to sleep with me tonight.”
she gives me her best, I don’t wanna scowl and I counter it with my patented, too bad shrug. Finally, she caves with a long-suffering sigh that has me chewing on my upper lip in an effort to keep from laughing.
“He looks sick,” Molly says, watching Declan and Ryan pinball their way down the hall.
“He is,” I tell her, making it up as I go along. “I think he has the flu.”
“Gross.” She wrinkles her nose at me. “Is he going to throw up on my pony sheets?”
It’s a distinct possibility. Instead of telling her the truth, I shake my head. “No. I’ll give him a bucket and some ginger ale before he goes to sleep.”
She still isn’t satisfied.
“Why can’t Ryan just sleep with you?” She’s says it like it’s a real question. Like it makes perfect sense to her. Like Ryan and I should have no problem sleeping together.
At least she’s half right.
Because I’m pretty sure that harboring dirty thoughts while holding your child qualifies you for Worst Mother Ever, I push Ryan, and the fact that he’s our house guest, out of my head to focus on Molly. “Let’s get back to bed,” I tell her, re-tracing my steps down the hall. Because I sense a fight coming on, I add. “That way, you can be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning when Ryan wakes up.” It’s a horrible thing to do, taking advantage of my kid’s weird fixation on a guy neither of us barely know, just to get her to go to sleep but I do it without hesitation because I’m that desperate.
Setting Molly on her feet, I barely let her go before she’s scampering through the doorway and diving beneath my covers in an effort to force herself back to sleep through sheer force of will.
Follow her, Grace.
Don’t be an asshole.
Whatever’s going on between them is none of your business.
It’s true.
It’s not.
But I edge closer to Molly’s open bedroom door anyway because I’m a terrible person who is nearly as obsessed and fixated on Ryan as my four-year-old daughter.
Listening, I hear the quiet rustle of cotton against cotton as Declan gets Ryan situated on the bed. Remembering what Ryan told me about Declan, that no one likes him—not even his own brother—because he’s an asshole, I have a hard time believing it. An asshole wouldn’t do what Declan is doing. He wouldn’t take care of a friend this way, which means whatever the conflict is between them, it goes deeper than just a clash between two strong personalities. Then Ryan speaks and solves the puzzle.
“I should’ve done it,” he says, his words punctuated by the sound of his boots hitting the floor, one after the other.
“And what is that?” Declan says. He sounds tired. Like being who he is, is both mentally and emotionally exhausting.
“I should’ve taken Tess when I had the chance,” Ryan says, his voice slightly muffled between words and I feel the bottom drop out of my stomach. Which is stupid. I knew how he felt about Tess. How he still feels about her, he said as much didn’t he?
It’s not news.