Page 14 of Ronan

Ronan

She’s on her second glass of wine, and I’d have to be blind and deaf to miss the fucking signals she’s tossing my way.

Maybe I’m reading into something I shouldn’t be, but I can’t help it. Those flush cheeks and fuck-me eyes are luring me in, and I’ve already learned that I am a very weak man when it comes to her.

This might be the night it all goes up in flames.

Dinner was fine, but sitting next to her the whole time with her leg against mine was pure torture, and now that she’s loosening up and letting that beautiful personality shine, I’m struggling to keep my hands to myself.

We’d probably already be fucking if the couple that hates each other wasn’t finding every excuse in the world to bicker. I swear every time I hang out with them these days I want them to break up more, but I’m far too selfish to give up these random dinners with Atley.

“Is that wine good...?” I trail off awkwardly because I literally almost called her baby girl. Fuck me, I need to stop talking.

She nods quickly, taking another sip. “Mmhm. Want some? Or are you going to sit there like a gargoyle all night? You’re so tense.” Her left hand wraps around my bicep, nearly undoing me. “Relax, big brother.”

Fuck. Her touching me at all is equivalent to the best kind of agony. “A gargoyle?”

Chuckling, I make a show of taking a shot of Jack, and Orion laughs like he can anticipate where this night is going to go. That makes one of us.

“Yeah. Just a big grumpy thing made of stone.” She beams at me, like she’s trying to ruin my life. I’d let her. “You’re strong like one, too.”

You make my dick hard as stone, but we won’t go there. “Strong maybe, but I’m not grumpy.”

I flex my arm so she can feel the muscle harden, and the way she steps in should be criminal.

Her hand slides up and down my arm as she meets my eyes.

“You look grumpy. I get that Orion and Emma keep bitching at each other —” she side-eyes the shit out of both of them — “but you’re never grumpy around me. What’s wrong?”

I want them to leave so I can flood my step-sister’s holes. Y’know, the usual. “They really are annoying, aren’t they?”

“I heard that,” Orion grumbles from the couch, but he’s still staring at Emma like he wants to kill her. Or eat her. Who knows with them?

“He’s being a fucking baby,” Emma snaps. “He scheduled these dinners because he knows I hang out with my friends on Sundays.”

Atley grimaces, taking another drink and moving just a little to hide behind me.

I try not to be too distracted by the fact that she’s seeking comfort from me, because it’s one of my favorite things in the world.

“A baby?” Orion hisses. “Would a baby have you in the position I had you in last night? And fuck those friends. Atley is a better friend than all of those dudes anyway. ”

She scowls at my sister. “Yeah, maybe she was. She’s too distracted by the psycho she’s fucking to even text me hello anymore.”

“Hey,” Atley snaps. “You haven’t been home in weeks. Do you really want to have this argument right now?”

Emma groans, crossing her arms like she just might, but I won’t let that slide. “Just calm the fuck down. You’re mad at your man, don’t turn that bullshit this way or you’re about to have an argument you don’t want to have with all three of us.”

She rolls her eyes. “He’s not mad I’m hanging out with friends, he’s jealous of one of them. Ronan, are you that insecure that you’d freak out if your girlfriend had guy friends?”

“I’m not insecure, I just don’t fucking trust you.

” Orion’s never actually laid it out that way in front of me, and I’m honestly proud of him.

“You guys have all these inside jokes and share looks like you have a secret I don’t know.

I’m not stupid, and I’m getting sick of explaining why I don’t like it. Are you in love with him or something?”

“No, I’m not. For your information, guys aren’t the only ones who can fuck someone without falling in love. Girls can do it too. Right, Atley? ”

Orion didn’t know she fucked him, I know that much.

“What did you just say?” He stands up from his spot on the couch and sets his drink aside.

“I thought you guys never fucked, Emma? You swore on your grandmother’s grave that you guys never fucked, and you’ve made me seem like a crazy person for ever being worried.

Now look me in the eyes and say what the fuck you just said again. ”

Emma rolls her eyes instead, making Atley slide all the way behind me and grip the back of my shirt. “It was years ago, one time, and we never talked about it again. I might as well have fucked this couch cushion for all it meant, and I didn’t tell you because you’re a fucking psycho!”

Orion kicks the coffee table so hard it slides across the room, and I find myself reaching back to keep Atley safe. I know he’d never purposely hurt a woman, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to rage right now.

“Orion, calm down, man.”

“Calm down?” he yells. “Would you be calm? Fuck this. I’m done. We’re done. Go home, Emma, and don’t come back. ”

She flips him off before she grabs her purse. “Oh, I’m not going home. I’m gonna go hang out with my friends, and maybe I’ll just fuck them all while I’m there. Even the girls!” Her middle finger comes up again, then disappears as she slams the door behind her.

“Fuck!” he bellows, pacing back and forth like he’s trying to fight the urge to chase after her. “What the fuck was that?”

“She didn’t mean it,” Atley whispers to me. “Tell him she didn’t mean it.”

“Are you saying she didn’t fuck him?” I ask, turning to see her and the panic in her eyes.

“Oh, she meant that. But she also meant that it didn’t mean anything to her and she’s not interested in him. The part she didn’t mean was about fucking all of them... even the girls. She loves you, Orion.”

“Pfft, love? Does any of this look like love? It’s not supposed to look like this.” He gestures to himself and the door. “It’s supposed to look like that.”

He points at her hiding behind me and me protectively in front of her, and I completely freeze.

Atley moves her hand to the back of my arm and peeks around further, stepping next to me. “I’m sorry, Orion. You’re right. You deserve better.”

Yet she sounds almost devastated, and I can’t for the life of me think of why. They were toxic as hell, and now they can move on and find someone that actually makes them happy.

“I don’t know what I deserve, but I know there’s a woman out there that’s made for what I need. There has to be, because Emma’s not it. You women say you want a man that’s obsessed with you, and then shame the fuck out of us when we match that energy. Why?”

I open my mouth to try and defend her simply because I don’t like his tone, but the nosey part of me wants to hear how she answers it. So I wait.

She sighs, looking between us both. “It has to be right. Yes, we want someone to be obsessed with us. Everyone does. Someone having that much devotion for you, that much passion... why wouldn’t you want it?

But we have to be obsessed too. If I ever figure out who Nightbreed is, he’s probably going to have to file a restraining order against me to keep me away.

Emma... isn’t obsessed with you. She’s obsessed with herself, and she’s obsessed with attention. She always has been.”

Nodding, his fists clench at his sides as he lets her words sink in. “Guess that saying goes both ways, huh? If she wanted to, she would.” His gaze flicks between us. “And Nightbreed is a lucky dude if he has that level of devotion from you already. Hope he doesn’t fuck it up.”

He must be, because she’s been here flirting with me all night while claiming to be obsessed with him. What the hell am I supposed to do about that?

“Well, I’m not very hopeful,” she says firmly. “I don’t think he’ll ever trust me enough to tell me who he really is.”

“His loss then.” He meets my gaze for a split second before moving on. “I don’t know. Maybe dating just isn’t for me. I’ve been wanting to go work at St. Andrew’s anyway.”

Well, if he has any shot at finding a woman who can handle him, she’ll be there.

“You should,” Atley agrees. “Have some fun, and who knows. You might meet someone who gives you everything you’ve always wanted. ”

“Maybe. Nights ruined and I didn’t even get a buzz. Are you staying the night here with Ronan?”

Good question, bro.

Her cheeks flush a little more. “I... should go home. I don’t want to intrude.”

You’d never intrude on me, but I need you to go home, baby sister. I won’t survive not taking you tonight.

“I think I’m going to go to bed,” I force out, hating the way her face falls.

“I can take her,” Orion offers, and I immediately shake my head to say I’ll do it — she just beats me to a response.

“Thank you. It was rude of her to leave without me.”

“It was. I can take you home, Atley,” I offer, but Orion shakes his head and nods toward the door. “I’m going that way anyway, there’s a dorm party I want to go to. You go to bed, old man.”

I’m going to stab him.

On second thought, it’ll stop me from having to double back to get my gear. Maybe he’s doing me a favor.

Atley sets her empty glass down and then rocks up on her toes to kiss the edge of my jaw. “I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

Fuck. Stay. Stay for me .

But I know better than to ask. “I told you to come over more often.” My fingers twitch with the desire to touch her, so I wrap my arms around her and pull her into a hug. “You don’t have to only come because of your friend.”

She relaxes, and suddenly I wonder if that’s why she got upset earlier. She thought them breaking up meant we couldn’t hang out.

“I’ll see you later, Ro. Maybe sooner than you think.”

Her hand slides down my arm to mine, giving it a squeeze before she leaves without looking back, and I have to take a moment to admit that there’s a slim possibility that her finding out the truth won’t ruin us.

Or maybe I’ve just lost my mind.

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