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ONE
gavin
December
I DIDN’T KNOW how long I’d been up here. Long enough for darkness to fall, and for the once-roaring fire to simmer down to crackling embers.
I stared at the dwindling flames absently and curled my legs beneath me on the cream velvet couch, but the move sent a wave of pain through my body and I flinched. The ache in my head, my arms, and my back lingered, even after popping a few pain pills, which was why I’d skipped out on going out with the guys. There was no way I’d be able to mask what happened today, and no way in hell were they finding out.
So I’d hidden away in my favorite spot in the Towers where I lived, a place called the Secret Garden, where very few residents ever ventured. Definitely not any of the Park Avenue Princes, as my friends and I were often called. The space was too quiet for their loud personalities, and without the promise of a fully stocked bar or the opportunity to meet a hookup, they ventured to other, more entertaining spots.
That suited me just fine. I liked having a place to escape to when I needed it, and the cozy garden lounge, with its lush greenery and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, was perfect.
Tearing my eyes away from the fireplace, I looked down at my laptop and tried yet again to focus on the building codes and inspection regulations of my current interior design assignment. The words only blurred together on the screen, a jumble of nothing that made sense, but when a tear escaped down my cheek, I realized it wasn’t the lines on the page that were the problem.
It was me.
Sighing, I wiped my face with the sleeve of my shirt and willed the stupid tears back. Joey wasn’t worth them, and I refused to let him have any more power over me or my emotions.
If I hadn’t been so in my head, I would’ve noticed I wasn’t alone anymore. I would’ve been able to hide my tear-streaked face before Daire caught me and made up some lie. But his footsteps were quiet, and it wasn’t until he was standing in front of me that I even knew he was there.
With his arms crossed over his leather jacket, his dark eyes roved over me in the pissed-off, assessing way that was all Daire, and when he met my gaze, his scowl deepened.
He didn’t have to say a word and already I was looking away, cursing the fact that out of all my friends, it had to be Daire that found me. The most volatile, hotheaded one, my soon-to-be roommate and the one who would lose his shit the most if he knew what happened today.
“Aren’t you supposed to be out?” I said, trying for nonchalance as I shifted my focus back to my laptop.
A long silence passed, and when he still didn’t say anything, I glanced up.
Apparently, that was what he’d been waiting for, because he said, “I was.”
Oh.Had I been up here that long? “What time is it?”
“Late.”
“So, what, you’re here to make sure I get to bed on time?”
“You been crying?”
I blinked at the abrupt change in direction and swallowed. “No.”
“You’re a shit liar.”
“I’m not lying.”
Daire narrowed his eyes, seeing right through me, and I knew I needed to get a handle on this before he made it a big deal. I shut my laptop and stood up to leave, but the sudden movement made me wince.
“What the fuck’s wrong?” he said.
“Nothing. My…leg’s asleep, that’s all.”
“Bullshit.”
I met his stare, turning my chin up defiantly. “You sit like that for hours and see if your legs don’t go numb.”
I went to brush by him, but Daire reached for my arm to stop me?—
Bad move.
