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He sauntered towards the back hall in a rather chipper mood, considering we’d just been chased here and watched a woman being brutally dragged.
Everyone took his advice, taking off in different directions, most hunting down food or water.
I scrubbed both hands over my face, and then turned to go talk to the girls, bumping into Ciaran before I could go anywhere.
“You all right?” he asked. I had to stop from deeply inhaling more of his delicious cologne like a weirdo. I took a miniscule step back, so my face wasn’t planted in his chest. “Peachy. Having the best time of my life.”
“With me by your side, it would be hard to do much else.”
Despite myself, I smiled. With everything going on inside my head, the action felt like stretching a muscle that hadn’t been used in ages. “You really know just what to say, don’t you?”
“In order to get what I want? Always.”
“I hope you mean that in terms of seeing me smile.”
“Of course. What kind of guy do you take me for?”
“Honestly? I need a little more time to decide. Right now, you’re somewhere between a sweetheart and an asshole.”
“Huh, usually I get told I’m a fucking psychopath.”
Okay…
I was ninety-nine percent sure he was being serious. I was glad he felt comfortable enough with me to so bluntly admit that. It wasn’t usually something someone casually inserted into a conversation. The fact that he knew he could tell me was what I found more disconcerting.
It served as an excellent and much needed distraction from my own mountain of problems, though, so best believe I was going to home in on it.
“Beautiful, charming, probably manipulative, cold but sweet when necessary,” I ticked off on my fingers.
“I can see that.”
He laughed softly, still close enough that his breath fanned the side of my face, causing an outbreak of goosepimples.
“You think I’m beautiful?”
I almost rolled my eyes. We were really having this discussion right now.
“You know damn well you look good, Ciaran. I’m sure there’s a bevy of unfortunate girls that experienced firsthand just how psychopathic you are because you batted those lashes and flashed a smile to get anything you wanted from them.”
“Would that work on you too?”
I scoffed. “Absolutely not. I don’t think with my vagina, and I’ve had enough guy problems to last the rest of my life, however long that’s going to be.”
He grew quiet, and the various activities in the room replaced his voice. I’m pretty sure someone was using the microwave. Margo was talking with Abby and Leonard between her soft sobs. I couldn’t hear any of the other conversations; everyone was speaking quietly.
“There’s only ever been one girl…”
He’d spoken so softly, I wasn’t sure I’d heard him correctly.
“Is that past tense?”
“It’s everything.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant exactly. His tone didn’t give anything away, and I had no response. I glanced over my shoulder to check on the girls. Mel was clear across the room, sitting at the table with a bladder-relieved Maverick and sipping on a bottle of water, smoothing down her hair. Gracelyn was standing by a bookshelf with Selena, talking to the twins.
I faced forward again, crossing my arms over my chest and studying the map. “Did you see the new path?” I gestured.
“I saw it the moment we stepped over here.”
“Should we gather the team?” I was only half joking.
“Let them relax for the time being. Give those two time to finish crying.”
I didn’t need to look behind us to know who we were speaking about when I could hear them. “You’re so caring.”
“Is this the pot meeting the kettle?”
“That’s fair.” I shrugged.
So, he’d noticed that too? Interesting. It was kind of nice to be able to talk to a guy this openly—even if he was a total stranger. Then again, maybe that made it even better. It wasn’t like we’d be pen pals or chat on FB when this was all said and done. In this place, I could probably get away with dropping my charade altogether.
Like we’d been told, good and bad didn’t exist in whatever this city was. Letting my demons out to play wouldn’t see me locked away for the rest of my life. I wasn’t going to, but the thought of doing so was tempting.
“I do care, by the way. They just aren’t lucky enough to be among the few individuals I deem important to me,” he explained.
“I mean, same. I’m not some heartless vixen.”
“I disagree, you’re definitely the latter.”
Oh, geez. I shook my head, biting back an amused smile.
“So, how did I get an invite to your special club? Because for some reason you seem insistent on making sure I survive this.”
“The reason is obvious.”
I combed through my mind for what it could be.
This thing, whatever this budding connection was that was trying to flourish between us, that couldn’t be why. At least, I didn’t think it could. I honestly wasn’t sure what he was referring to.
