“They’re already gone,” he interrupted. “I helped them with a fabric delivery. You had some bad lights that needed fixing, so I handled it, and your chair had a squeak, so I tightened it. There was a loose screw.”
I stared at him.
He ran a hand through his hair. “Inaya could be a little nicer to me, but eh.”
That startled a laugh out of me. She was skeptical… to say the least.
He grinned, like that was his goal. “Everyone left. Inaya realized I wasn’t leaving, so she left for a wedding rehearsal or something.”
I was still standing there, still absorbing the level of care in everything he did. Fixing things. Helping my team. Making sure I had food. This was the Ronan I fell in love with.
He stood, stepping closer. “Now I know your presentation went well, you have dinner, and you’re safe.” His voice dropped slightly, softer and deliberate. “I’m going to leave.”
He walked closer, stopping right before me.
Was he going to kiss me?
“I’m not going to kiss you.”
I swallowed.
“Only your knuckles.”
He lifted my hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckles, lingering a second longer than necessary.
“Goodnight,tesoro,” he murmured.
He turned to go, and I didn’t know I was going to say it until the words blurted out,“Eat dinner with me.”
Ronan stilled. “Hm?”
I swallowed, heart racing as I repeated, “Eat dinner with me.”
His gaze flicked to mine, something unreadable passing through his expression before he nodded once. “I will.”
Relief hit me in a way I didn’t expect. “Okay.”
We sat and ate, all while he listened to me yap about everything from the panel’s reactions to the tiniest details that made me nervous. He listened like it mattered, like I mattered.
By the time I glanced at the clock, it was a little after one in the morning, but for once, I didn’t care.
Chapter Thirty-three
NINA
Seven Years Earlier
NEW YORK CITY
Grief was like an ocean. Sometimes it was calm, stretching endlessly, quiet but heavy. Other times, it dragged, stealing the breath from our lungs, the light from our eyes, the fight from our bodies.
Ronan had been drowning for months, or perhaps he was disappearing into the waves.
I didn’t know how to fix it. I didn’t know how to bring him back.
We knew his parents were sick. We knew the visits to the hospital would stop being visits and become goodbyes. But wedidn’t know it would happen so fast. That Ronan would come back from class and collapse onto the floor, his body wracked with silent sobs. That he would be too numb to even scream, too broken to even lash out.
I moved in with him after. Packed a bag and left everything behind without a second thought. School didn’t matter. Fashion didn’t matter. Nothing did, except making sure he had someone to hold onto while his world burned.
