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Why did I feel so fucking guilty? I hadn’t done anything. I mean, I had stopped myself from doing anything. Weren’t my actions enough? Regardless of what I wanted? Needed. Craved.
It was really his fault that I was standing there with Aurnia’s hair gathering static electricity from my leather jacket, her scent rising to my nose like a fragrant rose. If he hadn’t decided to show up unannounced like this, Aurnia would be kicked out once more, this time for good.
“Damn it,” Diarmuid said, dropping his chin. “Damn it.”
He knew. He figured it out. A part of me was relieved. He’d sensed that there was something inappropriate going on and he was going to take Aurnia away. The city couldn’t have that kind of scandal on its hands. Juveniles going for a chance to get their lives straightened out and instead getting taken advantage of by some monstrous older man.
It was for the best. My self-control could only hold out that much longer anyway. Maybe I would have gotten rid of Aurnia on my own. Or maybe she would have come back as she’d done again and again.
This was for the best. Aurnia could live the life she was meant to without me throwing it on its head. I could move on from her in peace. Once I removed that goddamn graffiti, of course.
“I knew I should have brought my camera,” Diarmuid said, snapping his fingers. “The board would love to see stuff like this.”
No, I thought, pushing the dirty thoughts from my mind of crumpled sheets, of Aurnia’s naked body upon them. No, the board most certainly would not love to see that.
“Warms the heart,” Diarmuid said.
It warms something…certainly not my heart.
I shook my head, horrified at my thoughts.
“Here,” Diarmuid said, tucking his legal pad beneath his arm and pulling out his phone. “The camera’s not great, but it’ll do.”
“Jaysus…” I muttered through clenched teeth as I forced a smile.
Diarmuid lowered his phone. “What’s that?”
“Nothing,” I said quickly, tugging in Aurnia so it would end sooner. “Just do what you need to do already.”
Diarmuid laughed and fiddled with the phone.
“Come on already,” I mumbled.
It was too much. Too much of Aurnia. Too much of her too close. Too much of her scent. Too much of the shape of her body. Too much of her. The point was to get farther away from her.
Now I had committed to heart every curve.
“Say, ‘Dublin Ink!’” Diarmuid said.
Aurnia shouted it merrily and squeezed me tight.
“We’re going to have so much fun together, aren’t we?” she asked, smirking up at me.
I was going to murder her.
