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“Why don’t I believe you?” I shoved my plate away, but he just pushed it right back in front of me.
“Eat. You’ll feel better.”
“Eating won’t make it okay that you went into my phone without permission.” I bit down on a slice of crunchy bacon anyway. Because bacon.
“True. But if you’re not hungry, perhaps you’ll have an easier time seeing the logic in my actions. All of them, including bringing you home from the club last night after Matt did his job.”
“His job is ratting me out?”
Ronan refused to rise to my bait. He exhaled slowly through his nose and smoothed his hand over my hair again, ending at my nape, where he gripped me.
“His job is to keep you safe. You were intoxicated in public, as were your friends. I don’t even want to think about what could have happened if I hadn’t been there last night. Who would you have gone home with? The first person to offer?”
Whatever leftover bubble from last night, the closeness I had started to feel, the desire, all blew up like an atomic bomb. My feelings weren’t fragile, but they were fuckinghurt. I grabbed my phone and hopped off the stool. Spinning in a circle, I spotted my shoes lined up neatly in the entryway. High heels and basketball shorts were going to be alook, but there was no way I could stay here for another second.
“Iris, stop,” Ronan commanded, like I was his little soldier boy.
I stuffed my feet in my shoes and went for the door, but my fingertips only grazed the knob before I was hauled back into a solid wall of muscle. I slapped at the thick arm banded around my middle, squirming and wiggling to be set free.
“Fuck off, Ronan. I’m leaving. Stop touching me.” I tipped my head back to hiss at him. “Who knows what kind of diseases you’ll catch from me. I’m filthy.”
His arms tightened, and he glared at me like I was a maniac. “Jaysus, woman. Stop fighting me and listen for once.”
“No, you listen. I’m not going to stay here and let you accuse me of being slutty. If you hadn’t shown up last night, I would have danced with my friends until we shut down the lounge and then gone home and rolled around on my bed until I passed out. If I had wanted to take home the first person to offer, I could have, and there would have been nothing wrong with that. Take your judgments right out of here, Ronan Walsh. Better yet, have another phone call with my father about what a bad, bad girl I am.”
His arms loosened, but it was only to turn me around to face him. I hated that he was so much bigger and could win any argument by overpowering me. I’d kick his shin with my heels if it didn’t make my stomach dip to even think about physically hurting him.
He cupped my face in his big, warm hands and brought his eyes level with mine. “Hear me, please. I don’t think that about you. But I was with you last night. You weren’t in control of what was happening with your body. It scares me to think what could have happened to you. I’m sure as hell not proud of myself for taking advantage of your state.”
I batted his hands away, but he only lowered them to my shoulders. “You didn’t take advantage. If anyone did, it was me.”
He shook his head. “Absolutely not. I wanted every second of that.”
My breath came out in a whoosh. I pressed my palms against his immoveable chest. “I don’t like to lose control like that.”
Two fingers pushed the underside of my chin, tipping my head back, then his knuckles dressed down the length of my throat. “Then why’d you take that pill?”
I shook my head. He wasn’t getting it. “It’s not the E that makes me lose my mind. Well, it is, but it isn’t.”
“Explain.”
I wrinkled my nose at his order, and he smoothed it out with his thumb. “I explained. I took it because it’s fun to be with friends and dance all night. I’ve only ever done E with a partner once and it was…”
“Like last night?” His voice came out harsh, like the implication pissed him off.
I sucked in a breath. “Nothing’s ever been like last night.” I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my face with my hands. “I told you once I started, I couldn’t stop. But you made it okay for it not to stop.”
“Okay?” He was teasing me. He knew just how much better than okay it had been.
I smacked his chest. “You made me feel like I could lose my mind without worrying about anything else in the world.”
“That’s the truth, Iris. I keep telling you I’ll take care of you.” He pried my hands off my face and held them in one hand. “For a girl who rode my face for hours, you’re awfully shy about it.”
I huffed and glared at him. He’d gone from accusatory to angry to smug in the span of five minutes. I wasn’t so sure I liked smug Ronan.
“It’s not something I do often, and I definitely didn’t expect to be doing it with you, so yeah, maybe I am.”
“Came as a surprise to me too, believe me.” He stroked my jaw tenderly with his thumb. “What’s not something you do often?”
