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This is one hundred percent Niall not wanting Mellie to be out of the condo without him. My eyes narrow on Mellie. There’s the Reaper’s overprotectiveness, and then there’s this….
“What is no one telling me?” I ask her accusingly. Mellie’s shoulders slump.
“I knew you’d figure it out,” she mutters, straightening and looking me dead in the eye. “The cops think it was arson.”
My stomach roils. The coffee and stuffed bagel now seem like a bad idea, and I shove the plate away from me. Mellie’s hand hovers behind me. Like she wants to pat me on the back to comfort me but doesn’t know if I’d let her.
I wouldn’t. I don’t want to be touched right now. Fuck. Arson? My mind flickers to Grant, but I shut that shit down fast before I hurl and start hyperventilating.
Casting my mind around, I try to think of anything else. I need something else to focus on. My eyes sweep across the cork-patterned splashback behind Ronan’s stove and kitchen counter.
Cork. Like the place in Ireland. I know that because Ronan has a framed map of Ireland in the entranceway. I’ve studied it a few times when I’ve been bored here. It’s labeled and everything. County Cork is what is marked on the map. It’s so Ronan. Right. The offer to move out. I latch onto it.
“I’d feel like a third wheel with you and Niall.” I roll my eyes at her, and Mellie’s hand falls away from the air at my back as she grins impishly at me. “And I’d have to listen to the headboard slamming into the wall all night long.”
“We don’t goallnight long,” Mellie scoffs.
“Ronan wouldn’t like it.”
She takes another sip of coffee. “That’s what I told Niall. He just scowled and put on his Reaper face.”
A dreamy look crosses her face, so I wrinkle my nose, ball up a napkin, and throw it at her.
“And then you banged,” I giggle. Mellie snaps back to the present, throwing the napkin back at me.
“Wemake love, notbang,” she complains. I roll my eyes at her.
“You totally bang.”
She flips me off. Toying with the edge of my plate, I chew my lower lip. Mellie takes one look at my face and starts giggling again.
“Thinking about Ronan kicking up a fuss about you moving in with us?”
“No. I’m thinking about him punching Niall in the face,” I admit dreamily. Mellie snorts and rolls her eyes.
“Yeah, sure, babe. You’re thinking about having sex with Ronan.That’swhat you’re thinking about.”
Well,nowI am.
“Now you’ve finally handed in your V-card, your brain is sex-addled, and you’ve become addicted. There’s no sex on tap at my place. Well, not foryou, anyway.”
I wrinkle my nose at that. Ew. “I’m good here. Thanks for the offer.”
Mellie giggles, turning to clean up the kitchen. I watch her, sipping at my coffee.
I don’t want to admit it to anyone – not even Ronan – but I’ve been having nightmares about the fire. And when I jerk awake at night, it’s nice to start awake in Ronan’s arms. It makes me feel safe. It reminds me that no one can get to me here. Not even Grant. Especially not Grant.
I don’t realize I’m crying until I sniff. Mellie clears away our dishes and sighs.
“Do you want to cuddle on the sofa and watch trashy TV?”
I nod miserably. Anything to keep my neighbors' faces out of my mind. Mrs. Holtman. Bert, who used to wink at me when he was collecting his mail. Asher, who used to herd her kids like a bunch of stray, wet cats, always looking exhausted.
Bile rises in my throat as we flop down on the sofa, Mellie finding some mind-numbing show while she snuggles with me.
RONAN
Mellie is waiting in the lobby of my building when Niall pulls his SUV to the curb. Ever since Paddy’s dirty cop came through with the information that the cops think Fiona’s building was burnt down on purpose, Niall has insisted on dropping Mellie off and picking her up.
