Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
“I mean, technically, but…”
“I went up to get him,” Ollie says. “He shouldn’t have to be a prisoner in your room. He’s our guest.”
“You sound like you’re about to break out in song at any second,” Rory tells him, in unison with Cillian’s, “Kitten…”
“Don’t kitten me! He’s my friend, and he’s Rory’s…”
“Pet,” Rory fills in.
The front door opens, and I turn around to see a guy with a buzzed head and a woman with long black hair.
“Who the fuck are you?” the guy asks.
“Rory’s pet,” Cillian says through clenched teeth.
“And his friend.” I point to Ollie with my thumb, partly because it’s true and partly to piss off Cillian.
“Why is he in our house?” The guy drops his bag.
“Oh my God,” the woman says. “Why are you all acting like no one ever comes over? We literally have parties how often?”
“That’s what I told T,” Rory pipes in, the woman walking over.
“Hi, I’m Aislin, Tiernan’s sister. And this asshole is Dean.”
“He’s mine.” Another guy enters the room—Tiernan, I assume, the one who is clearly in charge.
I shrug. “He’s not my type anyway. I like redheads.”
“Okay…so…he fits in.” Aislin eyes me. “You didn’t tell me your name.”
“Shai.”
“Well, that’s a badass name.”
“I like you, Aislin.”
“Don’t flirt with my pet, Ash.” Rory wraps an arm around her shoulders, then tries to give her a noogie. They wrestle around for a minute before Aislin works her hands beneath his armpits and Rory jerks away laughing. “Cheater.”
“I always win,” she says, and I might have only known her for five minutes, but I believe her.
“You’re ticklish? I’ll have to remember that.”
“I’ll cut your fingers off.”
“Yeah, I know. You’re always telling me what you’ll do to me.”
Rory pumps his brows, his voice dropping an octave. “I do a lot of things to you.”
Dean looks at Tiernan. “Did I step into an alternate timeline? What the fuck is going on here?”
Tiernan groans. “It’s always something.” He turns to me, his eyes narrowed, a coldness coming off him that matches Cillian’s when it comes to me. “You know this isn’t a joke, right? You step out of line, and you’ll die. Slowly. I don’t know you. I don’t trust you. You’re only here because I trust Rory. He put himself on the line for you. Don’t fuck it up.”
Goose bumps trail down my nape, then take a ride down my spine. Rory did that, for me, because he wants me. He’s risking his relationship with his family for me, and that means something to me. “I don’t know or trust you either, but I won’t betray you because it would mean betraying Rory. I would never do that. That’s not me.” Not when I care about someone, and even though it’s a mistake, even though it doesn’t make a damn bit a sense, I care about Rory. “Not with him.”
The back of my neck feels hot now. The room is silent around me. I run a hand through my hair, avoid looking at anyone until I can’t keep my gaze away from Rory…Rory who is in front of Cillian, the two of them watching me, gazes intense and penetrating, dissecting, curious. Can’t say I blame them because I feel the same. I shift uncomfortably, unsure if I said something wrong.
“We didn’t eat this morning,” I tell Rory. “You’re always fucking hungry. We should go get some food.” I push off the couch, stuck in this weird space between wanting the hell out of here but liking watching them together.
It takes me a minute to realize they’re all still staring at me. “Is there a problem? If you want me to go, I’ll go. If not, can we get some fucking food in him? He needs it.” When they all just keep looking at me like I’m an alien, I add, “Especially after how hard I fucked him last night,” hoping to at least shock them into speaking.
Ollie recovers first. “You want to feed Rory.”
“Not like, from my hand. And I plan to eat too.” Jesus, what the fuck is going on with them?
“It’s just…nice,” Ollie continues.
“I do know how to feed myself,” Rory adds, finally saying something.
Ollie rolls his eyes, then shoves off the couch. “Come on, Shai. Come hang out with me while I see what we have.”
I’d do just about anything to get out of this room right now, though I’d hoped it would be me and Rory going somewhere. Still, I follow Ollie into the kitchen, the rest of them staying in the living room.
“Why was that such a big deal?” I ask when we’re alone.
“Not sure how to explain… With everything they’ve been through, they’ve learned to cling to each other, to depend on each other and take care of each other. You trying to feed Rory was you taking care of him. To them, that will matter more than anything.”