Things are about to change around here.
Snore.
Starting with my room.
Chapter 34
Miriam
Ihad my suspicions about Kieran, but I didn’t want to judge prematurely. We all have a skeleton or two in the closet, but he’s stashing corpses in the wall.
“Stop looking at me like I’m on a most-wanted list,” he laughs.
“If the ice boot fits.”
Walking outside in freezing weatherwillinglyis suspect. My aptitude for social activities is still in preschool, but that’s an invitation for frostbite, if you ask me.
Kieran’s gravelly voice lifts into a chuckle. “It’s called winter hiking. You should try it.”
“Not even if Hell offered hand warmers. I tolerate my insurance premiums where they’re at, thank you.”
Serial killer hobbies aside, tonight has been enjoyable. Kieran made good on the date I pushed off until this week. I had my reservations, but I stepped out of the comfort of my tube socks and sweater for fine dining and conversations about questionable behavior.
We’re in an upscale restaurant in Elmwood Village, a few blocks from my house. The food is incredible, and the spaceis surprisingly quaint. Half a dozen square tables are scattered across a dining room surrounded by exposed brick walls. Our table is in the corner, tucked away from other diners under a black ceiling and dimmed lights.
The cranberry sheath dress I’m wearing was option number four for my first official date. Bile only rose up my throat once, so that’s a good sign.
“So, what do you do to decompress?” Kieran washes the question down with scotch and rests his forearms on the white tablecloth.
Antonio’s smile enters my mind. The deep lines of his mouth and those crinkled eyes bring memories of being me without reservation.
“Play video games,” I say, my thoughts back at Steel House with laughter andMortal Kombat. Antonio was so mad I beat him in every game we played, and he tickled me to prove I wasn’t hiding a book of cheat codes under my shirt.
Where did he think I went before I came over, Radio Shack?
Kieran grins. “We might need to have a go.”
I force my dimples into a smirk.
I’m breaking dating etiquette thinking about another man. But everything reminds me of Antonio. The fancy-name appetizers he’d swear the chef picked up from a grocery store and added asparagus to in order to charge twenty dollars a plate. The complicated pasta dishes he swears he can cook, even though I know he struggles to boil water.
Random texts kicked off a friendship neither of us expected. Now, I’m lucky if I get a response the same day.
Eleven days came and went since we last saw each other. I assumed some distance would reset us back to where we were, before lust and complicated emotions got in the way.
I was wrong.
The here and there messages are harder than I anticipated. I don’t want us to hurt each other, but I don’t want this.
“What’s on your mind?”
“Hmm?” I readjust my glasses.
Kieran studies me. “You look deep in thought.”
“Oh. It’s nothing.” I smooth down my twist-out.
Kieran, by all accounts, easily charts any most-beautiful list. He’s the proud owner of a full set of lips, high cheekbones, a crispy fade, and groomed facial hair. All of the ingredients are here except the spark. Maybe that comes with time?
