“It’s not optional,” I tell her. “Believe me, this truly is for your safety. But we can set ground rules, things that might make you more comfortable. I don’t want you to be miserable, Mira, I’d like it a lot more if you were happy.”
“Then let mego home!” she snaps.
“You’re welcome to go to dorms whenever you want, but you’ll be staying here in the interim.”
“But… I have alife!”
“I’ll get you to all your classes.”
“I have my pack and skulk—”
Jesus Christ,the animals again. “We can go see them.”
“I have ajobon weekends!”
“You don’t have to quit, you’re good to keep working there. No conflicts.”
“You live with twopsychopaths! Idon’t want to live with them—they’re fuckingterrifying!”
“Connor won’t touch you. Believe it or not, you earned his respect last night—you might find he treats you a bit differently now.”
She folds her arms over her chest. “Yeah, Dorian, I feltimmenselyrespected when he tore my shirt in half while talking aboutkilling me.”
Fair enough. “As for Seamus, he’s harmless unless you give him a reason to be harmful, which you haven’t. He likes you, maybe a bit too much. He’ll play nice.”
She releases a low growl, once again reminding me of a kitten. “I don’t have any of my clothes here, or books, or—”
“Pack them after school. I’ll help youtake them here.”
Mira’s silent for a few moments, shaking her head from side to side. Finally, she says, “I want my own room if I have tolive here.”
“No.”
“Why thefucknot?”
“Because I don’t feel like carrying you from a different room to this one every night. I could, but I’d rather have you here in the first place.”
A shrill laugh escapes her. “If you think I willeverwillingly let you touch me after this—”
“You will,” I cut her off. “You might hate yourself for it. You might hatemefor it, but you will.”
Her lips purse. She shakes her head, turning back to the window. “Fuck. Off.”
I check the time on my phone, deciding to let that topic lie for now. “It’s still early. We have time for breakfast here, or we can go out to get something.”
“I’m not hungry. I need to go to my dorm room and pack all my shit up.” A shrill laugh escapes her. “And find a way to explain to my roommates why I’m suddenly moving out.”
I’m tempted to fuck the attitude out of her. I’m tempted to say many things in reprimand, or to tell her exactly what her new reality is going to be. Instead, I approach her slowly, cupping her face in my hand and turning her to look at me. “It won’t be as bad as you’re imagining.”Being mine has many benefits.
“I’m going to shower,” she announces. “Can I at leastdriveto campus, or will I need to rely on you to chauffeur me around?”
“Your car is a piece of shit that’s not safe in the cold weather,” I say bluntly. “I’m amazed it managed to get you up and down mountains several times; it’s a joke.”
“You aresucha prick,” she hisses. “Not all of us have 50 grand to drop on a bullet removal, or 100 grand for a car.”
“120,” I correct mildly. “I can get you a new one.” She’d look good behind the wheel of a sleek Mercedes.
She snorts. “I’m not going to be a kept woman, and I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
