“So....” I cleared my throat, feeling stupid. I cut a look at Rowen, who still scowled. I didn’t like this. He wasn’t supposed to be mean. Was he being mean? I couldn’t even fucking tell anymore, but I knew I didn’t want to be fighting. I scrunched my toes against the floor again. “Conall wanted to learn some moves.” I peeked at Rowen, and his mouth dropped open.
“Ye didn’t. What do ye mean,moves?” His eyes widened and he stumbled into my bathroom, grabbing my shoulders. I sucked in a deep breath and tensed, talking myself out of shoving him away. It wasn’t like I wanted him gone, I was just unhappy, and in a way, I wanted to stay mad. The comfort of his touch flowed over me, and it was nice, as always. The gentle way he massaged his thumbs against my muscles made some of the bad feelings slip out of my stomach. Finally, I was able to breathe deeper. His eyes held true panic, though, and that was bad. “What did ye do, yemuppet?”
Rolling my eyes, I ducked out of his hold and turned my back on him. I ran my hands through my hair and sighed as the long strands fell around my face again. “Well, we dragged some mats that Sloan had in a storage closet out into the gym in the house and made a fight ring. I showed him how to escape a bear hug. They always teach that to women when they do self-defense, and usually not men, but there’s a whole list of simple things he should know how to do without thinking.” I rubbed my tender ribs that had gotten knocked around today, and Rowen growled, so I dropped my hand fast. The workout had been a horrible idea, sure, but we’d had a bunch of fun. The other bodyguards had looked at me like I was insane, which had only made me and Conall laugh more. I turned back around to Rowen doing the same thing—eyes too wide and bottom lip trembling.
“Ye had yer hands all over Conall?” His voice cracked and he winced.
“It wasn’t like that! We’re friends. We were doing something very specific.”
Rowen crossed himself, and I narrowed my eyes at him. The nervous chuckle he let out had me on edge. “Ye better hope the boss never finds out or... he agrees with what ye’ve said. I heard a story about Sloan cutting a man up and feeding him to the crabs in the Hudson Bay for lookin’ at Conall too long.”
My stomach twisted and I flipped him off. “What are we supposed to do all day? Ever since the explosion, the boss doesn’t want Conall going anywhere. Or at least, not much of anywhere. We’re bored as fuck.”
“Bored in that house. I’d wager Sloan Killough won’t be impressed withneither oneof ye, if ye say that to his face. This is gonna make me gray.” He ran a hand over his head, and I fought back a laugh, then remembered I was supposed to be mad at him.
I refused to give in to the full-body blush that swamped me. Yeah, okay, maybe Conall was a little dramatic, and maybe I agreed with him. Bored was about the worst thing in the world to be.
“Wait, is his arm still in a cast?”
“I was careful. It’s fine.” I waved a hand at Rowen. “I know what I’m doing.”
Rowen moaned. “Ye can’t treat Conall like Vail and Lor.”
“Why?” I scowled, and yeah, I was being stubborn about this, but it was so stupid. “He is like Vail and Lor. He’s a person.”
The bridge of Rowen’s nose crinkled and he massaged it. “Because Sloan will slit yer throat, that’s why!” He tossed up his hands in frustration.
I shrugged.
Rowen’s mouth fell open.
“Oh, come on. We are friends with Conall. Maybe we didn’t used to be, but we are now!”
Rowen hung his head. “I am tellin’ ye not to do anything like that again. Do ye hear me? And ye reschedule the doctor’s appointment. Now. Ye hafta go. Or I’m tellin’ Cillian.”
Growling, I brushed past him, ignoring his body heat when I accidentally bumped him, and went over to flop on the bed. I didn’t care what it made me look like, I kicked my feet as I got comfortable and crossed my arms. “I’m ignoring you,” I said, staring at the ceiling. “So, you might as well leave.”
“Pay attention,” Rowen said quietly, and the tone was so cold and different from usual that it raised the hair on the back of my arms. “I’m not Aspen and I’m not Cillian, but yewilllisten to me about these things. I won’t make ye afraid of me, nor do I want to, but ye won’t like me if ye push me.” He came over to stand at the edge of the bed and scowled down, arms crossed. I hadn’t been paying much attention to him before now—I’d been too pissed when one offhand comment from me in the kitchen had started this fight—but the sleeves on his white button-down shirt were rolled to his elbows and his forearms flexed. My stomach went warm, even though I was still fucking irritated.
I groaned. “Fighting with you isn’t any fun.”
“Good—” He rolled his eyes. “—because it isn’t a form of entertainment I’ll endure often.” He reached down and ruffled my hair, and I swatted at him.
“I’m not a kid.”
“Oh, I know.” There was heat in his tone that had me glancing at his face, and he smirked. “I’m gonna leave ye here to sulk and make the wise decision to listen to me, for once in yer life.”
Sighing, I stared at the ceiling again. “I won’t!” I called after him as he padded from the room and out into the hallway. He closed the door.
“Ye will!” he shouted back.
I raised my middle finger in his direction.
He was getting way too upset about all this, especially the Conall thing. We’d been really careful, taken every precaution, and we’d been in a room full of people. It wasn’t as if I’d hidden with him somewhere to rub against him—not that I wanted to do shit like that. I was happy with the men in my life, thanks.
I’d beenprofessional.
I seethed as I lay there but eventually decided maybe Rowen had a point, and I probably should listen to him. It felt ridiculous to worry about having fun with a friend.
