“Yeah, you fucking fell asleep on the stoop.”Rather than anger though, he sounded… Concerned?
Rory O’Gallagher, concerned?Psh.No.Never.That didn’t fit his MO.
“Why did you come back?”Still, he stood there, ever so patiently.We didn’t have time for this!I had a review with him and Conor, as well as a test that I was likely going to fail at this point.
If I failed this class, I was done.This wasn’t me being dramatic; it was the school’s rules.I’d be damned if I worked this hard for this long, only to fail one class in the end.
“I don’t have time for this,” I finally responded, heading toward the bedroom door.I’d see myself out.
“Em.”He must have moved from the doorjamb, because I could hear him padding after me.“Emily.”
Ignoring him, I reached for the doorknob of what I assumed was to the stairwell leading down to O’Gallaghers, but before I could pull it open, Rory caged me in against the door.I rested my forehead against the wood and squeezed my eyes shut.
I was going to fail my class.
Not only that, but Conor was likely downstairs and he’d see me leaving the apartment with his brother and, oh my God, if I lost this job, I would really be paddling up shit creek.
“You’re a smart girl, Emily,” Rory stated to my back.
Ha.Smart girl.Right.
That’s why it took me this long to get where I was.Look at the prime example behind me.The guy who made six figures by the time he was twenty.If anyone was smart, it was Rory.Even if he didn’t get his money by being a PhD in something extraordinary, he was at least smart in his entrepreneur ways.
“You know better than to sleep outside—behind a bar, no less.Why did you come back?”
I could continue to ignore him.It’s what I did best, anyway.And besides, why was he being so…not-Rory-like right now?
Then he really surprised me by grabbing my arm gently and turning me around to face him.I leaned back against the door, defeated, and looked up the minimal inches to stare directly into Rory’s green eyes.
I had never noticed how pretty they were before.They were a rich emerald green with an even darker ring around them.His left eye had a slight bright blue speck in it, taking up about a quarter of the bottom of his iris.Add to that his thick, long black eye lashes, and he really was beautiful up close.
He lifted a brow over one of those beautiful eyes, wordlessly urging me to answer him.
“I left my keys here.”
Rory frowned now.“What do you mean, you left your keys here?I saw you leave.How’d you get home?”
That was the other thing.
I don’t think any of the O’Gallaghers knew I didn’t have a car.
“I walked,” I answered honestly, jutting my chin up and preparing myself mentally for Rory’s response.We may not get along, he may be a cocky asshole, but one thing the O’Gallaghers were was protective of the people who worked for them.
When one of the barmaids was continuously harassed by a customer and it started to affect her outside of the pub, the boys helped her file a restraining order.When Matt’s, one of the weekday bartenders, kid fell ill, only to learn he had a genetic disorder, the O’Gallaghers set up a benefit for his family and the expenses they were starting to see.
Conor did these things because beneath his cocky exterior, he was truly a big softy, something that was painfully evident when you saw him with his baby boy, Aiden.Talk about exploding ovaries.Pair that with how much he loved his girlfriend, Mia, and you couldn’t help but fully take in what those closest to him meant to Conor.
As for Rory?I’m sure it was an image thing.
The look of disbelief that passed over his face now would have been comical if it weren’t for the fact I was mentally exhausted about how my day was already going.
“At one in the morning?You walked.You’re fucking kidding me, right?”
I ground my molars.“No, I’m not fucking kidding you, Rory.I walked.I don’t have a car.I walked home like I do every night, just like I walk here every day.I was too busy thinking about a test I have to take today and didn’t realize I left my keys here until I got home.Therefore, I had to turn around.But by the time I got back, you had already locked up.”
“Emily, you don’t walk home at one in the morning around here!”
“It’s a decent neighborhood, Rory.”
