"You're not rubbish at anything, sweetheart. Have faith in yourself."
This time I stayed quiet, even though Conal was dead wrong. I couldn't think of anything I was actually good at, apart from displaying spectacularly bad judgment when it came to men and relationships.
"Sure, whatever." I couldn't prevent an eye roll.
Conal frowned.
"Sweetheart, stop that shit right the fuck now. You're amazingly strong. You survived a fucked-up childhood, made a new life here, earned a place at college, and we all love you."
My brain snagged on the last bit.
"You love me?"
Conal cleared his throat and stepped back. "Of course we love you, sweetheart. You're like a sister to us."
His words landed like a punch.
All my hopes and dreams turned to ash. Conal saw me as a sister. Nothing more. I doubted Ronan saw me as anything more than a casual fuck, either. Yes, he'd been messaging me constantly, but I'd heard enough about his antics over the years to know this pattern of behavior was typical for him.
Ronan fell hard and fast, then lost interest just as quickly.
I was living on borrowed time.
"Are we done here?" I no longer cared if my face was all blotchy and covered in snot. It wasn't like I needed to impress anyone.
Conal frowned at my brusque question, but nodded. "Yeah. Go get some breakfast, sweetheart. I have shit to do."
Since I wasn't hungry, I went straight to my bedroom, stripped off my clothes, and fell back into bed. With nothing else to do for the rest of the day, sleep seemed like the best use of my time.
26
Ronan
My phone screen mocked me. Conal had left me on read for five days. FIVE FUCKING DAYS! My twin never ignored me. We'd shared our ma's womb, shared everything as children, and as adults, we still shared.
So why was he pissed at me?
I was happy to share Pixie with him, but when I'd mentioned it via text, he'd left me on read.
Fucking asshole.Sure, he might look like me, but everyone knew I was the better-looking twin, and by far the most charming Kelly brother.
When I pulled up at the gate to the estate, tired and grumpy after days of chasing O'Rourkes around Ireland, Ash greeted me with a grin.
"Welcome home. Beers later?"
"Not tonight, I'm fucked, bro." And more importantly, I wanted to see Pixie. "Is Conal home?"
Ash raised an eyebrow at my lack of enthusiasm for beers, and also at my question. "Yeah?"
I nodded and drove through the gate. Ash probably wondered why I hadn't just asked Conal directly, but I refused to admit Conal and I weren't talking.
I'd find the grumpy fucker in the morning and have it out with him. To be honest, I, too, would have an attitude problem if I had to stick my dick in Maeve, so his bad mood was likely linked to extreme sexual frustration. The sooner he ditched that skank, the better.
We'd fought a lot as kids. Over toys, and later girls. A few punches, a bit of blood, and all was right in our world.
This was no different. Conal just needed to get his head around the idea that Pixie girl was our perfect mate.
I grinned as I parked my SUV in the garage.
