“You have got to be fucken kidding me,” I mumble to myself, taking a slow turn, observing my new room.
“Got a problem?” I hear from behind me. Turning to look at the door, I see Sloane leaning against the door frame, arms crossed over her chest with a raised eyebrow challenging me to complain about the room.
“Don’t expect me to take care of these. And don’t expect to be allowed in here to care for them. You might as well take them out right now,” I say in a gruff voice.
Instead of being mad, or telling me to get the fuck out of her house, she laughs. And for some reason, her laughter pisses me off more than it should. Turning away from her, I feel my jaw tighten.
“Yeah, okay,” she finally says. “My house, my rules, buddy. You’d best remember thatI’mthe one doingyoua favor here, so if I want to water my plants, I will water my plants.”
Buddy? Who the hell does she think she is calling me buddy? And she’s not doing me a favor? She’s doing this for her brother. And I’m paying her rent, so she can calm down on her house rules. She’s not allowed in here.
Who cares if she might look like my fantasy come to life, and all I can think about is wrapping my hand around her hair as I plunge my cock down her throat, fucking the sass right out of her . . .
“Fuck,” I mumble out loud, again, before giving my head a good shake, making me sway on my crutches. Where did that thought come from?
“Don’t shake too hard, you don’t want to give yourself a brain injury on top of everything else.” Turning, I see Ronan is now leaning against the door frame, taking his sister—hisyoungersister’s—spot. If he knew the thoughts that had just crossed my mind, he’d definitely be giving me a brain injury. Shaking my head again, I turn to face him.
“Have you texted your sibling group chat to let them know you arrived safe and sound?” he asks.
“Not yet, no.”
“Well, you do that. Cassie just put away your groceries, brought your toiletries to the bathroom, and here’s your duffle bag. We’re going to head out in a few minutes. We have a long drive ahead of us and Cassie has a few patient appointments tomorrow that she couldn’t move. If it wasn’t for that we would stay the night, but we’re going to have to hit the road in the next few minutes so we don’t get home too late.”
He feels bad for not staying longer, it’s written all over his face, but he shouldn’t. He’s done so much for me already. I have five siblings and two hovering parents, yet he took care of everything. My parents have been travelling a lot, thanks to my younger brother, Levi. They were in town when the accident happened and they offered to cancel their upcoming trip but I couldn’t ruin that for them. They deserve the adventure and freedom after raising the five of us and having my siblings scattered all over the country—the world really. My best bet was to put Ronan down as my emergency contact. I never thought he would have to act on it, but here we are. He did it all, from scheduling appointments, setting up my physiotherapy, taking time off, spending nights with me at the hospital, even making his younger sister let me move in for the next few months. And I know she doesn’t want me living here. Not after what happened the last time I saw her.
“It’s fine. You—both of you, have done enough already. More than enough,” I say, hobbling the few steps until I’m in front of him, offering him my hand.
He looks down at my hand as if it bit him, before shaking his head at me with a small laugh as he pulls me in for a hug, not caring that my crutches are digging into both of us. “Don’t worry about it. I know you’d do the same for me or Cassie or Sloane if anything were ever to happen to any of us. Anyhow, we’ll be back in a few weeks. Cassie was able to get a few days off so we’re gonna be coming here for a few days.”
With a nod of my head, I turn my back to him, facing the pristine white bed with a few viney plants hanging above it.
Chapter 3
Barely an hour after arriving, my brother and his wife are already gone, leaving me alone with Liam. Am I supposed to entertain him? Feed him? Ask him if he needs anything?
No,I tell myself. He’s a big boy; he can figure this out by himself. If he needs something, he can ask for it. I even attempted to help him by moving some furniture around so he’d have more room to move about with his crutches, but he blew a gasket at me.
Plus, you are no longer a people pleaser, I chastise myself. He can figure it out himself.
It takes exactly one hour and forty-seven minutes for me to completely regret agreeing to have Liam live with me.
“What the fuck is this music? It’s been playing since I got here and it’s getting on my nerves,” he says, stomping out of his room—if you could even call it stomping, given the crutches and boot. He looks pissed, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be turning off my music. My plant babies need their hour of classical music every day.
“Just that—music,” I answer.
“Why?” he asks in a roughtone.
“Classical music encourages happy plants. I scheduled my Google Home to play one hour of classical music every morning and afternoon,” I explain.
“Turn it off,” he demands.
Turning to lean my hips against the counter where I was working on my weekly meal prep, I level him a look that hopefully saysnot happening,you’re inmyhouse,andstop being an asshole. “Not happening. My house, my rules,” I repeat from earlier.
“Is that what you think, Rosie?” he asks, using my childhood nickname, making me tense. “Last time I checked, I’m paying you rent, therefore, I have a say.”
“And last timeIchecked, I’m doingyouthe favor of a lifetime. Not to mention, I enjoy living alone. So, please, grab your bag and call my brother. I’m sure he’s not far and can come back to pick you up,” I respond with a sass and confidence I didn’t know I had inside of me. It doesn’t last long, though, and my hands start to shake—I hate confrontation. I never initiate conflict, instead always deciding to bend to the other person’s wants. But this is my home. After living with my brother or roommates for my entire life, this is the first place that is mine, and mine alone. I may not have been living here long, but I put too much time and energy into making it the house and home I’ve always wanted. The only house rules to apply are mine.
“Why are you being such a bitch?” Liam asks in an angry tone.
