Cal’s gaze burned into mine, and he pursed his lips at my dismissal. Again, I waited for him to fight me on it. To crowd me. To announce that he was going to help me cover up the bruise he had given me, whether I liked it or not.
Instead, he nodded, and I couldn’t help but notice that he looked a little hurt by my words.
Ignoring the pang of guilt in my chest, I left Cal with my mother and made my way upstairs.
Caleb was gone, and so was any reason for us to continue to see each other. I had done the right thing by telling him to go…
Then why did it feel so wrong?
Ihelped Iris clean up the kitchen, feeling more than a little put out that Ryan hadn’t accepted my offer to help him with the service.
He was right. I did have other shit that I should be doing. Ryker’s orders were burning fresh in my inbox, and I really should be spending the day trying to hunt down that man who had been causing all the problems.
However, I didn’t want to. I wanted to spend time with Ryan. I didn’t mind helping him with his job if it meant we got to be together.
Apparently, the feeling wasn’t mutual. Naomi had told me to back off and listen to him if he told me he needed space, and I knew she was right, but… it was hard.
Drying off the last of the dishes, I sighed, and Iris patted my arm gently. I turned to look at her, and she gave me a knowing smile.
“There, there, dear. He’ll come around. Ryan always takes some convincing to walk the path less traveled despite the fact that he is… ratherextraordinary.He’s stubborn. Just like his father.”
“My sister said I shouldn’t force myself on him,” I complained, untying the totally boss apron that Iris let me borrow.
Iris chuckled. “While I agree that forceis likely not the way to my son’s heart,persistencewill be necessary, dearie. Don’t give up. We have been waiting for you for a long time. He will just need some convincing.”
I cocked my head to the side, confused. That wasn’t the first time she had said something like that. I ran my hand over the small lump in my pocket that housed the weird little pouch she had given me when I first met her.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked, but she just gave me a strange smile and floated toward the door.
“My son loves lilies. The flower. If you ever find yourself in a position where you need his forgiveness, consider a nice bouquet.”
And then, she was gone.
Ryan had saidI needed to be out of the house before he came back downstairs. He didn’t say anything about beingawayfrom the house.
Parking my G-Wagon down the street, I texted Vox, asking him to come help me wire up some monitors in the vehicle.
If I couldn’t help Ryan with the service, then I might as well get some recon done, but I still wanted to be able to keep an eye on my ginger snap while we worked.
Vox arrived and got to work installing some baby monitors that he repurposed for my creepy stalking purposes. I could switch them to rearview and GPS monitors if and when I ever got Ryan’s sexy ass in my car. Until he admitted that we were together, I didn’t want him to know about the live feeds I had installed in his house. I had a feeling he would be mad about it and make me take them down.
In my defense, I had installed them for more serious reasons than watching him jerk it in the shower, though that was obviously a huge bonus. Ryker’s not-so-subtle threat made me nervous, and I wanted to be able to have eyes on him at all times. That way, if anything went down, I could show up to save his ginger ass.
While Vox installed my monitors, I climbed into the front seat with my laptop. I yelped in surprise as something sharp dug into my thigh. Vox cocked an eyebrow at me in question, and I fished the weird pouch Iris had given me out of my pocket. The nail in it had stabbed me in the leg, and I frowned.
Fuck.
Hopefully, I wouldn’t need a damn tetanus shot after this…
I stuffed the pouch in my cup holder before settling into the driver’s seat and firing up my computer.
Ryan’s street slowly filled with cars as people arrived for the funeral, and I watched all the people dressed in black formal attire show up with grim expressions on their faces.
Everyone was so somber but… put together? It felt very clinical. I tried to imagine how I would feel if I showed up at Cass or Naomi’s funeral and shuddered.
I wouldn’t be feelingsomber, that’s for fucking sure. I would be losing my fuckingmind.How all these people who were coming to grieve a loved one seemed so put together and calm was beyond me.
I supposed everyone was different.
