“Ollie. Hey. What are you up to?”
“Err… nothing.” I hold Rose’s glittering stare and loathe the rejection burning amongst the kaleidoscope colors. “You?”
“Just got off work, now I’m heading home. Eliza’s been spamming me with text updates about this chick Rose. Would she share the door with you?”
“Would…” I swear, my brain stops and stutters. Stalling and broken. “What door?”
“The door she floated on after the Titanic sunk! There was room for two, Ollie. So, I’m asking ifyourRose would let you freeze in the ocean, or if she’d move her ass aside and share the door with you?”
Are you fuckin’ kidding me?I grit my teeth and take carenotto snap the phone in my fisted grip. “You’ve called at aninsanelyinconvenient time, Raquel.” I dart forward when Rose turns, wrapping my palm around her wrist before she can leave. Then I tug her back around and hold her terrified stare. “Unless your life is in danger at this very moment, I’m hanging up. You can call me back tomorrow.”
“Aww. Is she there right now?” she snickers. “Did I interrupt special time with the door hog?”
“She would share the door,” I snarl. “Fuck. She wouldgiveme the door. Is there anything you gotta tell me that can’t wait till tomorrow?”
“Just that your bad attitude hurts my feelings. If I wanted to feel like I didn’t matter, I’d call my boss and try for a little small talk. Oh! You know who she reminds me of?”
“Who? Rose?”
“No! My boss. She kinda reminds me of Chris. She’s set in her ways, too, and doesn’t like noise and people and a change in her routine. She doesn’t have a particular affection for any specific knives or forks, but you hide her ruler just once and she’ll slit your throat with it.”
“Great. So glad we bonded. I’m hanging up now.”
“I don’t remember you ever being so grumpy!” She giggles. “Why don’t you come to Copeland for a few days? You could stay at my apartment. I could even take you to work and show you around. Formally introduce you to the esteemed Chief Medical Examiner, Minka Mayet. Oh! And I could introduce you to this dude who’s always sniffing around Eliza. He’s smitten, Ol, and he’s so stupid about it.”
“Eliza’s got a man on the hook in Copeland, too?”
“Yeah, but?—”
“Wait.” I shake my head and refocus. “Tomorrow. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Because you’re busy with Rose?”
“Yes.”
“And you’d rather talk to her and not me? Even though I’ve been yoursister your whole life, and she’s been your cute little roommate for just a few weeks?”
“Yep! But it sounds like you have all the details anyway. Goodbye.”
“No, wait?—”
“Love you. Bye.” I kill our call and toss the phone to the couch, then I bring wild eyes back to Rose… andknow, I’ve already lost her. She’s retreated back into the woman she is when she’s afraid. But this time, with an added sheen of embarrassment. “I’m sorry.” I stroke the side of her wrist. But I don’t pull her close. I won’t cross a single fucking line she hasn’t already picked up and tossed in the trash. “My sisters can be a lot sometimes.”
“I’m gonna go to bed.” She draws her hand from mine and stumbles back a step. Her eyes flicker between mine. To the television. To the fireplace. To the doorway leading to the hall. Drawing a deep breath, she releases it again and clears her throat. “It’d be cool if you forgot about all that…” She gestures toward me. “Stuff. I’d hate to have to smother myself with a pillow.”
“Please don’t.” I follow her. Just one step. Two. “You don’t have to run away.”
“But I will, anyway. ‘Cos I’m not as brave as you think I am.” She tucks dangling locks of hair behind her ears and digs her hands into her hoodie pockets. “Goodnight.”
I was so fucking close. So near the only thing I can think of. Now she’s walking away. My shoulders slump forward with my sigh. “Goodnight, Rosaline.”
She pauses at the doorway, her hand on the frame and her eyes glittering with pleasant surprise. But the blush filling her cheeks speaks of the war being waged between mortification and need. Discomfort and desire.
She settles on a smile, short-lived as it is, then she turns on her heels and walks away.
Fuckkkkkkk.
I grab on to my hair and pull, dropping my head back and groaning up at the ceiling like a wounded wolf in the wild.
