Rowan's eyes snap to the backdoor as he yells, "Give me one damn second will you?!"
I don't want to sit out here all night talking about my heart. It's a sensitive subject and I already feel pretty damn exposed.We have plenty of time to talk about the rest later. "I'm cold, anyhow."
That gets his feet moving, he stands and instead of reaching his hand out like he's done every other time we've been together, he tucks them into his pockets and starts walking towards the backdoor.
Well, okay then. I tuck my hands safely in my jacket as I follow him into the house and into the chaos that follows.
Chapter Twenty
Rowan
Ihad to get out of there, away from her tantalizing scent and far far away from her alluring eyes. I was so freaking close to leaning in and taking her lips with mine. I wanted so badly to taste her, to own her. And I would have to if it weren’t for Luka’s voice in the back of my head saying how I was a goner and didn’t even know it yet. That was enough to snap me out of the trance Millie St. James put me in.
The quiet girl with wild curly hair and honey brown eyes that I could stare at for days and never tire of looking at. The girl that has completely and totally captured my attention with her sly humor and sweet smile. The one that I can’t stop thinking about, even when I want to.
I’m having thoughts that I don’t want to be having, ideas in my head that I have no business thinking. Especially after what shejust told me. She’s more fragile than I ever imagined, her heart deserves to be protected and cherished and I’m not the right guy to do that. I’ll end up hurting her and that’s something I can’t stomach even the thought of.
So I took the coward’s way out and ran. It was all too much, the way she was looking at me. The way my heart was beating out of my chest when she told me about her transplant. How pretty she looked under the light of the full moon. But mostly how damn badly I wanted to kiss her.
“Rowan! Get over here and take a shot with us!” I’m almost relieved at the idea of drowning my thoughts in alcohol tonight. I go straight to where Nash is standing with a shot of clear liquid in his outstretched hand. I grab for it without hesitation but with more than a little guilt when I look over to Millie. Her eyes bore into mine, begging for answers that I can’t give her.
I turn away and take another shot. Without looking at her, because I can’t fucking risk drowning in her inviting eyes again, I ask, “You want one?”
She doesn’t say a word as she comes up beside me and takes the little plastic shot cup out of my hand, downing it just as quickly as I did mine, except the biggest difference is she immediately starts coughing. I drop the third shot I have in my hand and slap my hand across her back several times in an attempt to help. “You okay?”
“That freaking burns. Why does it burn so much?” she says between coughs.
“Because it’s nasty, cheap liquor. It’s not gonna go down smooth, Daredevil.”
“You made it look so easy!” She slaps me across the chest in protest.
I laugh because she’s so damn cute when she’s all riled up. “That’s because I’ve had some practice. You apparently haven’t.”
She reaches for another shot and downs this one just as quickly as I did. Suddenly I feel stupid for giving her shit she shouldn’t be putting in her body.How can you be so fucking dumb, Rowan?She shouldn’t be drinking after a damn heart transplant. I reach for the empty shot cup and pull it from her hands, “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
“What?” she asks, deceptively quiet.
The words are out of my mouth before I even have time to think about the implications, or how she may perceive them. “Should you be drinking?”
Her face hardens as she watches mine. “Don’t do that.”
Her command takes me by surprise. “Do what?”
“That’s not why I told you.”
I rub my sternum; an uncomfortable and overwhelming feeling starts to consume my chest. I need to make sure she’s okay, I want to protect her. “I know.”
“Then don’t do that.”
My eyebrows pull together and my chest tightens even more, “I can’t help it.”
“You think I can’t take care of myself? That I don’t know my limits?” she seethes.
I’m fucking this all up, she’s so mad her cheeks are turning pink. “I don’t think you can’t handle yourself, Daredevil. I just—”
“You just what? You wanna fix it all for me, Pierce? You want to be my knight in shining armor?” Before I can answer her, she’s stomped up to me. Her petite and dainty finger is trying to poke a hole straight through my chest.
“I don’t need saving. I don’t need a prince to ride in on his white horse, and I certainly don’t need a friend acting like my father.”
