Her stepdad. Vovik. The abuse. Kieran knew now. Although, he’d already suspected. It wouldn’t take long for him to lose interest. Two messy people with messy pasts. What sort of future could they possibly hope to build? Nothing good would come from a cracked foundation.
Lily plugged her phone in to charge, and her screen illuminated her dark room. In the center, Kieran’s name stared back at her.
Hey
A searing tangle of excitement and nerves flared within her. Kieran Sullivan. Asshole. Pseudo-DILF. Protector. And with anger issues. How deep did those run? How often did he lose control, like he did on Danny that day?
Her thumbs hovered over the screen before tapping out the best response she could muster.
Hey yourself
The little bubbles of a response appeared, and Lily curled onto her side waiting for the text to come through.
You doing okay?
Yeah. How about you? And Danny?
Been better. Up for a phone call?
Lily’s brows rose, and she reread his text. Nothing about this felt very fuck buddy friendly. She groaned and leaned the top of her phone against her forehead. Leave it to her to fail at the one thing tons of people did every day—have casual sex.
Before she could chicken out, she slid her thumb across his name and brought the phone to her ear. He answered on the first ring.
“Hey, Princess.”
The use of her nickname, even after all he’d learned,stretched a wide grin across her face. “Hey, Southpaw.” She closed her eyes, focusing on his voice and remembering the way he’d cradled her hand in the car. “You answered quick. Can’t sleep either?”
“I tried. Too many bad memories keeping me awake.”
That was a feeling Lily was familiar with. “Hmm. We really fucked up today, didn’t we?”
“You mean how you met Danny, saw me lose my shit, then we talked about our pasts?” There was a warm humor in his voice. “Yeah, I’d say we fucked up.”
“Danny’s not so bad.” When Kieran only grunted in response, Lily continued. “So…where do we go now?”
“I’d say back to the drawing board as far as rules are concerned.”
Right. She should have been thankful he wanted to respect the rules. They were her invention, after all. But in the shadow of their shared secrets, the thought of rules left a hollow ache in her chest.
“I guess rule number one is gone,” she said.
“I’d say you’re right.” A distant horn echoed through the line. Was he outside? “Which leads us to rule number two.”
You have to tell me what you want.
She slung one arm under her head and drew her bottom lip between her teeth. “Would you be mad if I told you I didn’t know?”
His deep laugh rumbled through the phone. “I was expecting you’d say that.”
Soft silence fell between them, present, but not uncomfortable. The truth was, she did know what she wanted. She wanted to invite him over. Drag him into her bed. Fall asleep curled into his embrace. Wake up to his kisses and go for coffee before strolling into work together. None of that was what he was willing to give, because even if she didn’t know howto keep her feelings in check, that didn’t mean Kieran felt the same.
“Number three.” He broke the silence first, moving right along to the next rule. “No attachments.”
Her heart shuddered in her chest. Here it came. The rejection.
“I think we’ve broken that one,” he said.
A response fumbled on her lips. She blinked against the dark of her apartment, scrambling for words. “We have?”
