Chapter 20 #2
Iris let out a long breath. Definitely not how she’d wanted to end her night.
Law
Frowning at his phone, Law hesitated. Iris should be home by now. She’d said she lived only twenty minutes from Stronghold, and it was forty minutes since she’d left.
Should he start to worry?
Should he text to remind her?
While he didn’t like the idea that she’d forgotten about him, he also didn’t want to not check in on her if something had happened.
Dammit.
Yeah, that was what did it. He couldn’t go to bed not knowing.
Quickly, he tapped out ‘Home?’ and hit send before he could second-guess himself.
No, it didn’t look desperate. Or overly controlling.
He just wanted to make sure she had arrived home safely since he’d told her to text when she was there, or he wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.
It was self-preservation as much as anything.
When his phone vibrated a moment later, every muscle in his body relaxed.
I’m so sorry. I got home, and my roommate picked a fight with me, and I completely forgot. I’m home safe, though.
Law frowned.
He didn’t know much about Iris’ roommate, though she’d talked about the other woman a little yesterday during dinner. From what she’d said, they’d been friends for years.
Now what? It was late, and he needed to get to bed, but it didn’t feel right to leave their conversation like this.
While it had been a long time since he’d been in a relationship, he thought he was supposed to see if she wanted to talk about it.
Sure, they weren’t officially in a relationship yet, but… He quickly sent back his reply.
Do you want to talk about it? You can call me.
The wait for a response was almost painful. The phone rang a few minutes later when he’d finally given up and had started getting ready for bed. Hastily spitting his toothpaste into the sink and giving his mouth a quick rinse, he snatched the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey. I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t have called.” Iris sounded down, almost defeated, a far cry from her demeanor when they’d parted. Law scowled.
“I wouldn’t have offered if I hadn’t meant it. I wanted you to call if you needed to talk.”
“Funny, I said something very similar to my roommate.” Iris sighed.
“Sometimes, she just makes me so angry. I got home, and she was mad I’d gone out tonight, even though before I left, I asked her if it was okay or if she wanted to come, and she encouraged me to go out and said she was going to hang out with her boyfriend tonight.
” She made a noise of aggravation. “I would have stayed home if I thought she was in any way upset since I’d already gone out last night. ”
“Right.” Law wasn’t sure what else to say, but she seemed to want some kind of response, so he threw that out there. He couldn’t picture Iris as the type to leave her roommate to her own devices unless she thought her roommate would be fine with it.
“Domi and Rae and Avery were all here, too. They saw everything. If they thought Noelle was upset, they would have said something. Anyway, I got home, and Noelle immediately got on my case for going out. She said I put her on the spot, asking if she was okay with me going and that I didn’t care about anyone other than myself. ”
“Well, that’s definitely not true.” Law could feel his anger rising.
Though he hadn’t actually met Noelle, so far, he wasn’t impressed.
He could hear the uncertainty in Iris’ voice as if she was worried about what her roommate was merited.
“If you asked her if she wanted you to stay home tonight and she didn’t want you to go, she needed to say something. Or she could have come out with you.”
“That’s how I feel, but now I’m second-guessing myself.
” Iris sighed. “Sometimes, I feel like I’m walking on eggshells around her because I never know what’s going to set her off.
And when I try to see things from her point of view, I feel like maybe she has a point?
Like, she didn’t want to seem like a spoilsport if she told me she wanted me to stay when Rae, Domi, and Avery were all there. ”
“Okay, but even if that was true, she could have told you that when you got home instead of being angry.”
“That’s true.” Iris sounded thoughtful.
“Did she try to talk to you about it first?”
There was a pause.
“No, she was mad when I got home and jumped right into accusing me of ditching her.”
“You can ask Rae, Domi, and Avery if they thought she seemed upset when you went out. Though I feel like they would have said something before you left if they’d thought she was.”
Iris laughed. “I had the same thought.” She paused again. “Thank you. I feel better now.”
“Good, you should.” Law grinned. Surprisingly, he did, too. Being there for her when she’d needed him felt good. “Tomorrow, I’m just getting things done around the house, so if you need to text or call at any point, feel free.”
“Thank you.” She yawned. “Oh my God, it’s so late. I need to go to bed.”
“Go. Goodnight.”
“Night.”
Law laid down on his bed, feeling supremely satisfied. He didn’t even mind when Whiskers jumped up on his chest, doing her best to crush him or work her claws through the comforter to reach his bare skin.