Chapter 13 KATIE
KATIE
Maria’s purple head follows me around the kitchen, gesticulating wildly as she tries to argue her point.
I’m only half listening; she’s been ranting for the best part of an hour now.
“I know he got you out of a bad situation, and I can’t argue about the driving you home thing, but everything after that has a blinking red light attached! ”
I stop, half-turn, and raise an eyebrow at her. “Being nice to animals is a bad thing?”
She makes a sound, somewhere between a sigh and a growl. “You know damn well this isn’t about the piggies!”
I roll my eyes and continue loading the dishwasher.
“He shows up unannounced; he does not respect your boundaries.” Every one of her points is emphasised by a perfectly manicured finger flicking in the air: “His wallet just happened to get lodged between your couch cushions, and he didn’t seem to miss it? That sounds like a plant right there!”
“Ree, seriously, your paranoia is showing.”
She slams her hands onto her hips, eyes narrowing to slits. “You have a Zade Meadows on your hands and you’re all but bending over to let him insert that gun!”
It takes me several tries to get the pot to fit between the frying pan and plates, but I get there in the end. “No more dark romance for you.”
“I’m serious, Katie! He all but has his own warning sound!”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“Stalker alert, ALERT!” She exclaims, pointing at me mockingly. She folds two fingers to her palm, mimicking a phone, and pretends to dial a number. “I want to know who I’m looking at.”
“Christ on a bike, Ree!” I exclaim, exasperated. “One minute, he’s Zade Matthews—”
“Meadows.”
“—And the next, he’s fucking Ghostface!” I slam the dishwasher door shut and turn to face her.
“Okay, maybe Aiden is a red flag. Maybe he’s just hoping for a quick shag; he’ll be sadly disappointed.
Besides,” I add with a smirk that I’m certain comes off as anything but friendly and reassuring.
“I’ve seen the girls he goes out with, and I look nothing like them.
Your short arse would be more his type!”
Her sassy arse just makes my point when she goes off on another one. All five-foot-two of her squares up to me. “He’s weird.”
“Yeah, well,” I grunt, lowering myself onto a chair at the kitchen table. “Meet his sister!”
“Please,” she sighs and lowers herself into the seat next to me. “Leave the gorgeous, but most likely deranged, man alone.”
“Excuse you? You make me sound like I’m hiding in his bushes!”
“He’s younger than you. He’s got history with the gardaí. He’s—”
“Right behind you,” his cool voice interrupts, causing both our heads to snap around so fast that I’m sure I just gave myself whiplash. He leans against the doorway, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips. “Did I hear my name being dragged through the mud?”
I’m out of my seat before I can even process what’s happening. I push right past him and look into my hallway; the front door is shut. “How the hell did you get in here?”
“The door was open,” he replies casually, his smirk widening.
“It was not!”
“Was so,” he counters. “You really need to be more careful; you know.” He turns and flicks the kettle on. “Anyone could have just walked right in here.”
“Zade!” Maria is out of her seat and all but shrieking. “Zade Meadows!”
“Aiden Quinn,” he retorts, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Nice to see you too, Maria.”
She pauses, her eyes wide. “How do you know my name?”
Aiden chuckles and leans against the kitchen counter. “You seem to know so much about me; why don’t you tell me?”
“Aiden,” I interrupt, stepping between them.
“Relax, bug,” He grips my hips and pulls me to him. “I’m just teasing.”
“Not interested in you, me arse!” Maria growls, crossing her arms over her chest.
Aiden grins over his shoulder at her. Pours hot water into his mug, then turns for the milk in the fridge.
“Make yourself at home; why don’t you?” Maria snaps.
“Don’t mind if I do.” He winks at Maria, heading back to add the milk to his cup before turning to the table.
Maria’s glare hardens as she watches Aiden confidently take a seat, unfazed by her hostility. She takes a deep breath. “If the door was open, why didn’t we hear it shut? Why didn’t we hear your approach? Why didn’t you call out to see if anyone was home?”
Aiden snorts derisively. “Katie’s car is in the garden. I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t brought up to slam doors. You were probably too busy picking me apart to hear my approach, and as for calling out—”
I yelp, feeling him grab me and pull me closer to him. “—Maybe I was hoping to catch a glimpse of you in one of those lacy outfits.” He turns his attention back to Maria, giving her an exaggerated, toothy grin.
I try to claw his hands from me and push him away, but his grip only tightens. His grey eyes jump to meet mine, intense with a hint of amusement. “You’re not embarrassed of me, bug?”
I struggle against his grip, but he seems to find my resistance amusing.
“No.” I’m not embarrassed of Aiden. I’m fucking terrified of him.
I found myself smiling every time he texted or rang this week, and I couldn’t help but feel a rush of excitement whenever I saw his name on my phone.
I’m already on a slippery slope of wanting to be around him more and more, chasing that dopamine high that he effortlessly provides.
“Good.” His smirk is positively wolfish. “Then take a seat.”
That’s not a request. I learn it pretty quickly when I land on his lap and feel his arm tighten around my waist, pulling me closer to him.
“So, what’s your game?” Maria presses, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. “Get into her pants, then leave her hanging?”
Kill me. Kill me now.
His fingers trace a slow, teasing pattern along my thigh, sending shivers down my spine. “Oh, Maria,” he chuckles darkly. “If I just wanted to fuck her, I would have done it already.”
Would you? That’s very fucking kind of you!
My head snaps in his direction, and I’m sure my glare says it all. I move to stand, but Aiden is quick to hold me in place, his grip firm yet gentle.
Maria looks just as disgusted as I feel.
“Is it hard for you to believe that someone could actually care about her?” He directs this at Maria. My cheeks burn, I’m unsure if that’s down to rage or shame. “Are you simply envious that Katie has her very own ‘Zade’ and you’re the one that is left with the book?”
Oh my god, he heard that!
Aiden’s grip tightens slightly, his eyes narrowing at Maria. She stammers, clearly caught off guard by his response.
“Aiden,” I interject, my voice trembling as I meet his gaze. “Back off.”
“I’m simply defending myself, bug,” he leans back in the chair and reaches for his mug of tea.
He’s not wrong. He has every right to defend himself.
Maria was calling out his character, even though she had never met him.
I cannot fault him for that, but she’s still my best friend, and I know her intentions were not malicious.
She worries about me, and given my track record with men, she has every right to.
“You can’t care about her,” Maria says sternly. “You don’t know the first thing about her.”
His mouth cuts into a thin line as he takes a sip of his tea, and then he places the mug back onto the table.
“I know that she is a cover designer and runs book tours for aspiring authors. I know that she is the youngest of four, with two brothers and one sister. I know that she has a tattoo on her upper left thigh and sternum, but I couldn’t make out what they are in the dark.
I know that she’s neurodivergent, I’m yet to discover if she’s Autistic or has ADHD. ”
“Both,” Maria and I say as one.
Aiden’s hips shuffle beneath me, and I feel his fingers inch slightly higher up my thigh.
“I know that she is a natural redhead, but being auburn, it’s not red enough for her liking, and she’s contemplating dying it.
I know she’s an animal lover and has more time for animals than people because people “are colossal thundercunts,” in her words, not mine.
I know that she needs a new front door because the one out there isn’t worth piss,” his grip tightens on me as he continues, “I know she’s a fighter with a wicked sense of dark humour.
” He brushes the hair away from my face, his voice dropping to a low growl.
“And I know that she’s never been with a man before in her entire life because if she was, she’d never allow herself to think that she was anything other than perfect.
” He leans in closer, looking at me as if I were the only other person in the room.
“But what I don’t know is if she’ll ever let me in, if she’ll ever trust me enough to share her world with me. ”
I wish I could hold his gaze. I try to force myself to meet his intense stare, but my eyes involuntarily dart away. I glance at Maria and see that the ice witch herself is thawing before my very eyes. If he can get to Maria, I have no chance.
“Hmm.” Maria pauses, her expression softening. “I stand corrected.”
“Can I get that in writing?” I joke, trying to lighten the mood.
Maria chuckles, her laughter breaking through the remaining walls of scepticism.
Aiden’s fingers brush over the sunflower tattoo on my left forearm and I flinch. Wondering if he can see the scars hidden under the bright ink.
Maria reaches for her phone, starts scrolling, and pretty soon her sour puss is back in force.
“These arseholes,” she says, sliding her phone in my direction.
Both Aiden and I glimpse the latest story about a lad in his thirties being caught with hundreds of videos and photos of child pornography.
“Should be sent to the front lines in the next war.”
“So they can catch a bullet?” Aiden asks, trying to follow her train of thought.
“So they can be used as human shields,” Maria replies with a sinister smile.
“I like her,” he chuckles.