Fuck you. I've been grilled by professionals, baby, and I'm not gonna sit here and listen to you try to dissect my life.”
I needed some exercise, so I slammed out the door and set out to run. Running made me feel better when I was stressed. My calves were tight, though, and the first mile was painful. Shit, I needed to work out more. I wasn't getting winded, but my muscles complained for a while before they calmed down. The run became easy after that, and I settled into a comfortable pace and took one of my longer routes.
Rory wasn't the first person who'd given me shit about not finishing college. My mom went on about it so often that I'd been avoiding her. “Your brother was so proud of your good grades,” she would say, working the guilt angle. “Sean was determined that you would get your degree. Have you forgotten the money he used to send for your college fund? He said you were smart enough to be a doctor or a lawyer someday, and that if anything ever happened to him, I should make sure you finished your education.”
Yeah yeah. Sean had been a pain in the butt when he'd been my perfect big brother, but he was even more of a pain now that he was dead.
I told myself that a lot. What a shit Sean had been to me at times. Bigger, stronger, more athletic, more handsome. Kind to puppies and prone to helping old ladies cross the street. Volunteering to go fight terrorists and protect the homeland. Getting himself killed, and all for what?
Shit. I couldn't let myself think about Sean. The hole in my heart deepened into a black, bottomless well when I thought about Sean. Fuck. Sometimes I missed him so damn much.
Chapter 10
Rory
Maybe I just should've left on the train.
This was messed up no matter how I looked at it. I didn't have anything in common with this guy who’d picked me up in the rain, and I wasn't sure why he intrigued me. All we seemed to do is squabble.
It wasn’t up to me to ride his ass about why he hadn’t finished college. Anyway, why was I being snobby about it? There was nothing wrong with working construction.
I pictured him, shirt off, muscles sliding under his skin as he lifted a wooden beam and hefted it up over his head. Working outside, in the fresh air, the sun beating down on his perfect body. Oh yeah. I could lie back and watch that all day.
Damn. Was that why I’d stayed?
I’d been telling myself that since Griff had helped me out of a tricky situation, I oughta do something to return the favor. I owed him. If the townsfolk who’d turn their backs on him had all been wrong, he deserved the chance to hold his head up high again. Maybe I could help with that? At least maybe I could make him understand that someone cared enough to try to clear his name?
I guess that makes me sound more altruistic than I actually am.
Truth was, I wanted him. Yeah, I was attracted to this beautiful man who’d given me a ride in the pouring rain.
He was the kind of rough, tough, smoking hot bad boy who probably got girls with a crook of his finger. If I've been a little less sleepy last night, that finger crook thing would have probably gotten him me.
I hadn’t decided what to do about it yet.
Even though I wasn't inclined to think of him as a killer, I’d found a few worrisome things on his computer. I knew from all the hacking I’d done that people looked at all kinds of weird shit on the Internet.
Examining somebody’s files was a little like looking inside their minds—there are good reasons why people didn't just spew out every random thought that flashed across their neurons. Everybody thought things they didn’t say and fantasized about stuff they would never do.
Besides, Griff knew I was invading his privacy. If he'd had anything to hide, wouldn’t he have stopped me?
I wandered into the kitchen and started cleaning up the dishes from dinner. Maybe I was weird but I actually like cleaning. Putting things in order. Making everything neat and tidy around me. You
I needed some exercise, so I slammed out the door and set out to run. Running made me feel better when I was stressed. My calves were tight, though, and the first mile was painful. Shit, I needed to work out more. I wasn't getting winded, but my muscles complained for a while before they calmed down. The run became easy after that, and I settled into a comfortable pace and took one of my longer routes.
Rory wasn't the first person who'd given me shit about not finishing college. My mom went on about it so often that I'd been avoiding her. “Your brother was so proud of your good grades,” she would say, working the guilt angle. “Sean was determined that you would get your degree. Have you forgotten the money he used to send for your college fund? He said you were smart enough to be a doctor or a lawyer someday, and that if anything ever happened to him, I should make sure you finished your education.”
Yeah yeah. Sean had been a pain in the butt when he'd been my perfect big brother, but he was even more of a pain now that he was dead.
I told myself that a lot. What a shit Sean had been to me at times. Bigger, stronger, more athletic, more handsome. Kind to puppies and prone to helping old ladies cross the street. Volunteering to go fight terrorists and protect the homeland. Getting himself killed, and all for what?
Shit. I couldn't let myself think about Sean. The hole in my heart deepened into a black, bottomless well when I thought about Sean. Fuck. Sometimes I missed him so damn much.
Chapter 10
Rory
Maybe I just should've left on the train.
This was messed up no matter how I looked at it. I didn't have anything in common with this guy who’d picked me up in the rain, and I wasn't sure why he intrigued me. All we seemed to do is squabble.
It wasn’t up to me to ride his ass about why he hadn’t finished college. Anyway, why was I being snobby about it? There was nothing wrong with working construction.
I pictured him, shirt off, muscles sliding under his skin as he lifted a wooden beam and hefted it up over his head. Working outside, in the fresh air, the sun beating down on his perfect body. Oh yeah. I could lie back and watch that all day.
Damn. Was that why I’d stayed?
I’d been telling myself that since Griff had helped me out of a tricky situation, I oughta do something to return the favor. I owed him. If the townsfolk who’d turn their backs on him had all been wrong, he deserved the chance to hold his head up high again. Maybe I could help with that? At least maybe I could make him understand that someone cared enough to try to clear his name?
I guess that makes me sound more altruistic than I actually am.
Truth was, I wanted him. Yeah, I was attracted to this beautiful man who’d given me a ride in the pouring rain.
He was the kind of rough, tough, smoking hot bad boy who probably got girls with a crook of his finger. If I've been a little less sleepy last night, that finger crook thing would have probably gotten him me.
I hadn’t decided what to do about it yet.
Even though I wasn't inclined to think of him as a killer, I’d found a few worrisome things on his computer. I knew from all the hacking I’d done that people looked at all kinds of weird shit on the Internet.
Examining somebody’s files was a little like looking inside their minds—there are good reasons why people didn't just spew out every random thought that flashed across their neurons. Everybody thought things they didn’t say and fantasized about stuff they would never do.
Besides, Griff knew I was invading his privacy. If he'd had anything to hide, wouldn’t he have stopped me?
I wandered into the kitchen and started cleaning up the dishes from dinner. Maybe I was weird but I actually like cleaning. Putting things in order. Making everything neat and tidy around me. You
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