Page 93 of Fighting Spirit

“No, I’m gonna lie here and relive my humiliation,” I pout, my voice muffled by the comforter.

“Okay,” he mumbles, shuffling around as he gets settled. “Can you do it quietly? I have an early training.”

“You’re the worst,” I grumble as I pop my head out.

He kisses my shoulder. “Night.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

ROWAN

“Ifeel like I’m meeting your parents,” Ruth has a vice grip on my hand as we take the stairs up to my apartment.

I frown down at her. “You’ve already met my dad.”

“Yeah, but Trevor feels like a bigger deal.”

“Jesus, don’t fuckin’ tell him that.” The thought of Trevor’s ego somehow getting bigger makes me nauseous. “Anyway, you’ve met Trevor.”

“But I haven’tmet himmet him.” Ruth looks up at me like it should be obvious, but I don’t know what the fuck she’s talking about.

“I don’t get it.”

“I wasn’t your girlfriend then, now it’s a whole different thing.”

“Why?”

She huffs and drops my hand. “I want him to like me.”

“He doesn’t need to like you. I like you.”

Apparently, this is the worst thing I could have said.

“You don’t think he’ll like me?” Ruth’s wounded expression guts me, and I catch hold of both her hands, pulling her to a stop. She’s a couple steps up so I have to look up at her as she scowls at me.

“He’s gonna love you.” Her face softens a fraction. “He already likes you more than me, and that’s just after one car ride.”

“Really?” Her face looks so vulnerable. I hadn’t seen how much she’s been worrying about this, but after everything she’s told me about her past relationships, it makes sense that she’d be insecure about how someone feels about her.

“I’m dreading it already. You guys are gonna be a pain in my ass.”

She lights up. “Yeah?”

“I’m debating if this is even a good idea. He’s gonna have you two ganging up on me in ten minutes.”

“Nah.” She kisses my cheek. “I could never be mean to you.”

“You’re mean to me every day!” I call after her as she sprints up the stairs. When I catch up to her, she stands sheepishly in the hallway. “Problem?”

“It’s possible that I don’t know where I’m going,” she grouches.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have run off,” I say as I wrap an arm around her shoulders and guide her toward the apartment.

“Whatever.”

It takes me a second to pull the keys out of my pocket, and I can feel the tension radiating from Ruth.

“Is that you, Honey?” Trevor pokes his head out of the kitchen once we’re in. He’s wearing his favorite apron, a ruffled ‘kiss the cook’ number I got him last Christmas. I’d meant it as a joke, but now he refuses to wear anything else when he’s cooking.

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