Page 19 of Ronen
Even I wasn’t sure if I was talking about the book I needed to pay for, or whatever the fuck had just happened between us.
Make no mistake, I one hundred percent had a crush on Ronen Sinclair.
Had from the first moment I had walked into the library, and he had flashed those gorgeous eyes of his at me, looking all buttoned up and prissy.
But this–whatever this was–was something new. Much more than a fun, flirty crush. This was pure lust and raw need. This was a fire burning with no end in sight.
This was a need that threatened to consume me.
And I was not up for dealing with it today.
Without another word, I walked across the lobby, turning the handle on the door with more force than necessary.
Practically running down the steps, I heard Ronen shout, “Don’t you dare!”
Oh, I dared all right! I was going to just go figure out my shit, after some sleep–
“Oof!”
The cry left my lips involuntarily, when what felt like two hands slammed into my shoulder blades with enough force to push me forward on the step. Next thing I knew, my feet slipped out from beneath me, and I was tumbling ass over tea kettle down the hard, concrete steps.
Did I say hard? Because those steps were super hard.
My right elbow banged painfully against a step on the way down, and when my ankle gave a sickening crunch, I might have screamed. Maybe. Surely that high pitched cry belonged to someone else and not me.
Finally, I came to a stop, sprawled upside down across the last two steps, my head nearly on the sidewalk. My hat was who knew where, and I stared blurrily up at the very blue, late January sky, not quite comprehending what had just happened.
Blinking to try to clear my vision, I raised my head up an inch, then thought better of it when pain flared fromeverywhere, and I let it flop back down.
“Ow,” I winced, the back of my head tender. My stomach was turning itself inside out, and I took a deep breath, trying not to puke up the pop tart I had scarfed down this morning, all over Ronen’s precious steps.
Fuck, everything hurt.
My ankle was throbbing in time to my heart, and I was pretty sure I had felt it snap. My elbow was hurting just as much, each fighting to see who could make me see stars the most.
Pounding feet suddenly sounded from every direction, and several slightly blurry heads leaned over me.
“Move out of the way, folks,” a voice laced with quiet authority ordered, and then Hank Anderson, one of my deputies, was leaning over me. “Don’t move, Mason. Ambo is on the way.”
Closing my eyes, I whispered, “Not sure I could move right now if I needed to.”
“Mason!”
That voice…was that Ronen?
Yelling my name, with panic lacing his voice.
Surely, I was hearing things. The fall must have scrambled my brains.
He was probably afraid I was going to sue the library for…icy steps? Were they icy? I didn’t remember them being icy when I had gone up them. Ronen was a stickler for keeping them clean, because even with the back entrance, a lot of people still used the front with all the steps. Like Mrs. Everett with her cane.
The steps had been clear.
No, I was sure I had felt hands push me from behind. Positive in fact.
“Move!” Ronen barked. “Let the man get some air.”
Narrowing my eyes at Ronen when he crouched next to me, his hands hovering like he wanted to touch me but wasn’t sure if, or where, he should, I accused, “Did you push me?”
