Page 18 of Lords of Misrule
We work like that for the rest of the afternoon—loading boxes, taping them, chatting about our predicament, and subtly flirting until everything is packed up. Moving in with these guys might not be the end of the world if it means I get to spend more time around Finn.
Nine
Rowan
“So where’s my room?” She looks at me.
“I told you I had a couch.” I nod to the one in our living room where Hudson is currently sprawled out playing a video game.
“I thought you were kidding.” Her brow furrows.
“You can have the couch in the den if you prefer. There’s a pocket door but it’s smaller and less comfortable. And you’ll have to get out any time I need the room. I work in there.”
“As opposed to the couch out here that’s rarely used?” Her sarcasm seeps through and irritates me. I have sympathy for her, an inkling of it after seeing her in the car the other day, but she’s already wearing on my nerves with her duchess act, and she’s barely gotten in the door.
“Do you normally complain about free things when you get them?”
“This is far from free. You want me here because you want my help with the paintings.”
“Paintings you need as much as we do.”
“So what if I need to sleep because I have a shift at the diner and you’re out here playing video games or having a party?”
“You have a car, right?” I don’t mean it, not really, but I’m pissed she’s asking stupid questions. I don’t have the energy for stupid right now. “Take a nap in it.”
“Are you fucking—”
“She can sleep in my bed. It’s fine,” Finn interjects, trying to keep the peace.
I watch the way her face lights up with that suggestion, and I hate it.
“The fuck she will. So the two of you can end up fucking and then she hates you when you need to kick her out of your bed for the next one? No fucking thank you. I don’t need that drama. In fact, that’s a house fucking rule. The two of you don’t fuck.” It was a good rule, even if it aligned with my self-interests.
I know Finn doesn’t love it, but he also realizes I’m not entirely wrong.
“You don’t tell me who I fuck.”
“And you don’t tell me where guests sleep in my house, Duchess. So bunk up.” I point to the couch and see Hudson looking at me wide-eyed.
“Excuse me? Duchess?” She takes a step toward me like she might be up for violence.
“Entitled as fuck to come in here and start telling us what to do.”
“I knew this was a mistake. I’m going to go back and see if I can get my old room back. There’s no way I can live here.” She snatches up her bags from the floor and storms toward the door, but Finn intercepts her before she gets too far.
“Just wait. We can make it work. I’m sure we can come to some compromises. Get you some privacy and make sure you get sleep when you need it. You don’t need to run out yet. Let’s figure it out, okay?”
“You honestly think he can be reasonable?” She gives him a look.
“I just want to see if we can make this work,” Finn answers her calmly. I don’t like the way he’s always so quiet and calm around her either. The last thing I need is her making a gentleman out of him.
“Not as long as your friend is a fucking asshole.” She glances back at me, and I give her a smarmy grin in return.
“That’s unlikely to change,” Finn says it like it’s a matter of course, and it makes me laugh. A thing she doesn’t like. The woman doesn’t like anything about me. That combined with the fact she clearly wants to climb my best friend is grinding on my last fucking nerve along with her attitude.
I’m trying to remind myself I need her. That she’s a critical piece of this puzzle, and somehow we’ll have to figure out how to work together. But at the moment? I just want her to be as pissed off as I am. Like a fucking reverb—every bit of me that hurts for her. And now that she’s here in my house, she’s going to do what I want, when I want.
She turns around abruptly and looks back at me. A smile comes and goes before her eyes meet mine.
