Page 38 of Traded

“If you come anywhere near my nest, I willshredyou.”

Shit.

Well, the thought was there.

Lauren blinks. “Okay.”

“Use what you want in the kitchen, but I’m making one cupboard off-limits. You can have one too if you need it.” Bitch is not touching my personalized Titans mug.

“Thanks?” Lauren’s brow furrows. “Maybe we should—”

“We do our own washing.” My hands grip the chair. “I’m ordering separate machines. They—”

My voice cracks. “We don’t mix their clothes with ours. Not yet. Same for nest materials.”

“Look, Rosie.” Lauren looks awkward. “I know this must be really—”

“No.”Fuck.My eyes start burning, and I forgot to put on waterproof mascara. “Don’t finish that sentence. You have noidea what I am feeling, or what this feels like. You don’t get to tell me what I’m feeling on top of—on top of everything. And this is me trying. I am…”

My nails dig into my wrist.

“This is me trying,” I repeat. “Don’t touch the green blanket on the couch.”

Lauren slowly reaches for her notebook, eyeing me in the same way that I imagine one might eyeball a drunk, unstable asshole in the stands while waiting for security to step in. “I’m going to make notes.”

“Fine.” I reach across the table for the coffee, taking a gulp.

Of course it’s perfect. Of fuckingcourse. “Don’t touch Liam’s shower bottles.”

“Uh.” She makes a note. “Sure?”

Fuck, this hurts. “Jonas has his own shelf in the bathroom. Don’t mess with it. He hates that.”

“Look, I’m not going to—”

“And do not touch my noticeboard.Ever.”

I sit back in my seat and stare down at my coffee. The click of the pen being set down makes me tense.

“I’m sorry that this is happening,” Lauren says quietly. She’s looking at the page when I glance up. “More than I can say.”

“Is that why you agreed to this?” I study her, looking for the angle. “This arrangement?”

Her shoulders tighten. “Does it matter?”

“It matters to me.” Giving up on any pretense of civility—since I can barely manage it on a good day—I put the cup down. “If this ends up in a dominance battle, I’m not going to curl up in the corner. You’re coming into my home. Intomypack.”

Oh, Liam is going to kill me.

Problem solved.

“Look.” The smallest hint of sharpness enters her voice.

There you are.

“I just met them.” She meets my gaze directly. “Yesterday. And yeah, they’re my scent matches. I don’t want to end up in long-term care with a chronic illness because I couldn’t make this work. So here I am. I don’t want a battle either.”

For fucks’ sake. “Are you always this reasonable?”