Page 74 of Ruthless Dream

She hums. “Uh huh.”

“I am sorry about the Lia comment.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“But you can. To me.” I’m here if she needs to vent.

“Same,” she says. “I know I sound bitchy over the phone, but I swear it’s okay if you want to call about your classes or internship.”

We squeeze each other’s hands.

“Did you see my boyfriend knock that guy out?”

She rolls her eyes, untangling her hands. “I have to find Lia before she gets kicked out again. I love you, bye.”

She marches past Ciaran. “You know she doesn’t actually like the crust on her sandwiches.”

Ciaran’s brown eyes find mine, humor brightening them.

“You okay?” he asks when he comes back over.

“Yeah.”

He kisses my forehead. “You sure?”

“Oh, Nat still doesn’t think you’re a great boyfriend,” I clarify. “But she’s at least talking to me again.”

“You know her disliking your boyfriend has nothing to do with you. She doesn’t think you’re stupid. She’s just protective.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to give me a pep talk.”

It’s sweet, but here’s the thing: this world is full of people like Jack and Wallen. Men and women will tear you down without a second thought. Ciaran won’t always be here to protect me, and neither will my guard.

At the end of the day, as much as I like Ciaran and love my family, I can only truly rely on myself.

CHAPTER 17

Adeline

“My darling daughter,” Dad says over the phone.

It’s a trap. I know it instantly, based on the fact that he hasn’t called me in weeks. He did go back to sending good morning texts in the family chat, though.

“Dad,” I greet. It’s officially fall in New York, the leaves a stunning red and orange. I’ve got on a coat today, and my social media feeds are full of Thanksgiving and Christmas content.

“I am paying for a dorm room that you seem to never make use of.”

I take a sip of my specialty autumn latte, a myriad of things flitting through me. Of course he’s opened with some passive aggressive comment. He still hates my boyfriend. The only reason he’s probably calling is because Nat and Lennie have been working on him.

They’ve already sort of gotten to Mom. She called me over the weekend, and we caught up. She didn’t ask about Ciaran by name, but she did ask if everything was going well with my new boyfriend. I know that’s probably Nat’s influence, who most likely told our mother this might be an important time in my life.

Dad didn’t have to immediately bring up Ciaran first thing, though. He’s actively avoided commenting on my dating life since high school. In his world, he doesn’t want to know about his daughters growing up.

He could have called and talked about the garden or joked about how Mom spent a fortune on new decorations for Christmas.

Nope, instead he went straight for the most passive aggressive comment. I’m left with no choice but to fall back to my mischievous ways.

“Did Nat not tell you about my masturbating roommate?” I bite down on my lip at Dad’s stunned silence. “I mean, I get that it’s natural, it’s just I don’t think I need to be in the room when she’s going to town with her vibrator. She’s super noisy too, like⁠—”