Ronan

Chapter Twenty

Well shit.

What was she supposed to do with that?

For decades, she'd told herself that Ronan didn't want her around. That he dropped by to use her every now and then before ditching her like she was nothing.

But to hear that this wasn't the case? That he actually cared about her? That it was hell for him to leave her?

Rosa's heart couldn't take it. Her brain couldn't either. In fact, her mind had broken.

She sat, stumped, staring at the ground. She waited for the answers to appear there. For some mystical entity to grow from the floor and explain what the fuck just happened to her.

No entity ever came.

Well shit.

It'd been easy to hate Ronan when she'd pictured him casting her aside. She almost wished he hadn't corrected her.

Now what?

Where was she supposed to go with that? At the end of the day, he was still the enemy. He was still wringing her for answers. He was still the most fucked up man standing in the Other World.

Why me?

What had she done to deserve all this? Why couldn't she have it simple? Why did everything have to be so bloody hard?

"I didn't know that," She finally answered. It didn't feel like enough. Not in comparison to that kind of truth bomb.

"You never asked."

"I never asked?" Gods, this man was so annoying. "I'm sorry, in what world is that a normal question to ask?"

He gave her a pointed look, stating, "Relationships are about communication."

She guffawed, mouth opening and closing. "Oh lord. A warlock is giving me relationship advice."

"You're incapable of listening to the words that come out of my mouth."

"I listen!"

"No, you don't. You hear, you don't listen."

And what about it?

"What's the difference?"

"If you listened to me, I told you that you were the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

Yeah, as if she was going to believe that.

"And you were buttering me up."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because that's what people do when they're trying to sleep with you. They tell you lies to make you feel special." He stared at her blankly. That blankness had her rethinking her entire life. "I suppose you don't really class as people."

"You are special."

"You're the only person who thinks that."

"I don't believe that." It made no sense. The every day person thought nothing of her, but the most sentient man she'd ever heard of claimed to think the world of her. "I need you enough that no one else matters."

"My head hurts."

"You want to stop?"

"I didn't mean like—it's not the machine." Not that she was saying no to that question either. If she could stop this whole thing from happening, then she'd do so in a heartbeat. "Don't take that as a yes to keep going. It's you. You make my head hurt."

If she didn't know any better, she'd say he was proud of that.

"So we're good to keep going."

"You're not going to comment on that?"