Alpha Male Romance(97)

I'd almost reached the door when it flew open so hard that it hit the wall and bounced back. I stumbled back as X came storming out. He didn't even look at me, but I could feel a whole hell of anger coming from him.

I considered going after him but caught movement out of the corner of my eye.

Shit.

Kipp was on the floor, holding his jaw.

Shit!

I rushed in. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Kipp scowled as he pushed himself off the floor. “Damn, he's got a mean right hook.”

“What the hell happened?” I asked as I went to get him some ice.

“I have no idea.”

I almost believed him. He sounded pretty convincing, after all. But when I turned around to hand him the ice pack, he wouldn't meet my eyes.

“Right,” I said dryly.

Now his eyes darted to me, then closed as he put the ice on his jaw and winced. “He told me about what happened to Father O'Toole. We'll just go with that.”

I glared at him and he finally shrugged.

“I don't know what's going on with the two of you–”

“Nothing,” I said quickly.

He raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you should tell him that.”

“Dammit, X,” I muttered as I turned and hurried down the stairs.

I didn't need to hear him in the kitchen to know that's where he'd gone. Considering how hard he'd hit Kipp, X's hand would probably need ice too. And he'd be lucky if I didn't hit him hard enough for him to need more than just one bag.

“What the hell?!” I only barely managed to keep myself from shouting as I stalked into the kitchen.

X was already in the fridge, so the door hid most of him. “What?” The word was sharp, brittle almost.

I stepped around him and yanked open the freezer side of the fridge. When I turned, he was looking at me, a belligerent expression on his face. For a moment, I had a good idea of what he must've looked like as the delinquent teenager he once was.

It wasn't endearing.

“What the hell do you think you're doing, hitting Kipp for no fucking reason?!” I threw the bag of peas at him, almost wishing I’d aimed for his face.

“I had a good reason,” X mumbled as he caught the bag against his chest. He looked down at his hand instead of at me.

“Oh, sorry.” I let the sarcasm practically drip from my words. “Let me rephrase that. What the hell do you think you were doing, hitting Kipp for some 'good' fucking reason?”

“None of your damn business.”

The last thread of control I'd pulled together snapped, and that was it. I was done.

“You know what, X, I'm sick and tired of getting that from you.” I wasn't yelling anymore. I wasn't crying. I was beyond it, but definitely not in a good way. “I tried giving you the benefit of the doubt for being an ass. First because of the accident. Then because of you adjusting to this. Then, last night because...” I let my voice trail off. I couldn't say it. Not even now.

“Nori–”

“No,” I said firmly. “No more half-assed apologies, X. No more excuses or telling me that it's not my business. When I accepted this job, you and your life became my fucking business. Father O'Toole asked me to become a part of this because...” I threw up my hands. “You know what, it doesn't matter. He's gone.”

X didn't even flinch.

I shook my head. “I can't do this. I can't work here anymore.”

I turned and walked away. It was surprisingly easy not to run up the stairs, not to cry. Easier than it had been this morning. I was numb.

And I was through letting that asshole make me cry.





Chapter Eleven





Nori





I was starting to wish I had more food on the third floor than some pretzels and a few chocolate bars. Not bad for snacks, but not exactly filling either. I hadn't eaten breakfast because I hadn't been hungry. No lunch since I hadn't gone back downstairs until Kipp arrived. By late afternoon, I was hungry enough to eat, but after what happened with X, not having a real meal seemed like a small price to pay for not running into him again.

Not that staying on my floor had been good enough. I'd actually locked myself in my bedroom, and around five, I was glad I had.

X knocked on my door. He said that we needed to talk. He said that he was sorry for hitting Kipp. Sorry for how he'd behaved with me. He hadn't been very specific, hadn't mentioned last night, but that didn't surprise me. He'd never talk about it, never talk about what happened.

And I didn't want to talk about it. About anything, actually. I didn't want to talk to him or anyone else. I'd already decided that curling up in bed and staring at the ceiling was the only thing I wanted to do right now.

X left after having spent a quarter of an hour banging on the door and asking me to just come out and talk to him. I finally ended up going into the bathroom and turning the shower on until he finally went away.