Page 17 of Demure
“That’s it, THAT’S IT!” She took a deep breath. “I am so tired of your non-committal answers and never telling me anything about yourself. This isn’t how friendships or relationships of any sort work, Aodhan, and frankly, I don’t even know which of those you want. I know we had a little moment last night, but you don’t owe me anything, okay? You can just walk away, and we can go back to our regular routine of hating each other.”
She paused for a moment, but before he could answer, she continued her verbal rampage. “I have a ton of fake friends at home, Aodhan. I don’t need any more. I am also perfectly happy on my own, and don’t need a relationship to complete me. So, if you want to be my friend, or more, or whatever yourend game is, you’ve got to start talking to me. Otherwise, I don’t want to see you waiting at my doorstep, or coming to my rescue at work, or within a few meters of me at a bar. Is that clear?”
The silence stretched between them as Aodhan’s eyes searched her face, confusion clouding his features. “I understand,” he said after a few moments.
Sierra was so busy preparing for him to argue with her, it took a second for the fact that he agreed to sink in. When it did, she wasn’t sure exactly what to say. “Soo...” she started.
“What do you want to know?” he asked, his face impassive.
“Just tell me about yourself. You know, be a regular, friendly human.”
Apparently, her words didn’t register because he said nothing. Sierra internally groaned, wishing they were already at school so she could avoid finishing this conversation, which apparently wasn’t going to change anything that was going on between them. “You could start by telling me where you are from,” she tried again.
“I’m from the north,” Aodhan answered as they began walking again, him shortening his large strides to match hers. “My father works in politics, and I have a younger sister.”
Well, that explained the protective instincts. “And your mother?” Sierra asked, afraid that if she were to pose the wrong question, he would clam back up again.
“She doesn’t do anything.”
“Hm.” Sierra knew that having one parent as a stay-at-home parent was not financially feasible in Dublin. “So, you must be from a smaller town, then?”
“You could say that. My parents own a lot of land, so there isn’t much else around anyway.”
“And what’s the closest city to your parent’s place?” Trinity College came into view, and Sierra was almost sad that her first real conversation with Aodhan was about to end so soon; now that he was finally talking toher.
“You wouldn’t know it. But the closest city you know would probably be Culkeeny.”
Sierra wracked her brain, but her Ireland geography wasn’t very good, so she just nodded, letting him think that she knew the town. “And what are you studying here?”
“Uh, history.”
Sierra raised an eyebrow. This was the first answer he stumbled on, which made her think he wasn’t being fully honest. “What kind of history?”
“Of the Gaelic language, it’s why I speak it.”
Sierra still had a feeling he wasn’t telling the entire truth, but she brushed it off. She’d already confronted him once today, and the anger rushing through her blood had just finally settled. The last thing she wanted to do was get herself riled up again right before class. “And how long is your study?”
“Just a few more months. It was one year total, but I started in January. I’m almost finished.”
“Well, that’s exciting.” Sierra came to a stop outside of the building where her lecture was. “This is me. I’ll see you later?” It was more of a rhetorical question, but Aodhan didn’t seem to notice.
“Yes.” His reply was succinct, making it clear he would be seeing Sierra later.
As Sierra turned to enter the room, she swore she saw the corner of his mouth twitch into the hint of a smile, but as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, and he was once again the stoic Aodhan.
Sierra exited the classroom after her lecture on theories to delay aging had finished, only to nearly collide with Aodhan’s muscular chest.
“Okay, this is getting a little weird. You must seriously be following me,” she snapped as he began walking next to her again.
“No, I just happened to decide to study in the hall and figured I would walk with you to the library since I was just studying anyway.”
Sierra bit her lip. It didn’t sound like a lie, but it didn’t sound honest either, and she was reminded of how he hesitated when she asked what he was studying earlier. For the second time today, she brushed off his comment. “Since you decided we are walking together apparently, I guess you can answer some other questions I have about you.”
Aodhan looked at her apprehensively out of the corner of his eye. “Sure.”
Sierra smirked, proud that she had won this round. “What’s your sister’s name?”
“Aislin,” he answered, without missing a beat.
