Page 9 of Beastly Mr. Buchanan
Sure, some people may think the term cupcake is a cute endearment, but not me.I’ve been called fat too many times in my life to want to be likened to a dessert.
I don’t bother searching for a seat on the crowded subway, but I curse when the intercom announces my old address.After living with my gay best friend since high school when we both left home—him because his parents refused to accept he liked men and me because my father and stepmother found out they were pregnant—taking the route to the apartment we’ve shared for years was habit.
I sigh, exit the train, rush to the correct tunnel, and head toward my new place.
I’m not sure how I feel about my new roommate yet.Fabio, my best friend’s fiancé, swears the man is asexual, and when I first met him, he seemed safe, but after catching him glimpsing at certain parts of my body a few times while Matthew and Fabio helped me move in, unease creeps up my spine.
I let myself into the apartment as quietly as possible and tiptoe past his closed bedroom door to mine at the end of the hall.It may still be early afternoon, but I need some time away from people before I deal with figuring out my new roommate.
I close myself in my room and plop down on my bed—on top of my comforter since changing out of my work clothes seems like too much work—and open my laptop for a few episodes of my favorite drama, but my mind wanders and I drift into a half-sleep.
Today’s bad karma may not have started with Declan Buchanan, but it didn’t all those years ago, either.
The boy I once thought would be my forever knight in shining armor has now become the harbinger of bad news.
Nightmares take over my slumber, but even as I relive the worst moments of my life, dark grey eyes watch over me from afar.
Declan Buchanan broke my heart twenty years ago, and by either my bad luck or fate’s cruel hands, we met again today.
He abandoned me, but I could never make him leave.
I wake with tears streaming down my face and pain pulsing in my heart.
Eerie silence breaks my melancholy.I stiffen as my senses rush to full alertness, but I’m too late.
A shadow stands over my bed.
Chapter 4
Declan Buchanan
I lean forward,preparing to rise and follow the two remaining females to the door, but my grandma sends me a cold glare, so I settle back onto the couch.
She closes the door behind Eileen.The lock clicks.Despite the instinctual fear of the little boy trapped inside me, I remain steadfast in my conviction and meet her eyes when she turns around.
I set my palms on my thighs and relax my shoulders.After growing up in an abusive household, her silence used to unnerve me.It reminded me too much of my father’s broken body lying at the bottom of the stairs, but now appreciation flows through me.
She doesn’t demand an explanation, scream obscenities at me, or hit me.Even though she’s half my size and I could crush her with ease—or maybe because of my strength—I don’t dare to so much as tense my muscles.
The curse simmering in my veins will take the smallest amount of fuel and destroy worlds.I will never survive the guilt if I hurt my grandmother.
She settles on the couch across from me and pins me with her all-knowing stare.As the seconds stretch into minutes, I replay our meeting over again in my mind and see the faults in my actions.
Not because they were wrong but because of their rashness.
“My motives are obvious to us both, yes?”my grandmother says.
“Yes, ma’am,” I respond.
“What were your motives?”she asks.
Her interrogations are always terrifyingly direct.I hold her stare and respond without an ounce of doubt in my mind.
“Make Karey Justice mine.”
My grandmother pauses, studies me from head to toe, then leans her elbow on the armrest and props her chin on the heel of her palm.
“That’s a hard switch from your MO,” she states.
