Page 53 of Ruthless Dream

I’ve almost made it to my dorm when Lennie’s name pops up on my phone.

Lennie: The parents are fighting in their respective languages.

It’s sort of their thing and the reason we’re all trilingual. From a young age we watched Mom lob complaints in Italian while Dad replied in Russian.

Lennie: What’s going on?

Adeline: They don’t like my boyfriend.

Lennie: You already have a boyfriend? You’ve been at school barely a month.

Adeline: Time moves fast.

Especially, when your life is threatened by a guy working for an arms dealer and you’re saved by a morally gray Irishman.

Adeline: They met him last night, and they’re not fans.

Adeline: Neither is Nat.

Lennie: Why?

I chew on my bottom lip as the elevator takes me to the tenth floor. Lennie is the empathetic, open-minded sister. She’s my best shot at claiming an ally, but she also smells bullshit better than Nat. It’s the watchfulness in her.

I let myself into my room, typing out a response.

Adeline: Mom and Dad seemed stressed. They barely even looked at Ciaran. Nat thinks I’m trying too hard.

Lennie: Ciaran?

Lennie: Your Irish Boyfriend

Lennie: What is he like?

My fingers hover just like they did when I tried to type out an apology to Nat.

What is Ciaran like? My initial instinct is to tell her he’s Irish. But I don’t want to be the windswept American girl fawning over an accent. Plus, she’s clearly overheard our parents arguing and already knows his nationality.

There’s got to be more to Ciaran.

Adeline: He’s got a beard and tattoos.

Adeline: He calls me Adeline Marie and argues a lot.

Adeline: Like a total know-it-all style, but it’s not in a mansplaining way. More like, you should eat your vegetables.

Or rather like please for the love of God, stop drinking and pay attention to who is handing you said drinks.

Adeline: He’s really sweet.

Like when he held me in the shower last night.

Adeline: But also I think we’re probably both just incredibly high strung, strange people.

I mean how else would you describe our meet cute?

The bathroom door opens, and I realize Rina just took a shower. Her face is blotchy, her kohl lined eyes red.

“Hey, are you okay?” I ask from my bed.