Page 57 of Dirty Monsters

My eyes must have spoken to him in silence because he smirked a little and shrugged before leaning back down to kiss me.

If I thought I was in trouble before, I was sure of it now. This escalated from a matter of circumstances to a matter of necessity in the blink of an eye.

Once we both came and were cleaned up, Ro and I laid languidly in his bed, curled into each other. His hand was skimming my shoulder as we both drifted off in our heads.

“Tell me how you landed in Florida, Ro.”

He stilled for a minute but must have realized I wanted to know more about who he was now. So, he told me everything. How Kane was still being Kane, so he took whatever scholarship he could get, and it was how he chose a career. He felt working in rehab would somehow redeem him from Kane’s sins. Not only his sins with me but dealing drugs all over the streets.

I teased Ro about being noble and not sounding as scary as I perceived he was. But he teased back, reminding me only I brought out that side in him.

Our night ended up being the most intimate night of my life, the most normal, and probably another turning point in our story.

We fell asleep, not worrying about the day to follow. Lisa had told me I would spend another day with Nurse Ro, and I had convinced Ro to stay in bed most of the day. If anyone called or needed him, he could tell them we were doing something like paddle boarding, but since I had just checked in with Lisa and had a good talk with her, Ro believed she would leave us alone.

Since we were in his room, we had to be extra quiet during the day. All the residents who lived on the first floor with Ro were up and moving around, and we checked the door more than once to make sure it was locked.

We skipped breakfast, but when lunch came, Ro snuck out long enough to grab us food and bring it back. Eating across from each other on his bed, laughing and retelling stories of times when we were growing up was surprisingly easy, and as the day crept along, I felt lighter and lighter.

Soon enough, we would have to emerge from our cocoon and face other people. We would have to put masks on and pretend we hated each other, only to fall into one another the second we were alone again.

For days, we carried on the same. I snuck to his room, and we did the same cycle over and over again. Unlike the first day, we did manage to get out and do a few activities on Lisa’s list, but instead of feeling like mandated excesses, they felt like dates.

Each day we drew closer and closer. Each day we reached a different level in our relationship.

Was it fucked up? Oh, yeah.

Did we still talk dirty and dig at each other? Hell yeah.

Ro was still a monster when we fucked, and Kane was still a monster when I slept. He was still in my dreams, but not as often. Waking up with Ro made the results different.

Unlike when we were younger, he was there to save me. He kissed me, fucked me, did whatever he had to do to chase Kane from my life. He didn't even question me or judge me. I told him what was happening, and he silently fixed me.

We went two weeks like that, changing each other every day. Lisa was happy, I was happy, and Ro should have been happy. But as we laid sated in our shack one night, naked and sandy, I could tell something was wrong with Ro, and I finally had the nerve to ask—Wren style.

“Am I boring you?”

“What?” He snapped his eyes over to me even though we could barely see each other hidden from the moonlight.

“You seem to be getting a little pissy, bored, I don’t know.”

“Fuck Wren, I’m not bored,” he groaned as he wiped a hand down his face. “I talked to Lisa today.”

I sat up, gazing down at him. “Good news?”

“She’s happy with you, content you are ready to move on to the Green House.”

“That’s good, right? Maybe a week there before I get the fuck out of here?”

“Yeah, Wren. I guess so.”

“That’s great news, Ro, so what the fuck is your problem? This is what we wanted.”

Well, it used to be. My stubborn heart denied really wanting to leave Ro, but I also wanted my freedom back. I wasn’t bustling to admit it to Ro right now. He was being pissy enough and was probably worried I would get clingy.

“Yeah, sis, it’s what we wanted.” He sighed unconvincingly.

What happens when you realize what you thought you wanted is no longer what you actually want? Those last two weeks with Wren had been more than I could’ve ever hoped for, and a part of me didn’t want it to end. Was it selfish of me to want to tell Lisa she wasn’t ready to transfer yet?