I bit back a laugh as she cursed under her breath at the door, somehow not getting the key in properly no matter how she finagled it.
She glanced over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at me.
Man, she could be scary, but I had to admit, that glare kinda did it for me too.
Lordy, I was in so much trouble.
“It probably needs to be lubed.”
Ireland’s tired eyes widened, and I clamped my teeth together in a regret-filled grimace.
Cole was definitely dead. After I confirmed that, I’d need to Google an old priest and a young priest.
“Sometimes, ahh—” I gestured to her hand that clutched the key. “—newly cut keys need that.”
As much as I wanted to look away, roll away, spirit myself away and join Cole wherever he was, I didn’t. I couldn’t.
Maybe I’d just hope for a sinkhole to open up beneath my feet.
“Noted,” she said finally.
Taking my own key from my pocket, I inched past her and unlocked the deadbolt and knob in two quick motions.
She huffed in annoyance, and I held back my smile at the sound as I stepped inside. The smartest move would be to go straight to my room. My ankle ached something awful, but I craved making her smile, and the desire to see it one more time today kept me in place.
“See?” I said, gesturing vaguely with my hands. “I walked in before you. Extremely rude.”
Her lips twitched, and my heart skipped.
That might have to be enough. For now.
I set the takeout bag on the table as she propped her board against the wall by the front door.
“Adeline has her key, right?” she asked, her hand hovering over the locks. “Though I guess she could be back already.”
I hummed, then inhaled deeply before yelling, “Delly! You home?”
Home….
Weird calling it that after only a few hours. I turnedback to Ireland after it was clear there wouldn’t be a response, raising my eyebrows like a dork. “Safe to say she’s still out. And yes, she probably has her key.”
Ireland locked the deadbolt and knob in response, then aggressively pulled the knob to check that it’d actually locked.
I couldn’t tell if she hated locks or was just… not great at them.
“So, they had two kinds of soups today in the cafeteria,” I said, untying the bag and making a mental note to always double-check the locks too. Not that I wasn’t already in the habit of doing that. Maybe she couldn’t be comfortable until shesuperknew they were locked. Kind of like Delly and her hair straightener thing. She’d probably spent a year of her life checking or wondering if it was turned off.
Ireland turned to me with a confused frown. “What?”
I opened the bag and showed her the two containers of soup inside. “I wasn’t sure which one you might want. I didn’t think you’d had lunch yet, and it seemed like you came straight from class, so, uh, you’re probably hungry?”
She stared at me blankly, and I trooped on like the world’s bravest moron.
“I got the vegetarian option and the regular. Just in case you, you know, don’t eat meat.” I shrugged. “Delly went through a vegan phase, and honestly, it was cool, but I’ve learned not to assume.”
She stared at me, her expression completely unreadable.
I opened my mouth, but then closed it. I didn’t think I could survive saying “soup” one more time.
