”You’re wrong. You can help me.” Brendan’s lips began to loom close. His face seemed to be zooming in on her eyes. She still could not make out much of his features, but she could feel his breath washing over her.

She instinctively froze. “How was I supposed to help?”

“Kiss me to relieve me of my pain.”

Deirdre’s expression darkened. “This cr*p again?” she snapped and ignored him altogether, rising to her feet as though she was going.

Brendan reached out and caught her in the wrist, and the pain of something being torn open flared on his arm.

He took a shaky breath, and his fingers quivered. Still, he refused to let go.

“Brendan? Are you okay?”

He fixed his eyes on her alarmed expression and reacted with a helpless grimace. “I know you hate my guts, Deirdre, but my injury came from rescuing your friend. Can’t you at least be a little nicer to me while I’m recovering?”

Deirdre found herself having no counterargument. She would freely admit to loathing Brendan with every fiber of