Chapter 144: Iris

Declan just stared at her for the longest year of her life. Fine, maybe it wasn't actually a year, but it might as well have been. The agitation inside of her grew and grew. "Dec - " she exclaimed just as he said, "Well."

They both stopped.

"Let me go first," he said, before she could figure out where she was going with her outburst. She really hadn't gotten much past "Declan" in her mind anyway. She nodded regally, pretending as if she were bestowing a great gift upon him.

"You and your cat King," he muttered.

"What?" Her gaze shot over to the hallway that led down to her bedroom, where Milk and Oreo had disappeared.

"Nothing. Listen, I'll admit it – I hadn't thought about that. I should have. It's pretty obvious in retrospect. I'm still wrapping my head around your injuries and what they mean, long-term."

"Which is exactly my p - "

He cut her off with an exasperated, "Iris!"

She shut up.

She should probably let the man talk.

Even if it killed her in the process.