Even if he was hungover and slept badly, Ronan had slept. His mind wandered back to the things Adam had said. Adam had been worried. Adam thought he might have been mugged or stabbed—or warm in someone else's bed. What did that mean? The latter was more curious than the former. Yet Ronan couldn't ask; it felt too close to something, something that could break, and even if he knew there could never be anything—it was better to not know.

"I'm fine. Not the first time I've blacked out drunk somewhere," he said, then regretted it. Adam didn't need to know the extent of his fuckups. "You need to sleep. I'll be fine until you get some shut-eye." There would be no arguing with him on that one, his tone warned, though he knew it was still likely that Adam would argue with him anyway.

"It's still early enough." Once they reached the Barns Ronan pulled the door open, moving behind Adam so the other man could go up the ladder first.