Declan's words stung, and Adam was grateful to be dismissed. He felt like he'd been slapped in the face for a crime he hadn't even had the pleasure to commit.

He hurried back out to the Barns, knowing that Ronan would be worried and possibly angry. His cheeks were flushed and his heart pounding as he pulled the barn door shut behind himself. "I'm back," he called up, struck with a stab of fear that Ronan wouldn't be here, that he wouldn't have waited, that he wouldn't care. "Ronan?"