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Gently, I lower her to the floor before I catch her face between my hands. I force her eyes to mine, and even though my voice is soft, she can’t miss the edge of menace in it. I vow, “I’ll believe you.”
Her bottom lip wobbles. When she slides her eyes to the side, as though she just can’t handle looking at me, my heart feels as though it cracks in two. She doesn’t trust me, and why should she?
“Olympia.” I’m not sure a word has ever fallen so soft from my lips. “Trust me. Please.”
She shakes her head. “I want to go to bed, Tav. I’m—I’m so tired.”
Christ. “No.”
Her entire body slumps against the wall, as though she just can’t find the strength to hold herself up anymore. If she can’t find the strength, I’ll give her mine.
What the hell is happening?
Tiredly, sounding broken, she confesses, “It was after my first kiss.” Something burns inside me at the thought of another man having kissed her. Tasted her. I say nothing. She continues, “I’m pretty sure he did it on a dare. Ran up to me after school one day and stole a kiss. It was nothing, really. A quick peck. I—I haven’t been kissed again until—until you. I didn’t even know how not real that kiss was that that boy stole.” She pauses as my heart riots in my chest. “My driver reported it to Remira and—she beat me with a thin, jeweled belt. It left a scar. That’s it.” Dead eyes lift to mine, sparking fear unlike anything I’ve ever felt in my life. “Can I go to bed now?”
I want to tell her no. I want to hear everything else. But that dead look in her eyes has me nodding even as I lower my eyes to hers. My voice sounds harsh with emotion and rage as I tell her, “I believe you.”
She doesn’t reply as she slips around me, stepping from the shower. She grabs a towel and wraps it around her body. Without looking back at me, she escapes through the door, leaving me alone under the spray of hot water as an inferno of rage bubbles and boils inside my chest.
She doesn’t know it, but the games we were playing are over.
Turns out Ian was right all along. She hadn’t been trying to manipulate me. She’d run to me because she’d trusted me to keep her safe against the monsters who’d already hurt her so much, and I’d done nothing but add to her hurt.
I could kick myself.
Fuck. If I could turn back time, I’d have taken her in my arms when I saw her standing there on my porch, a ghost from my past looking like temptation served on a platter.
I’d thought she’d come to ruin me.
And maybe she had, because the thought of losing her now nearly brings me to my knees.
Somehow, Olympia had slipped between the fractures she’d chiseled into my heart.
Now, she’s mine. And I’ll protect her from every monster that even dares to look at her.
twenty
Olympia
It’s been three days since the pool party and the—incident.
I’ve replayed Tav’s reaction in my mind for what feels like a million times, but I can’t seem to wade through the confusion his reaction left inside me. Since that night, the man has really upped his game, too.
When he’s home, he’s always finding reasons to touch me and kiss me. What’s more, the man has been home a lot more than usual. He hasn’t brought up the scar he felt on my butt once, or the confession I’d spilled about Remira. In fact, I’d worried all night that he’d use my refusal to return to the party with his friends as a reason to claim I’d forfeit our bet. Fear and regret had gnawed at me all night long, and I’d hardly gotten a wink of sleep. But the next morning, I’d woken to bacon and eggs with only slightly burnt toast. He’d served me coffee with a soul shattering kiss to my forehead before he sat to share breakfast with me. In silence, we cleaned the kitchen before he leaned in to chisel away at me with yet another kiss—this one to my temple—before promising me he’d be home for dinner.
It's been three days of what I’m calling the ‘New Tav’ and I’m officially starting to struggle. Because this new Tav is intense. His smoldering stare ignites my skin even when I try my hardest to remain unaffected. His gentle touches and unexpected kisses are wreaking havoc on my heart. My mental health is in turmoil. I’ve never been able to deny my feelings for Tav, but since realizing just how much of an asshole he can be, those feelings have tamed. Sort of.
Well, I’d been hoping they’d tamed.
Clearly, they haven’t.
Not even a little.
Because at the sound of the front door opening, and Tav’s deep voice invading me like daggers aimed straight for my heart, I realize I’m well and truly screwed.
I’m sure he’s disgusted by the secrets of my past having been revealed, and now he’s doing everything possible to hurry this bet along. It makes sense, and I honestly can’t blame the guy. He left our fucked-up world to live his own life years ago, and here I appeared with all my drama and trauma, a sucker punch to his gut, surely. He tried to make me go away and failed. This bet is just as much his saving grace as it is mine.
Even though I can understand his desire to get rid of me, it still hurts. It hurts so bad, because with every tender, seduce-my soul kiss, and fool-my-heart touch, I’m sinking deeper into the murky abyss of my feelings for him.
