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“You don’t understand.” She fell to her knees, tilting her head down so I couldn’t see her face. “My entire life, I didn’t have much to my name. Not a family. Not a home. I had one thing—a dream. A destination. An Olympic piste.”
Her body vibrated with her sobs. “I pledged my whole being to that moment. I dreamed about it every night. Wished for it every morning. Read all the books, studied all the techniques…” She wrapped her arms around her knees, burying her face into them. “Without this goal, I don’t know who I am anymore.”
I strode to her, sinking to the rug as well, holding her shoulders. It didn’t even register that I touched her with ease now. That I let her lay on my lap—not to help me, but to helpher.
And I wanted to touch her again. Often.
“Listen to me, Farrow.” I nudged her chin up with my fingertip. “Fencing is only one of many layers in you. You’re not reduced to a single dream. You’re a fighter. A businesswoman. A daughter. A moralist.”
Her eyes clung to me, shiny with tears like two polished sapphires.
I rolled my eyes. “A somewhat decent Go player.”
She snorted, a tiny grin playing with her lips now.
“Fencing never defined you, Octi.” I brushed away her tears with my thumb. “It gave you a home when you needed one.”
But you don’t anymore.
You have mine.
Jesus. Where had that come from?
I drowned that thought as fast as it came, gripping Farrow’s shoulders. “You’re not a helpless child anymore. You’re capable. Competent. Infuriatingly smart. Soon, you’ll destroy Vera. And she knows it. Ratting you out to the press? It’s a show of weakness. She blinked first, Octi.”
Farrow fell to her back, grabbing her stomach. I frowned, wondering what about my words she found funny.
Something strange happened.A wisp of air from the vent tickled my ear, sending a chill down my neck.
It felt…cold?
I hadn’t felt cold in years.
I hadn’t felt much ofanythingin years. This—tasting the cold while Farrow raced through every emotion under the sun—felt like the highlight of my existence.
Farrow began hiccuping, managing to stop for a second to say, “Who would have thoughtyouwould be the one to deliver a pep talk?” She clutched her sweatshirt, her shoulders shaking. “Seriously, I’ve been waiting for Ari to wake up for hours.”
I flattened my lips, unamused.
Still, she couldn’t stop laughing.
I ambled to the door, taking my sweet time, giving her the opportunity to stop me.
She did.
“Wait.” More giggles. “Has anyone ever told you that you can be a real gentleman when you want to be?”
“God, no.” I spun, raising a brow at her. “And don’t tell the others. This won’t be a reoccurrence.”
“Zach?”
“Yes, Octi?”
“Tell me something interesting about the octopus.”
I didn’t have to think hard. I’d stored these fun facts in my brain especially for her, because I knew she liked them.
“Octopuses are such intelligent, cerebrally superior creatures that, when devoid of mental stimulation, they become so distressed, they resort to autophagy and eat their own appendages.”
