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“Thanks, Tomas,” she says with her mug held to her lips.
We eat in silence. The air feels tense between us. Olivia and I are used to tension between us, but this feels different. It feels like a challenge.
“Olivia, you know I’m not going to stop you, right? I’m not going to control or shame you because you want to hang out with friends. I told you before and I’ll keep telling you until it sticks. I’m not your ex.”
She exhales a shaky breath. “I know. I’m just used to it and it’s hard not to expect it. You’re nothing like Julian, though. This is just something I need patience to deal with. It’s not your battle to fight. It’s mine.”
I close the distance between us, setting her on the kitchen counter so we’re nose-to-nose. She closes her eyes.
“Olivia, look at me.” She blinks away a tear that rolls down her silky skin. I capture it with my thumb.
“This is not just your battle. This is our battle. I will spend every waking minute that you let me making sure you know that I am not Julian. I am not just another man. I am yours. Irrevocably yours. Do you hear me? We’ve been through so much in a short amount of time. It’s made me realize I don’t want to be without you. You bring so much happiness and love and fear to me. What we have is not conventional by any means and, as far as I’m concerned, we’ve crossed the biggest hurdle. The people we love are on board with us. Fuck everybody else, especially your misogynist ex, who made you feel like you aren’t worthy of love. I will be here as long as you let me, Olivia. A few nights apart will not change anything.”
I kiss her before she can say anything else. When we break apart, she smiles tenderly and says thank you. I plant my lips on the puffy areas below her eyes.
“Come on. Get your stuff. You have gossiping to do.” She elbows me playfully as she grabs her bags from the chair.
We both seem to be lighter as I walk her up to the apartment. I give her another chaste kiss, unable to resist myself.
“You stay as long as you want. You come back as soon as you want. As far as I’m concerned, my house is your house now.” I slip the spare key in the small pocket of her purse. She looks at me, surprised.
“I’ll talk to you in a few hours.” She wraps her arms around me, pressing a kiss to my cheek. Once I’m in the driver’s seat, the unexpected paranoia washes over me. I’m not afraid of her changing her mind about me. I’m afraid of losing her to some unhinged stalker who was just sentenced to house arrest when he was deserving of prison time. Fucking nepo-babies. I begrudgingly head home.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Olivia
“JesusChrist,notagain.You guys, it’s not even ten am yet.” Matt stops mid-thrust, suspended in time. His eyes widen as he sees me standing in the door. Mia’s disappointment at Matt stopping morphs into shock as she sees me standing in the doorway.
“Fuck it. I’m not putting clothes on this time.” She squeals as she runs over, wrapping me in a hug. Matt raises his eyebrows at the sight of us embracing.
“Put your clothes on, Hercules.” I give him a stern look over her shoulder.
“Hercules, huh?” He chuckles as he picks up his boxers from next to the couch.
“I fucking missed you.” Mia sighs.
“Go get dressed. I’ll make some coffee. We have a lot to talk about, like weeks worth of shit.”
“Matt made coffee. Help yourself. By the look of your arms, you have stuff to put away. Let’s reconvene in fifteen minutes.” She gives Matt a look that tells me he’s not getting out of what they started.
My room looks the same. Part of me is happy to be back. I’ve loved my time with Tomas, but he’s right. We’ve been through so much in such a short time. It can’t be healthy for the longevity of our relationship to be this attached already. I do some light cleaning, dusting and organizing, before rejoining a freshly showered Matt and Mia on the couch. Mia squeals as I walk into the room and I realize how much I missed this. Not only now, but I realize how much I would miss this if I decided to live with Tomas next year.
“Tell me everything,” Mia demands.
“God, Mia. I don’t even know where the fuck to begin. I guess a good place to start would be to tell you that I fell out of his hospital bed as the nurse walked in on us.” I bite my lip, trying to contain the proud smirk from spreading across my face.
“Walked in on you? Bitch, what were you doing in his hospital bed?” I glance at Matt, unsure of how to delicately phrase that Tomas made me ride his face.
Matt looks at me expectantly. “Don’t shy up on me now, Hamilton. You obviously know the bounds of my depravity.”
I scrunch my face. “I hope not, Matthew.” I take a deep breath. “Anyway, yeah. I rode his face.” Mia looks like she’s about to release a battle cry.
“Girl. I am so proud of you.” Mia is the epitome of a hype queen. I am so happy I met her. Her, Matt, and Tomas have been so cathartic for me this semester, even if it has been complicated..
“So what’s going on with you two? Seems like more than early stages of dating.” She sips her coffee, but I see her brows furrowed behind the mug.
I shrug. “Well, we’re really close, but I think that’s a product of all that’s happened. I want to be here more often. I don’t want our relationship to burn out already.”
