For a second, something gleams in those sapphires. A hesitation? But then it’s gone, locked down.
Still, I saw it.
“So, tell me, Tom. What happens when you lose control?”
“I don’t.”
“Ever?”
He keeps his face straight. “Not if I can help it.”
“And when you can’t help it?”
His smirk fades, and his eyes dart away for a fraction of a second. There, a crack.
He exhales through his nose and locks his hands behind his head as he stares at the ceiling. Then he stretches his body, making himself arrogantly comfortable before looking back at me.
“The last time I lost control, someone died.”
Fuck.
That was a confession, and he knows he’s said too much. He also realizes he’s lost this power play, or whatever he was trying to prove.
“You think you’re clever, don’t you? I say one thing, and suddenly I’m bleeding out in your office.”
I nod at him. “Are you?”
And just like that, I’ve gone too far. He flushes red, and the pulse at his temple ticks. His whole body tenses like he’s putting on gloves and gearing up to fight. I’m sure he’s going to go full attack on me now.
“Nice place you got here,” he says. “All this fresh air, the whole healing-vibes thing. Bet it makes you feel like a real savior.”
“That’s not what this is about.”
“No? Then what is it about, Yosh?”
“Helping people.”
He hums, fingers tapping against the table. “Or maybe, just maybe, it’s about helping yourself.”
I don’t react. I won’t.
“You sit in your little studio, play the role, ask the questions.”
He narrows his eyes and gestures at me. “But it’s not just about me, is it? You just want to fix something inside yourself.”
“That’s an interesting theory.”
His grin widens. He knows he’s onto something.
“Tell me, Doc. What exactly are you trying to fix?”
I stay silent and tell myself I’m still in control, but the truth drips slow and sweet against my skin. The closer he gets, the more the air changes. Hotter. Thinner. Harder to breathe. It’s in the way his narrowed eyes stay too long on my lips, in the way he cracks his fingers, savoring the hunt before the kill.
His grin stretches wider as my silence is giving him all the confirmation.
My answer wouldn’t have mattered. I would’ve lost either way.
“That bad, huh?”
