Page 140 of The Villain

“I’m not.”

“I didn’t know that at the time.”

“You haven’t learned yet. I’m hoping repetition will work in my favor.”

“Are you fucking training me like a dog?” He leans into my face to yell.

“It takes training to learn any behavior no matter who or what you are. You don’t wake up and magically know something. That’s Tera’s mentality. I’m asking you to step away from her thought process and meet me at mine. The more ways I find to keep you happy the more likely you are to stay. Is that not what you want?”

He leans back in surprise to study me.

“If you’re not willing to help I’ll find another way. I thought asking would be the most likely for success. I don’t like being wrong when I guess. The disgust on your face when I fail the game disturbs me.”

He looks at the snack and then the figurines. I do the same, wondering what he’s seeing that I’m not.

“You didn’t know what I drank when you were following me.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

The pointed curiosity in his voice is a turnaround from the anger before. He goes through emotions like a person goes through toilet paper. It’s as amazing as it is confusing.

“I didn’t want to invade your alone time. You knew what you needed better than I did at that point. Except food. But that was easy enough to take care of.”

“And you’ve been studying me this whole time,” his brows furrow. “To keep me happy.”

“Yes. And to play games with you.” My eyes narrow on his slow realization. I haven’t been subtle about any of this for a while now.

“You’re learning as a game but we both win.”

I glance at the razor. Would he be upset if I started sharpening again while he ponders life’s mysteries?

“And I’m your statue,” he looks at the toys and the empty top shelf.

“Your mine,” I agree.

“This whole fucking time,” he chokes out with wide eyes.

“Can I sharpen now?” The razor is practically staring at me from the table.

“The figurines. When did you buy them?” He turns to me as if I never spoke.

I glance at them with a frown. “I started collecting after juvie. Tera started it to teach me something.”

“What was it?” His eyes narrow on me as I think back to that point.

“The lesson was to treat what’s mine with respect or die. I understand that they’re inanimate but I like knowing they’re mine and I can take care of them. They bring color into my life, not anything like you do, but enough for me to notice.”

“I’m a statue. And the top shelf is mine,” he swallows hard. His expression is something I don’t recognize and leaves me disturbed. He looks overwhelmed but awed at the same time.

“Your expression says that I’m not doing something right. All of this is obvious to me. Don’t try to send me away and explain it.” I lean back against the arm rest to study him again.

“You’re doing fine, baby. You have been for a while and I’m just now figuring it out,” he clears his throat and looks away. “The whole fucking time.”

He looks lost as he glances around us at everything. “When did you decide to move here?”

“A month after I came. You looked like you weren’t going to get better. I wanted to be here to stop it before it went too far. Plus, I can keep an eye on Tera.”

---