Page 103 of Strange Lad

“His dad is the chief of police!”

“Retired,” I point out.

“So?”

“So? Are you going to keep making excuses? I’m not letting this slide.” I stand firm, pulling out my dad voice and everything.

His eyes narrow into slits. “Excuses? That’s what you think this is?”

“It’s exactly what this is. You were assaulted,again, by Morgan, and you want to resort to drugs instead of facing this. You aren’t alone anymore. You don’t have to shoulder this weight. That’s why I’m here. Let me carry it. Let me fucking help you.”

“Maybe I don’t want help,” he whispers, dropping his hands from his head and giving me his back. “Being miserable is familiar.”

“Cut that shit out right now.”

Stomping over to him, I blow his personal bubble to bits and poke at his chest. He gasps, shocked that I’d take such bold action, but I’m done waiting for permission to love him. I’m done enabling his avoidance. Nothing will ever change this way.

Iknowhe is terrified. Iknowhe has lived a life trapped inside the damage that was done. If hetrulywanted to stay bundled in his blanket of trauma, he would have never befriendedme.

I’m the type of person who will shove so far into your shit that you don’t know where I begin and you end. That’s why whenever someone needs a hero, they callme.Oli knows this. I might not have trauma like he does, I might not have had my choice ripped from me without a care in the world, but I can’t let him remain stagnant. An entire soul is waiting for permission to poke its head out into the world again. If Oli won’t acknowledge it, then I will.

He’s expressed to me several times that he wants this. Us, a life, a real fucking chance at a future. I’ll be damned if I let him hide behind his armor for another second. For so long, I wasn’t sure if I needed to be inside it with him for this to work. I’m sure now. He doesn’t want to be trapped anymore. He wants a fucking lifeline to pull him to freedom.

“I found you homeless, strung out, stinky, and so fucking sad. I found you desperate, scared, and alone in the world. But guess what?” I prompt. He blinks away his anger, replacing it with something softer.

“What?”

“I didn’t give you a home. I didn’t get you sober and clean. That was you, babe. All you. You wanted it badly enough to reach for it.” I thrust my hand out, showing him something physical.“You want out of the hole? I’m offering you a lifeline. If you want justice, fucking take it. Just take it, Oli.”

He stares at my hand much like he did the first time I asked him to hold it. “It’s pointless,” he rasps. “It’s too late.”

“I will give it to you. I will make it happen. Just show me you want it. Show me you wantmore.”

Our eyes meet, and he swallows hard. It takes long seconds before he slides his hand in mine. “I’ve always wanted more.”

“Then it’s yours. I swear it.”

Squeezing our fingers together, he steps closer and cups my face. “I’m sorry I was shitty.”

I nuzzle into his hand because I’m still so desperate for his touch. “I’m sorry I got harsh.”

“Are you alright?” He searches my eyes.

“I’ve been better, but this helps.”

Oli releases me, and for a split second, I nearly scream at him to put his hands back, but he curls me in his strong arms. I wrap mine around his neck, clinging to him desperately and pressing soft kisses to his cheek. It feels so good to hold him, to smell him, and know that he’s still with me. My heart pitter-patters like crazy. And because I simply can’t help it, I kiss his cheek repeatedly until he’s laughing.

“There you are,” I praise, leaning back to look into his eyes. I gently stroke the laugh lines by them while he holds me. “Can I kiss you, beautiful?”

“Yes,” he breathes and crushes his mouth to mine.

A needy whimper squeaks past my lips. Flashes of the last time we were intimate consume my thoughts, and I have to instantly scold myself for doing it. He just had a traumatic experience—there’s no way he’d want to do anything. But even as I tell myself that, Oli curls his tongue around mine. His hand slips below my waist, resting suspiciously over my ass. I keep my arms aroundhis neck, locking them so I don’t grab his face and force it this way or that way.

Burning need licks up my spine and spreads throughout my lower stomach as my cock tingles and fills.

Fuck.

I try to break the kiss, but Oli doesn’t let me go. His fingers dig into my asscheeks, pressing our fronts impossibly close. My eyes roll in their sockets when he grinds into me, flicking his tongue over my teeth. Warning bells ring out in my skull. We got way too into it last time, and look what happened.

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