Page 14 of Butterfly

Teddy kept nodding, but there were tears in his eyes.

“I don’t believe it.”

Teddy stilled.

“I don’t believe it,” Ollie said with more bite.

Their gazes clashed.

The look in Teddy’s hard eyes said,I did it.

“You did something in anger…and then couldn’t take it back?”

Teddy nodded.

“Will you do it to me? If I make you angry?”

Teddy’s jaw hung open. There was real, true horror on his face at such a thought. He shook his head, panting from his nostrils.

“Will you set fire to my bed while I’m sleeping and burn me alive?”

When Teddy stepped towards Ollie, Ollie shuffled back on the bed, keeping a distance, and Teddy’s distress seemed to skyrocket. He kneeled in front of the bed, a deep rumbling from his throat escaping his clamped-shut mouth, and his eyes were round with terror.

“Why? What happened?”

Teddy shook his head.

“Something must have! If you don’t tell me, how do I know you won’t do that to me? How can I be sure I won’t set you off?”

Teddy cowered like he’d been slapped. He grabbed the dictionary.

Trust me.

“But—”

Teddy flipped the pages, interrupting Ollie.

You trusted me up until now.

And it was true, Ollie had. Teddy had shown him countless times that he would protect him. He’d never got angry with Ollie, or expressed frustration, or annoyance.

I will never hurt you.

“What if—”

Never.

Ollie eased out a breath. Teddy trembled, and his grey eyes were glassy with tears.

Never, never, never.

There was guilt in Teddy’s expression; Olliefeltit coming from him. It made him think of the lack of his own. The murder of his father. Teddy might not be willing to share what had set him off to commit that crime, but he regretted it. He felt guilt. It haunted him when he slept; he’d woken up gasping more than once.

But Ollie.

Regret didn’t follow him around.

Only a sense that he should’ve been less cowardly and done it sooner.

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