Page 62 of Ravenous

“Therapy. Maybe medication. You need to get treatment for your anxiety and your eating disorder.” Finn said as gently as he could, but Ollie still cringed.

“Eating disorder…” Ollie echoed, and suddenly his eyebrows shot up. “Oh no!” Wiggling, Ollie sat up, trying to stand, but Finn tightened his arms, keeping Ollie in his lap.

“What’s the matter?”

“I forgot about Tommy. He’s probably told my parents already.” Giving up on his resistance, Ollie put his hands in his hair, froze, and then carefully pulled them out.

“Don’t worry, I spoke to Tommy after you left and asked him to give me a little time with you. He said he’ll try not to say anything but that your mom can smell fear?” Finn tilted his head.

“Then it’s only a matter of time until they find out.” Ollie’s eyebrows scrunched as he studied Finn. “How long haveyouknown?”

Taking in a breath, Finn let it out through his nose, thinking. “I suspected something was wrong when you got dizzy at Match Makers.”

“Does anyone else know?”

“Liam, and Owen by extension.” Finn made a face. “And John.”

“John?As in our boss at The Pointe, John?” Ollie made almost the same face.

Nodding, Finn shifted, a small part of his mind once again noticing that Ollie didn’t weigh enough and that his shoulder blades protruded as if he were sprouting wings. “His niece has an eating disorder. He saw the signs in you and then brought me to his office to ask me if I knew anything about it.”

“Holy shit.” Ollie put both hands over his mouth, mortified.

“Sunshine.” Finn made sure those soft blue eyes focused on him. “People notice because they care. John wanted to make sure that you were on the health insurance and he told me that you can work from home if you need help. And Liam is your best friend. He lost his parents, of course he’d be overly concerned about you.”

Although he paid attention, Ollie had a lot going on behind his gaze. Hands falling to his lap, he remained silent for a moment. “I have an eating disorder.”

“I believe so.” Finn tucked a curl behind Ollie’s ear. “But I’m a knight, not a doctor. How about we get you a doctor and a therapist and see what they say?”

Anxiety flickered in Ollie’s gaze. “What about when bad things happen?”

“Think of it like this, you know how you ran? How you trained to evade the bad things?”

Carefully, Ollie dipped his chin, once.

“Think of therapy as running, astraining. You’re going to learn how to become strong enough so that,whenbad things happen, they don’t hurt as much, or at all.” Finn waited, letting Ollie take that in.

“I like that.” He blew out a long breath. “Why are you so nice to me?”

“It’s my job!” Finn booped Ollie’s nose and he should’ve laughed but he was frozen, considering.

“Are yousureyou still want me? Even with all my problems?”

“You’d have to pry me away with a crowbar.” And he meant it.

“But I won’t bethis.” Ollie gestured at himself. “I’m going to gain weight.”

“So?” Leaning in, Finn rubbed Ollie’s nose with his own. “I likeyou,Sunshine. For who you are, not for how you look or how much you weigh.”

“You say that now…” Ollie muttered, still skeptical.

“And I’ll keep saying it until you believe me. Besides, it’s hypocritical because Iknowyou’re with me for my good looks.” Joking, Finn put his hand on his chest but once again Ollie didn’t laugh, he considered.

“You’re right. I like your appearance but there are so many other reasons I’m with you.” His blush wasn’t as furious this time, it was pinker, sweeter, and it made Finn’s heart gallop. “How do you always know the right thing to say?”

“Because I’m a knight.”

“Knight Just Finn!” Ollie’s smile was lopsided, not able to fully rise. “I guess I should start looking for…for help.”

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