Page 39 of Sweet Vengeance
How do you do that?I want to ask. How does he so easily open up?
Ollie swipes at his eye, and I realize a tear leaked free. “God, you probably think I’m weak, don’t you? All that toxic masculinity. Real men don’t cry, right?”
“I don’t think you’re weak,” I admit. “I think in some ways, you’re stronger than me, stronger than most of the people I know, because you don’t hide that shit.”
“Whatever.”
“I’m serious.”
He watches me, and I don’t turn away from him, returninghis stare just as intensely as Ollie is looking at me. What is it he sees? A drug dealer? A murderer? Both true, but there’s more to me than that. There’s this quiet part of me that wants him to see the more, that hopes he’d like it, but I know it would be better for him if he didn’t think of me as anything other than those parts of me he hates. Because I’ll always be those things. I’ll also be the guy who is lying to him right now about the men I plan to kill for him and the gun at the small of my back. The guy who didn’t tell him I knew his mom died because he talked to me about her last night.
“I need to get my homework done.”
I nod, pick up my cell, and pretend to be interested in it while Ollie gives his attention to his assignment. It’s not worth fighting with him about the screen.
Every now and again, I feel him watching me, his attention leaving what he’s doing and focusing on me. I don’t call him out on it, don’t even make eye contact. It feels like giving him something I’m not supposed to give, to do that.
I’m not sure how much time passes, but eventually I say, “I need to shower. Thank fuck you have one in your room. I don’t know how people deal with that communal shit.”
Once off the bed, I grab my duffel bag.
“It’s not that bad.”
“It sounds like torture.”
He chuckles, and I like the fact that it’s me who made him do it.
I jerk off in Ollie’s shower because my dick is really in need of some attention. When I get out, I try to wipe off the mirror with my hand, but it doesn’t work, fogging up right away, and I can’t see anything. My gun is locked away in the box in my duffel, so I wrap a towel around my waist and open the door. “It’s hot as fuck in here.”
“Hmm. Oh…” I peek out to see Ollie watching me, his gaze like a soft caress across my skin. I don’t usually think of myself as the kind of guy who likes most things soft, but the way he’s looking at me could change my mind.
“See something you like, Kitten?”
“What? No.” He whips his head in the other direction, and I laugh. “Can you hurry? I need to shower too.”
“Do you need some help? I’d be willing to get back in there with you and wash your…back.”
“That was ridiculous.”
“Yes, but I imagine it was pretty cute too.”
“Absolutely not.” He gathers his things, putting them in his bag. It’s impossible to hide the bulge beneath his jeans. Ollie is packing, and he’s hard…because of me.
I really want to flirt with him some more, but if I do, I’m going to want to fuck him even more, and I can’t do that until he heals some, so I say, “Have at it.”
He frowns, stalls a moment, then seems to shake himself out of it. “Thanks for letting me use my own bathroom.”
I chuckle. He’s got to try and get some jab in.
Ollie slips into the bathroom. I tug on a pair of underwear, then toss my towel into the hamper.
Ollie’s shower is faster than mine, and unfortunately, he comes out wearing a T-shirt and pajama pants.
“Take your pain pills. We should ice you up one more time before bed.” I look around the room, opening the only closet I see. “Do you have blankets and pillows I can use to make a bed on the floor?”
“You don’t have to…do that. If you don’t want.”
I try to bite back my smile. “Do what? You’re going to have to spell it out for me.”
