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“Oliver Masters,” Lynch greeted at the security checkpoint, “I’d like to say welcome back, but that all depends on you.”
If what he said was correct, it meant it was only a matter of time before he’d turn right back into the unreachable asshole who left me in the hallway seven months ago.
“Stay away from him. He’s going to kill you slowly, and I’m tired of cleaning up his mess.” “I’ll stay away from him, but I’ll never stop loving him.”
“Because love is constant. When you love someone, you can be angry with them, you can hate them, you can be upset or disappointed in them, but you never stop loving them because love endures all other emotions.” “Yeah? And where did you learn this from?” “Ollie.”
She was clothed in strength, but it no longer was because of me.
She was my life source, and though I was confused by a lot, I was certain of one thing: I needed her. Like breathing, I fucking needed her.
This used to be my safe haven. But I created this space for you to run away to, to feel safe because that’s what you are to me. You’re my safe place.”
“I want you to love me anyway,” a single, lost tear trickled down his cheek, “Give me a year to get better, and I’ll give you a lifetime.”
You stay away for a year, and when we leave, I’ll give you my life. But don’t drag me down before then, Ollie. You may be able to climb your way out, but it took me eleven years to get here.”
“It’s the only way this will work. What you did in the hallway broke me. Seeing you kiss Maddie killed me even more. I can’t sit back and watch. There will be nothing left of me after the year is done. It’s the only way, Ollie. You have to stay away from me.”
The least you can do is grant me the favor of finishing me off by walking away because you know I can’t so much as breathe without you. So, fucking leave!” He pointed toward the exit fixing bloodshot, challenging eyes on me. “Go!”
The only reason I’d pushed him away was because I was weak and scared. For over eleven years, I was dead. If his destruction brought me back to that place, I didn’t know if either one of us could survive this year. In the process of protecting myself, I risked the chance of losing him.
“I’m not going to make you remember me, Mia. I’m going to make it where you can’t remember anything else.”
“I don’t know why, Mia,” he continued to say, “but you’re the one good thing that’s happened in my life since she passed and I’m not letting you go without a fight. Ollie may be your number one, but you’re mine. And if you were awake right now, I’d never admit to it.”
“If you don’t walk out of here with Mia, know there are other fish in the sea.” In an instant, my smile faded. “You don’t get it. Mia is the sea.”
“Did you fuck him?” “No, but—” “Did you kiss him?” “No, Ollie.” His head tilted and his eyes narrowed. “Are you confused?” Never. “No!” “Then it doesn’t fucking matter.” “How could you say that?” “Because you have no idea what it’s like to fall in love with you. I’m not stupid, he’s in love with you, and he’d be a bloody fool not to try something.” He looked off for a moment before his eyes hit mine again. “Let it go, love. Guilt looks horrible on you. It doesn’t match the color of your eyes.”
She was my center. My home.
Ollie fell apart. I fell apart. But we fell together.
“Consuming, timeless, unselfish, love. I’d loved you in my darkest hour when I wasn’t myself, and I’ll love you in every lifetime after this.”
“You’re missing the point, love. It’s not about seeking perfection. There is no way one soul will ever reach perfection without the other. It’s about finding the best version of yourself, and perhaps we met sooner to push each other in the right direction because, as I said, love also has no laws. It’s not a coincidence we’re here.”
“Yeah, well, I’m a hypocrite among other things.” “What other things?” “A man in love, and someone who will go against everything he believes in to make sure his fiancé is safe.” “They can’t hurt me.” “Someone already did, Mia. Who says the very person who fucking stabbed you isn’t one of the people waiting for you in the woods this very moment? Gaining more ammunition to take you out?” “Then let’s call this detective work.”
“The most dangerous man is a man in love,” he faced me, eyes wild and calm concurrently, “because I’d tear off my own flesh before someone hurts you … and if I’d do that to myself, imagine what I’d do to someone else.”
“Dammit, Mia,”—Ollie slammed his fist into the table, making both Zeke and I jump— “Four bloody months. Until then, the only thing you’re doing is eating, sleeping, and enjoying every fucking night with me.”
“In his beautiful mind, Ollie is carrying the burden of a thousand lost souls yet has the heart of a thousand angels. That’s exactly why I can’t let him do this for me. I lied because I can take this person down without so much as a scratch at my conscious. Ollie walked away because he knows it too.”
“If people fear you, you will be ten feet tall amongst enemies. If people love you, you will be a hundred feet tall among loyal defenders,”
It’s sickening … the silent cry for help no one responds to when the person needed it most. There’s never an action, only a reaction on this bloody earth.
“I’m not your bloody owner, love. You do as you wish. You want to spend the night with another man? Go ahead, I’m not angry about it. I trust you. Will I be waiting for your return? Abso-fucking-lutely. Will I get you off before you go? Hell. Yes. I refuse to allow you to run off with Scott needy and without my cum inside you.” My eyes bulged. “Ollie!”
“If you believe in nothing, then that is what you live for. And living for nothing is a waste, wouldn’t you say?”
