“Have a little. I promise I will leave you alone after this.” He sounded like he meant every word.
Leave me alone for the rest of the day, or leave me alone for good? I was afraid to find out. There were things I couldn’t undo, and being with him was one of them.
“Okay.”
Silently I ate a croissant with butter and a few pieces of fruit. All the while I felt the heavy weight of his stare. I knew he wanted to say something to me, but he was holding himself back.
Feeling like I had to say something to ease the tension, I blurted out, “I’m sorry for last night. It shouldn’t have happened.” It shouldn’t have, but I was happy that it had.
“Why do you do this?” he finally asked after a full minute of silence.
I barely glanced at him without meeting his eyes. “Do what?”
“You gave yourself to me last night… and you wake up the next day as if nothing’s happened. Why?” His voice cracked. “Why do you do it?”
He was getting way too emotionally involved after one night. “Grey… I… It’s compli—”
“I don’t want it to end,” he gritted out. “I don’t wantusto end.”
I pulled my arms off the table, placing them on my lap as I stared at it, wondering if I had lost my mind. I was really thinking hard about what he had just said.
“If people knowing about you and me bothers you because our parents are dating, we’ll keep it quiet until you’re ready to tell everyone—I don’t care. I just want you.Youand no one else, Olivia.”
How did we keep it between ourselves? Sooner or later, he was going to demand more. He was that kind of guy who wanted it all, and I couldn’t give him my all. I simply couldn’t.
“I’ll think about it.” I wanted to buy time, even just for a little while.
“How long do you need?”
“I don’t know.” I was aware of what the outcome would be, yet the selfish part of me wanted to keep seeing him, too. It was inevitable that one of us would get hurt, but looking at him now; he wasn’t ready to give up the fight.
“I’ll wait… however long it takes. I’ll wait.”
“Grey—”
He silenced me as he cupped my face, penetrating his gaze into me. “I’ll wait.Last night, you showed me something beautiful, something special thatyoualone could give me.” His eyes flickered back and forth. “I’ll wait.” He meant every word. Vowing as if it were life and death.
I nodded, feeling helpless. “Okay.” How much time did I have? A month? A couple? A few?
No matter what, I had already sealed my fate. I wanted the forbidden fruit and the consequences were going to come knocking soon, but as for now, I had him.
That’s all that mattered.
For now.
CHAPTER26
Grey
“So this waswhat you had in mind all weekend long?” I said out loud, playing with her toes. “Reading romance?”
Olivia looked engrossed in her novel while I was equally as engrossed in watching her. I sat there, staring at her for over an hour with the fireplace warming us up in the basement lounge area; the same place where beautiful things had happened last night.
I think I had a serious case of Olivia hangover, but I didn’t care. I was going to enjoy every moment with her.
“Well, do you have anything in mind?” Her brow rose up, but she kept on reading.
The things I wanted from her, and how I wanted to reenact what had happened last night on the same rug, got me uncomfortable. My sweatpants felt like they were constraining me.