“I need to process this, Ryker.”
I took a deep breath. Understanding that even though I’d asked her not to leave, she was going to. She was going to walk out of this house and probably not come back. No matter what we’d had, this was it. I knew it was a possibility, but I’d hoped it wouldn’t have been a reality.
“If you don’t want to see me anymore, I understand.”
I didn’t understand, but I didn’t want to show her that I was hurt by her decision.
“Not see you?” Odette scoffed and took a small step toward me. Just ever so slightly, not enough as to where I could touch her, though. “Of course I want to see you, Ryker. I’m just trying to process this all, but if I let you too close or you touch me, I won’t be able to think straight.”
“Oh.” My eyes widened at her response. “You’re not leaving?”
“No.” Her shoulders sank, and she gave me a weary smile.
Odette still wanted to be with me; she was just processing this all. She wanted to see me, but right now needed physicalspace to think. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, and her face softened.
She looked around the room again, walking over to a few of the trophies. Her fingers skimmed over the engraving of my gamer tag.
“How did I not know?” Her question was quiet. She turned back to me. “How did I not know that you were the one who was on the other side of that screen?”
She was calling me out now, knowing that we’d been communicating during my streams.
“It’s my job to make sure you didn’t know.” I shrugged; my hands shoved now in my pockets. “The first time you joined, I was in shock and wasn’t sure how to treat you, but then we kept talking and getting to know each other in real life, and you kept joining my streams. Sixteen streams to be exact, and I remember every single one of them.”
I took a step toward her, and this time she didn’t move.
“I was being selfish with my time with you, trying to get as much of it as I could.”
Odette was silent now as she stood in front of me. Her hands rubbed against her legs. She averted her gaze from mine as she took in the room once more. It was like she was looking for something, anything else to question me about. When she looked at me finally, her eyes were glazed over, tears starting to well up.
“Baby,” I emptied the space between us, taking her face in my hands. “What do you want to do, Odette? How do we move forward with this?”
I asked her a question this time. If she just needed to process, that was fine, but I wanted to know where I stood in this and how she wanted me to be there for her.
“I want to go home tonight.”
I gave a short nod.
“I want to talk to Jemma and really think about what you’ve shown me.”
She placed her hand on my cheek, just like how I was holding her. I let my head rest in her palms. She pulled my face forward, resting her foreheads together. There was no space left between us where moments ago it had felt like I couldn’t reach her.
“Then I want to come over tomorrow night to talk more,” Odette added.
I closed my eyes, and a smile formed.
She wants to come back.
“So, you’ll be back?” I asked just to be sure.
“Of course, Ryker.” She stood up on her toes and placed a kiss on the opposite cheek. “You have more you need to tell me, and I want you to show me everything.”
A sliver of hope filled me. She wasn’t just saying she wanted to see me again; she was making plans. Odette wanted to come back here. She wasn’t running away, but taking a moment for herself, and I could give her that.
I would give this woman everything if she’d let me.
“Everything,” I whispered the word and bit my lower lip, trying to stifle the grin that wanted to encompass my face.
This was going to be it.
