“You are such a liar, Matleon,” she spits, then turns onto her side. She looks back over her shoulder. “If you touch me one more time, I will divorce you.”
I raise a brow. Who told her that something like divorce even exists.
I’ve already ruined her plan of ignoring me, and soon enough I’ll ruin her plan of keeping her heart locked away from me too. She has no choice but to love me. She hasn’t realized it yet, but it won’t take long.
I wait until her breathing evens out before shifting closer. Then I wrap her in my arms.
When I hold her, something strange settles inside me. My head feels light, my chest heavy, like it’s filled with something, but not something bad. Something dangerously good. So good I don’t ever want it to leave.
I know this feeling.
It’s the feeling of having everything. Because right now, I want nothing more. All I need is her, curled up against my chest.
Is this love?
chapter 23
Matleon
“So, you love her?” I ask Zo, sipping my Darjeeling first flush tea.
He’s planning to marry Avi in two and a half months. He’s already talked with uncle and aunt about it. Soon he’ll announce it publicly, but that’s not why I’m asking. And he knows it, which is why that smirk is plastered on his face.
“Yes, I do.”
I nod, taking another sip. “How do you know?” I ask.
His left eye twitches slightly. He’s trying to see through me, trying to figure out where this question is coming from.
“How do you know this is love and not some kind of obsession where you just need her to function properly?” I press. Obsession is understandable. Love is not. Obsession makes sense.
“Itissome kind of obsession,” he murmurs, looking into the distance. “But it’s obsession with love. Without love, obsession is a cage. With love, it feels like freedom. When she’s close to me, I’m free from all the calculations, the noise, the chaos in my head. With her, my mind is quiet. I feel at peace.”
He meets my gaze. “And I want to give her the same freedom. I want to become her peace, not her cage.”
My chest tightens, as if someone is clenching my heart. “What if she doesn’t want to stay with you?”
“I’ll make her realize that I can give her that peace. She could give me her heart back, and I’ll protect it with everything I have. I’ll treasure her, and her precious heart.”
“And what if she doesn’t want to trust you?”
At this point, we both know we’re talking about me.
He smiles, the smallest tilt of his lips at the corner. “First, I’ll ask for forgiveness for my past actions. Then I’ll reassure her with words that I won’t do something like that again, and I’ll tell her how important she is to me. After that, I’ll show her with my actions. Eventually, she’ll understand, and she’ll return my feelings.”
“Are you sure?”
He nods. “Also, I’ll admit in front of my brother that he was right and I was a jerk back then.”
I shake my head, matching his seriousness. “I don’t think so. You don’t need to do that. And if your brother says something like ‘I told you so’ or ‘I was right back then,’ just tell him to fuck himself.”
“So that he knows I’m an asshole. Perfect point. I need to keep my image as a dick intact,” he says with a smirk.
I laugh. “Fuck you.”
Iselyn
A knock comes at Avi’s door, catching our attention.
