And okay, same energy. Looking at Gio doesfeellike that. Like survival mode.
He tilts his head a tiny bit. "If you break eye contact first..." he smirks, "...we start over."
I swallow so loud it’s embarrassing. His gaze drops fast to my mouth. Then jumps right back to my eyes.
"Gio—"
"Shut it." His voice drops to a low command. "Eyes on me."
I’m gonna die. Literally.
Any second now. I keep staring. My palms are sweating. This is torture.
He smiles, satisfied. "Such an obedient boy."
I need to stop. I NEED to stop.
He knows. He KNOWS I respond to praise, that my pulse goes insane when someone throws a single approving word at me. He’s one of those who planted that into me.
He made me crave approval.
He mocked me for being sensitive. He’s the one who taught me to flinch and then laugh it off. He put the weakness there. He sowed it. He watered it. He made it grow.
And now he’s trying to fix the same wounds he created. Like he’s some kind of antidote to his own poison.
It’s twisted. It’s wrong. It’s sick.
It’s working. "...Why are you helping me?"
Gio exhales through his nose. "I don’t know," he says.
"Maybe because what she did was pure bullshit. And I don’t like when people get played like that."
A laugh slips out of me. "Kinda ironic coming from you," I mutter. "Considering you spent your whole childhood making fun of me."
He tilts his head. "What makes you think I haven’t changed?" He speaks softly. "Maybe I’m trying to be a better person now."
I look down, because eye contact feels like stepping in front of a train.
I reach for a loose thread on his pants.
And instantly yank my hand back when I realize I’m touching him. "...Okay." I clear my throat. "Thanks, then."
He rises to his full height.
His shadow hits me before his voice does.
"Last step," he says. "How would you touch me if we wereactuallya couple?"
My brain empties. "I... I don’t know."
Heat crawls up my neck, because the truth is humiliating.
I’ve never been good at touching. Never been told it was wanted. Never been encouraged to do it more. Because of her.
I swallow. "I’d... hold your hand?"
He laughs. "That’s it?" His eyebrow arches. "That’s all you did in your relationship?"
