“Then why did you pull away?”
His eyes meet mine, and he says, “Because you’re too . . . fuck, Ollie, you’re too mature, too fucking smart, and it’s making me think I can do things to you that I shouldn’t be doing.”
My body tingles with anticipation.
“Like what?” I ask.
“Kiss you, hold you, touch you . . .”
I wet my lips and let my fingers roam his chest as I say, “You can do those things.”
He shakes his head. “You deserve better, Oliana. You deserve more.”
“Who are you to decide that?”
“I know what I can offer, what you need, and they don’t match up. That’s why this works, this arrangement. We both get what we need without complicating anything.”
“What if what I need has changed?”
He lightly shakes his head. “Don’t say that, Ollie. Don’t get yourself wrapped up in this, in me. I’ll only end up hurting you.”
“I don’t believe it,” I say. “But I also won’t push you.” I trail my fingers up to his chin and force him to look at me. “But promise me this, don’t pull what you did tonight on me ever again. If you’re going to threaten me, threaten me with your cock, not your words. And if you’re going to touch me, then you better make me come.”
“Then I should probably leave this bed,” he says. “Because I have no intention of making you come tonight.”
“Do you plan on touching me?”
“I considered holding you,” he says softly.
“I think I can make an exception for that,” I say as I turn away from him and snuggle into my pillow. He doesn’t shift against me right away, he doesn’t move at all. So from over my shoulder, I say, “The offer expires.”
That gets him moving.
With his large, beefy arm, he drags me into his chest where he buries his head into my hair. I marvel at the way he feels wrapped around me. Warm, safe . . . I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this, like nothing could happen to me when he’s near me. And that’s terrifying because I know this is just the beginning. I can easily see myself falling for this man, fast and hard.
ChapterFifteen
SILAS
The sun glitters in through Ollie’s white curtains, stirring me awake.
I’ve paid thousands of dollars to have a comfortable bed I can sleep in at night and for some stupid-ass reason, when I sleep in Ollie’s bed, it feels like the best sleep I’ve ever had. In the back of my mind, I know why, but the front of my mind doesn’t want to acknowledge it.
It’s too fucking scary.
My brain, my heart, they’re not ready for the truth.
“Good morning,” I hear Ollie say from over by her desk.
I peep open my eyes to find her sitting cross-legged in her desk chair with a to-go cup of coffee in hand . . . still wearing my button-up shirt. When I saw her in it last night, I had this overwhelming sense to walk up to her and say, “Mine.” To let everyone around us know that she belongs to no one but me. And even though it’s the only shirt I have here, I’ll walk out of this dorm without a shirt on before I remove it from her body. That shirt was meant for her.
“Morning,” I say as I sit up in bed and rub my eye with my palm. “What time is it?”
“Eight fifteen. Want some coffee? Ross dropped it off.”
“Sure,” I say.
She walks over to me and takes a seat on the edge of the bed and hands me her coffee.
