When Niko and I are alone in the front room, I finally pull out Callum’s letter and tear it open, looking at the contents.
The other guys didn’t even ask what the letter may have contained. They know Niko’s ex is insane, and they know it was somethingbig.
But they respect our privacy, and they don’t ask what the bombshell in the letter actually is.
When I read it, it’s everything that I thought it would be.
And it still makes me fucking sick.
It’s Callum trying to inform the administration that Niko posts explicit videos online, and also telling them that Niko is “troubled” and has no place at the college. At the end, Callum says that Niko belongs withhim.
Complete bullshit.
Niko is sitting on the couch across from me as I read the letter.
“Here,” I say, handing it over to him.
He takes the letter from my hand, but doesn’t look down at it. He looks over at the fire and simply walks over and tosses it into the flames.
“You realize how crazy you are?” Niko asks me after watching the letter curl and disintegrate into ash.
“And you love it,” I tell him.
He turns to face me, a mixture of sorrow and relief on his face.
“Why are you willing to do all of that for me?”
“Niko, you saved my fucking life,” I tell him. “I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you.”
He shakes his head, walking over to me and taking my hands gently in his.
I stare down at our hands, intertwined.
His six of hearts tattoo near my skin.
I’m never going to be able to give you up, am I?
It makes so much sense for us to be holding hands now, but not too long ago, all of this would have felt impossible.
Just holding your hand feels like it lights my whole body up.
Makes me feel alive in a way I never have.
“If it weren’t for me, you never would have been in this situation to begin with,” he says.
I exhale, taking a step closer toward him. “I felt like I barelylivedbefore you, Niko. Maybe I was ready for this all along.”
He pulls me close into a tight hug. “I don’t care if you’re ready for it or not. I never want to see your life in danger again. For me or foranything. Do you understand that, Oliver? Can you please,pleaseunderstand how badly I need you to be okay? To be safe?”
There’s panic in his voice like there was earlier today.
It still takes me by surprise, hearing Niko express that much emotion.
“I understand,” I tell him softly.
He holds me close, rocking back and forth in front of the fireplace, like he can’t imagine letting me go.
“You did this for me,” Niko says.
