“Because I wanna play cards?” He stops in front of me, tilting his head to the side. “I’m gonna do everything I can to help bring your memories back, Rose.” He tucks the card game into his back pocket, freeing up his hands. “I want you to heal. I want you to remember. Not because I want you to leave as soon as possible, but because you deserve to know who you are.” He folds a little lower, forcing himself into my line of sight. “I’m gonna throw these games at you every single day from now until we’re done. I’m going to test you and encourage you. I’ll research TBIs in my spare time, in case I’ve missed something, and I’ll absolutely ask to get lunch with Doctor Dawes in a day or two, because he’s a hundred years older than me, and maybe he knows something about your condition that I haven’t yet discovered. But none of that means I’m in a rush to get rid of you.”
“You’d tell me if you wanted me to go, though, right?” Sniffling, I exhale a shaking, shuddering breath. “You’re a nice guy, Ollie, and sometimes, nice people make offers they haven’t truly thought through, and then they’re too nice to admit when they’ve over-committed to something.”
“You want me to tell you if you’re annoying me?”
“I want you to tell me when you’ve come to the end of your patience. When this has gone on long enough, and you’ve realized you want your privacy back. It doesn’t have to be a whole thing, and I won’t get my feelings hurt if you need to step back.”
His lips quirk up on the side. “Liar.”
“Okay. But my feelings will hurt much,muchmore if you wanted me gone, but you were too nice to say so.” My heart thunders in my chest, painfully throbbing against my diaphragm, and it doesn’t slow when I peel my hands apart and offer one, allowing it to hang in the space between us. “I’ll promise to do my brain exercises every single day, not make a mess of your home, and demand as little of your attention as possible, and you’ll promise to speak up if you need to. To say when you’re over this.”
He takes my hand, smirking. “Okay.”
“I’d rather you spoke upearly, Ollie, when things are still friendly and we’re able to communicate effectively. Burying your feelings for the sake of good manners will allow bitterness to creep in between us, and I really don’t want that to happen. If, even for a second, you think you’ve made a mistake inviting me here, I just want you to say so. Please.”
“I promise.” He wraps his palm around mine, his fingers enveloping mine until there’s simply nothing left to see, then with a bright smile, heshakes and squeezes for extra emphasis. “I will not let bitterness or weirdness creep in, you have my word.But.In exchange, I’d like you to speak freely, too.”
“I do?—”
“You censor yourself,” he cuts in. “You agree to any damn thing I suggest because it pains you to say no. If you hate a certain food, and I find out you agreed to it,andchoked it down for dinner, all to save my feelings, I’m gonna be cranky.”
Salmon.The word flashes in my mind from somewhere I have no control over. A hidden memory. A new fact about myself.
He watches me closely, his eyes glittering with curiosity. “What?”
“I don’t like salmon. I think. I didn’t have it at the hospital, so I can’t know for sure. But you said what you said, and I thoughtsalmon.”
“You remembered something.” He exhales a pleased, humming breath. “Good work. But don’t change the subject.”
“I…” I gulp. “What?”
“Speak up. If I’m watching something on the television you don’t like, say so. If I’m doing something annoying, tell me. If you feel guilty for infringing on my space, so you decide to do my laundry because you wanna help, but you accidentally put a red sock in with my white clothes, and then you’re freaking out because you screwed up…”
I narrow my eyes. “Speaking from experience?”
He chuckles. “Perhaps. You’d be offended if I wanted you out but didn’t say so? Well, I’ll be offended if you’re uncomfortable in my home, but too terrified to tell me. This,” he points between us, from his chest to mine, “what we’re doing? It has to be a partnership, okay? I want to help you. I’ll do damn near anything for the privilege of walking you from here to where we’re going, but youhaveto be brave enough to take up space.” He silences and stares into my eyes, raising a single challenging brow. “Deal?”
I nod, but the lump in my throat makes it impossible to speak. My pulse skitters, and electric waves of contentment simmer in my veins. Worse, fresh new tears shimmer in my eyes. But I smile for him and nod again, and because he wants me to be brave, I push the word he so badly wants to hear past my lips.
“Deal.”
ROUND SEVENTEEN
OLLIE
Tommy
I know what you did, dude. The grapevine is abuzz.
Alana
I don’t even know what to say.
Eliza
Come to the gym, Ollie. You need to work through this until you see sense.
And I don’t even mean I’ll try to talk you out of it. I just mean you need to get into the cage and sweat for an hour. Find your center.
