I pat his shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry. We all know that the moment Ollie says she doesn’t want this, you’ll stop. Just like Alex and I will if she tells us to. The aim here is to help her, not harm her, and I trust all of us to keep that in mind.” If I thought this could hurt her, I would never have suggested it. Her welfare and happiness are my top priority.
Rhys sighs heavily. “Alright. When and where am I doing this?” He shakes his head as if he can’t believe he’s agreeing to this.
I’m not surprised. It’s obvious to everyone that he’s falling for Ollie, so I know he’ll do anything for her. Just like me and Alex.
It’s perfect.
I grin at him as the pieces of my plan fall into place. “At the gun range. You’ll teach our princess how to shoot a gun and blow someone’s brains out, and then you’ll blow her mind.”
After finishing breakfast andattending a meeting with Rhys and Anthony, it’s time to enact phase two of my plan. Which means hunting down Ollie.
She’s easy enough to track down. Standing in the muddy field, with ponies and Harlow surrounding her and a chirping Ketchup on her shoulder, it’s the most relaxed I’ve seen her while fully clothed in a while. There’s a small smile on her lips as she hands out various treats to the animals surrounding her, but I can see the slight tremble in her limbs and the paleness of her cheeks. She’s struggling.
Which is the entire reason I’m here.
Hopping over the fence, I squelch through mud as I walk towards her. “Hey, baby.”
She turns to me, her smile widening momentarily before dimming as if she’s suddenly remembering everything that’s happened. “Hey, Theo. What are you doing out here?” She cocks her head to the side, and I have to hold back laughter when Harlow copies her.
“I told you at breakfast that I’d come find you,” I say as I wrap my arms around her, jostling Ketchup enough that the magpie squawks in indignation before fluttering off. Neither of us pay her any mind. “I have a proposal for you.”
She relaxes into me. “Oh? What kind of proposal?”
“An indecent one.” I waggle my eyebrows at her, and I’m rewarded with a weak laugh.
She shoves at my chest but doesn’t move away. “Be serious.”
“I am.” I brush a strand of hair from her face and cup her cheek. “You’ve been dealing with a lot of shit in the past day, so I figure you need a distraction.”
“A distraction? I’m not sure that’ll help, not with how I’m feeling.” The spark of amusement in her eyes fades, replaced with the guilt and grief she’s been wearing like a second skin.
Seeing that only makes me more certain that she needs what I’m offering.
“Okay, but what if the distracter is experienced in this kind of thing?”
Her brow furrows and her lips pull down. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m saying that you should put your body and trust in Rhys’s hands for a bit. Let him call the shots so all you had to do is follow his orders and not think for a bit.”
She blinks at me, surprised. “You… you’re talking sexually, aren’t you?”
“I am. I think it’ll be good for you—forbothof you—just to shut off the outside world and exist for a bit.”
A myriad of emotions flash across her face—confusion, excitement,guilt, worry—as she chews on her bottom lip. “Does Rhys know about this?”
“He does and he’s agreed to it. Although he had his underwear in a twist about it because he wanted to do a bunch of boring talks about it before doing anything.” I roll my eyes, and Ollie lets out a small, amused huff.
“That sounds like him.” She looks down as her hands come up to fiddle with the zipper on my jacket. “I don’t know…” She sounds unsure, but I can hear a note of excitement in her voice. She wants this; she just isn’t convinced that she deserves it.
I move my hand to her chin, pinching it between my thumb and fingers and force her to look up at me. “You’re allowed to experience other emotions than guilt and grief, baby, and you need to let this big, beautiful brain of yours turn off for a bit. Rhys will help you with that. Plus, it’ll finally stop you two doing this stupid friend-zone dance that should have ended weeks ago.”
She rolls her eyes. “It wasn’t stupid. Rhys set a boundary, and we both abided by it.”
“Whatever. Either way, I’m shoving you both out of that zone and firmly into the fuck-each-other’s-brains-out zone.”
“Are you sure this is a good time?”
“Yes. This is theperfecttime.”
