I slide my cheek along his neck—fuck, he’s soft. My voice is hardly a whisper. “I don’t know.”
“So… then what? I follow you around like a good little omega?”
I kiss his shoulder. “Then you’ll do anything you want. Have anything you want. I already pulled some strings with my contract, and?—”
Frustration tightens his sigh. “Tee, you can’t just make these choices for me.”
“It’s not a choice. It’s just an opportunity.”
“An impossible opportunity. With you as Electra, I can’t… It just doesn’t work.”
“Then I’ll quit.”
“You can’t quit.”
“I can and I will.”
“No, I mean… even if you never act in another movie, you’llalwaysbe Christine Evansworth, actress. You’ll always be Electra. You’ll always be famous. I don’t know if I’m… cut out for that.” Then, quieter, “I know I’m not cut out for that.”
The words wrap around me like cold, heavy chains. No matter how much I try to forget it, he’s right.
Some paths are forever closed to me.
Including the path he’s on.
“And besides,” Mylo continues, “you don’t actually mean any of this.”
I press my cheek tighter against his neck. “I do.”
“You think you do. But it’s—it’s just hormones. All of this is… just hormones. You’d regret throwing your life away for me. Resent me for it.”
Something raw cracks open in my chest. “I wouldn’t,” I breathe.
Slowly, deliberately, Mylo raises his hand to his neck and slides it between us—between my teeth and the base of his neck. He leans away from me, and in the places his skin just was, the night air is bitter cold.
“Mylo—”
“You said it yourself. You don’t want to be stuck with me.” He pushes to his feet.
“I didn’t mean that.”
“You did. We both did. When we were sober.”
The words sting, but maybe he’s right. Maybe it’s just hormones. Just that partial bonding bite—that will fade with time. In theory, anyway.
But then how does it feel soreal?
How does he make me feel soalive?
I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to keep from making this worse.
Mylo takes a step toward the edge of the roof, then hesitates. “I think I just… need to be alone. For a few minutes. Do you mind…?”
I nod quickly. “I’ll go inside. But if you need me, want me, just call. Okay?”
Mylo hesitates, then nods. “Yeah. Okay.”
It feels like swimming through shards of glass, but I can’t deny the sincere request of my omega.
