Idly,Itracedtheoutlines of smoked ink on Ollie’s shoulder, as he drew in a long pull from a joint, eyes closing under the gentle caresses and heady high. Tangled in a mess of limbs and sheets, we remained confined in his room well into the following day.
We’d fucked ruthlessly and savagely, segueing into long and slow sex before starting in all over again. Whispered words or furious declarations all in the name of love- it blended together in a haze. We coped in the only way we could without completely breaking.
I died.
I died.
I’d hovered in front of the mirror for ages when we returned, tracing the bruises with fingers that felt familiar and foreign. Before showering away the evidence, I took it all in. The cuts. The blood. The mud. The tears. Rips in my clothes- in my skin. Rips in my soul sewn back together by my will to return to the man who loved me so much, he couldn’t let me go.
“What’s on your mind?” Ollie asked, marijuana smoke bleeding into my mouth as his lips brushed mine. I opened for him to blow the remnants in as he hooked my thigh higher on his hip.
“Everything and nothing.”
Fingers tucked a lock of hair behind my ear.
“I used to wish I could get in there,” he murmured, thumb making a pass across my forehead. “But I don’t think I’d ever want to see what you have.”
A tremor threatened to take me down a path of ‘what ifs’ that skated through three planes of existence; hidden secrets of the universe no one should know. Ofchoice. I’d always choose the path with him in it.
“I hope you never do.”
He inched down my body to press a kiss on my chest above my beating heart- A beat I’d never take for granted again.
We fell into comfortable silence, his head on my chest as I ran my fingers through his hair. Everything feltright. Every road converged, every vision, every choice that led us here. Tears burned in my tired eyes; I’d cried enough.
We’d both cried enough.
A knock at the door interrupted our blissful cocoon.
“Ollie, get your ass out here, I need to show you something,” Jack called from the other side. Ollie blew out a breath, rolling away from me. The loss of his body sent shivers through me.
I sank deeper into the pile of pillows and sheets that smelled of smoke and sex, alive in a way that made life before seem shrouded in shades of gray. The steady beat of my heart echoed through my revived being as my eyes drifted closed. Morning light fought through my lids and cast my mind in red, now the color of healing and hope.
The door clicked closed, the mattress dipping as a familiar weight settled around me. I hummed, snuggling into Ollie's warm, bare chest.
“What was so urgent?”
A sigh, “Serina found an article about the accident. She’s doing some digging to see if the driver could be linked to Merit.”
I cracked open my eyes.
He gnawed at a split in his lip from my teeth.
I reached up, pulling it free with my thumb. The soft rise and fall of his chest, bloodshot eyes from the high and languid muscles brought a smile to my lips.
“Sleep, Beautiful Monster,” I whispered.
As soon as his eyelids slipped shut, he drifted off. I smiled, kissing his forehead. The front door of the dorm slammed, but nothing could wake him after the traumatic evening followed by a night of intense sex.
I untangled from him, donning one of his t-shirts before padding to the bathroom to relieve myself. I caught sight of Serina leaning her hip against the kitchen counter, stirring tea.
She wrinkled her nose. “You look like hell.”
A giggle bubbled out of me.If she only knew. I nabbed a bag of tea from the counter as I poured boiling water from the pot into a mug set aside for me. Our unspoken routine.
“Definitely feels like I had a date with the devil,” I admitted, reaching into the freezer for an ice pack before plopping on the couch. Her brows knit in confusion until I unceremoniously shoved it between my legs.
At that, she laughed. “Sounded like it.”
