Ody ran a hand through his hair, still rattled. “She started kissing me and I pushed her away.”
Mano’s expression faltered. “Because of what happened earlier?”
Ody didn’t answer right away. His mind twisted with a hundred thoughts at once. Anna’s hurt face. The car. The way everything had changed in the span of an hour.
He let out a shaky breath. “When she touched me…” he started, then stopped. He rubbed his face, struggling to explain it. “I didn’t want it.”
Mano stayed silent.
Ody finally looked at him. “I didn’t want her touching me,” he said. “All I could think about was earlier. The only thing I wanted wasyourtouch.” He paused, shaking his head. “No... that’s not it.” He hesitated, searching for the right words. “It’s not just that. I want you. I want all of you. I want to actually know you. Spend time with you. Talk to you. Do normal things together.”
For a moment neither of them spoke. They simply looked at each other, something heavy and unspoken passing between them.
“I want to know you like no one else does.”
Mano held his gaze for a second longer before answering. “You already know me better than anyone.”
“You know what I think?” Ody said. “Everyone else knows two percent of you. I know twenty. But there’s so much more you won’t let me see.”
“I’m not that much of a mystery.”
“You are,” Ody said. “The bullying. The hospital. Your tattoos. Your brother. Your parents. There are so many things you’ve never told me.”
For a split second, something flickered across Mano’s face. The words hit too close. Bullying. Hospital. Brother. Parents. Each one landed like a spark against something raw he kept buried deep inside.
His shoulders stiffened. The softness that had been in his eyes a moment ago vanished, replaced by something colder. The wall went back up. “And I never will. Stop asking.”
Ody froze. “You never will?” he asked quietly.
Mano’s jaw tightened as his voice turned sharp. “What did you think? That we’d make out for a couple of days on vacation and I’d pour my heart out to you? Is that what you thought?”
Ody didn’t answer right away. For a moment he just stared at him. The words hit him like a punch to the chest. All the warmth that had filled the room seconds ago seemed to vanish at once. He searched Mano’s face, hoping he hadn’t meant it, hoping there was still something between them he had misunderstood.
But Mano’s expression stayed cold.
Something inside Ody sank. “Is that what you think this is?”
“What else would it be?”
Ody took a slow breath. “I asked you to come to Patra with me,” he said. “To meet my parents.”
Mano let out a harsh laugh. “Yeah? And then what? You go back to your girlfriend and sneak around to see me once a week?”
Ody blinked, clearly thrown. “I…” He shook his head. “I don’t understand. One minute you keep pushing me away, and the next you’re angry because I can’t be with you.”
“I’m not angry about that!” Mano snapped, taking a step closer. “I’m angry because you thinkthisis something more than what it is!”
Mano’s words hung in the air. For a moment Ody just stared at him, the confusion on his face slowly giving way to something far more wounded.
His chest rose and fell slowly as he tried to steady his breathing. So that was it. Everything he had just said to Mano, everything he had tried to confess. None of it mattered. “You know what?” he said. “You’re treating me just like all the girls in your life.”
Mano went still, his eyes locked on Ody’s.
“A new one every week, right?” he asked. The bitterness in his voice was impossible to miss.
Mano’s fists clenched at his sides.
“Well?” Ody continued, holding his gaze. “Isn’t that what you do? Never get attached. Keep someone around for a week... then throw them away like they meant nothing.”
