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I do have soht before last--Chinese food--so I dump it on a couple of plates and heat it up in the microwave

By the ti onbut the fluffy hot-pink robe I picked up on clearance last year I’m not sure what it says about either one of us that it looks better on him than it ever did on me

He sits up when he sees me, but stays on the bed I don’t know if that’s because he wants to give et away from me and still be in the room or if it’s just because he’s a shit and he wants to re we’ve done on that bed in the last two days

If that’s his goal, it’s working Because, pink fluffy robe or not, all I see is Z kneeling between oes down on , and I can tell he notices because he straightens up, his eyes going sharp with purpose

Plus there’s an awareness in the room, an electricity that seems to permeate the air whenever we’re in the saether, and this ht now the pull is so powerful that it’s all I can do not to climb on and take him inside me

But what happened yesterday hasn’t been resolved--I’m not sure it can be resolved--and I decide that until it is, I’ safely on eous, sexy, irresistible Z--holds out a hand to me and says, "Come here"

I start to do just that, my body so enthralled by him that it responds without conscious instruction froe to stop ood idea"

"I do"

I roll my eyes at him "Of course you do But that’s not exactly the point, is it?"

"I guess not" He sits up then "Why were you doing laundry at four in thethe halls here at four in the et you out of my mind, so I went for a walk" He tries to say it like it doesn’t ets to h I shouldn’t let it "I ended up here"

"A walk?" I eye hi wet like that"

He shrugs "Maybe it was more of a hike"

"You think so?" My sarcasm is out in full form today, but after those videos I’ve seen of hi the side of a ht terrifiesto differ"

"Why?" he asks, and for the first tiot here as long as I got here? Can we at least talk about what’s got you so upset?"

"So type"

"I’ you need to know abouthere I l--" My heart drops to h, and says, "I like you, Ophelia I really like you, and that’s not so I say very often, either So can we please just talk?"

I don’t want to

I really, really don’t want to

I’ve only just started to truly heal fro that happened to Re I want to do is rip the scab off it now But at the saht That I owe hiood to me and, most important, because I really like hiht," I tell hihts in order "Why don’t you coet a plate?"

"Seriously?" He climbs off the bed and stalks toward me It’s a total testament to his masculinity that not only can he pull off the stalk while wearing a hot-pink bathrobe, but he can actually look threatening doing it "I pour my heart out to you and you offer ood Chinese food"

He doesn’t so much as crack a smile at my joke He just looks at me, and it’s like those crazy beautiful eyes of his can see insideme see inside him for the first time And I realize, suddenly, that I hurt hi him out earlier when I hadannoyed with ry at me or even indifferent to ht be hurt by et the words right and settle for just getting the words out

"You were right, earlier You knohen you said you were paying for things that Remi had done I don’t think I realized it, but I’ve totally been uess" His ht have hurt o and realized that all he’s doing is trying to keephim any more than I already have "I didn’t measure up"

"I didn’t mean it like that--"

"You don’t have to lie, Ophelia I’ll always prefer that you tell me the truth rather than what you think I want to hear"

"Then you need to listen to what the truth is instead of always ju to the worst conclusions about yourself"

"I don’t--"

"Yes, you do I’ve known you a week and I’ve heard you do it seven or eight times already I bet if I ask Ash or Cam they’d be able to point out a million other tiet other people to as well"