“Thank fuck,” Jake muttered through an exhale. “This whole polygamist relationship those three have going is downright disgusting. Jude is a nice guy, don’t get me wrong, but having to watch the three of them smash grosses me the fuck out.”
“You got a mouth on you now.” I chuckled, and Ollie opened the curtain, stepping out of the stall in nothing but his boxers and a towel in his hands.
Ollie’s eyes slid between Jake and me. “Everything good now?”
“Was this your doing?” I asked with a raised brow.
“No … not at all.” He walked up to the sink beside me with a smile that didn’t match his words.
“I was the one who went to Ollie. I had to know where we stood,” Jake said in a hurry.
“It’s fine. I’m glad you did. I missed you too.” I waved Jake over and wrapped my arms around him. “And I’m sorry about Liam, but he’ll come around.” Ollie and Jake shook hands, and my attention drifted over to two girls eyeing Ollie. I leaned over and snatched his clean pair of joggers and threw it into Ollie’s chest. “Get dressed.”
Ollie let out a small laugh and looked past Jake to see two freshmen ready to devour him. His green eyes hit mine as he raised a brow and pushed his legs into his joggers.
“They want to lick you all over,” Jake sang, “and over again.”
If anyone was licking him all over, it would be me. Ollie and I hadn’t had sex since he’d fucked me and left me hanging in my dorm room. We’d had numerous opportunities, but Ollie had said he wasn’t ready for lovemaking yet.
And Ollie could take all the time he needed. I’d wait for as long as it took.
Ollie shook his head and took a step forward, filling the space between my knees. “Never allow it to bother you,” he whispered.
“I don’t like the fantasies probably running through their heads right now,” I confessed.
Ollie’s eyes darted between mine, and his fingers gripped my waist while his other hand grabbed at the nape of my neck. Wet lips and a rush of mint slammed into me, and Ollie kissed me slowly, brushing his tongue against mine and sending flurries through a hot summer day. Fire and ice. His hand moved to the base of my neck and up to my jawline before he pulled away. “There,” he licked his lips, “That should ruin their fantasies.”
He winked, and I playfully shoved him off me as we shared a laugh.
Jake whistled. “Bloody hell, you two didn’t miss a beat,”—He fanned his face with his hand— “Pretty sure the entire room felt that one.”
My cheeks heated and Ollie pulled his shirt over his head before pulling me off the counter and landing a kiss over my head.
Things were finally going back to normal.
Ollie.
My lashes parted to see Scott standing over me with his arms crossed in the dark and I jumped up from my bed. “Jesus Christ, Scott,” I muttered.
“It’s Mia.”
My feet landed on the cold hard ground, and I shoved past him, heading straight to Mia’s dorm. It was annoying how Scott wouldn’t just let her sleep with me at night. Instead, he’d come and wake me only on nights Mia got sucked into the terrors. I’d rather her not get sucked in at all and sleep beside me where she belonged. The weight of Dolor was growing heavier by the second. Only five fucking months left until release day.
Five bloody months until we could break free, and I could finally show her the life I’d planned for us.
The door closed behind me, and Mia laid drenched in a cold sweat. Wayward strands stuck to the side of her face as she moved back and forth, crying in her sleep. I pulled the sheet up to see her in her usual white tank and panties—her skin glistening and her lips trembling. “Ollie,” she called out through her terror with her eyes screwed tight.
“Mia, you have to wake up.” I pushed the strands from her face and swiftly rolled her over to the side as I continued to chant her name.
Mia’s lashes fluttered, then her eyes opened meeting mine. “Ollie?”
“I’m right here.”
“I couldn’t reach you,” she uttered.
My eyebrows pulled together. “What do you mean?”
“I heard you. I heard your voice. But I couldn’t see or touch you. You were talking to me in my head. It was dark. I was falling really, really fast and everything was closing in on top of me. Like being buried. I couldn’t breathe.”
“It’s gone now.”
“It’s the same dream over and over. And I’m stuck, and I can’t get out!” Tears sprang in her worried eyes, and fear had her in its death-grip as her body shook. It had been the first time she was able to remember. But now it all made sense.
My love’s brilliant mind played tricks on her, forcing her back to the girl she used to be—the girl who lacked emotion and was numb to it all. And it was all my fault.
“Look at me.” Her eyes snapped to mine, and I grabbed her hand and placed it over my chest. “You feel that? This is real. Whatever’s got a hold of you in here,” I tapped her head, “it’s working really hard to turn that fucking switch again. But I have a hold on you too, and I’m never letting go.”
She let out a substantial and extended breath, the anxiety leaving along with it before she curled into me. I dragged my fingers through her hair, knowing it wouldn’t be long before the shithead Scott came in to pull me back to my room. “Don’t go,” she whispered through the darkness. “I don’t want you to go. Not tonight.”
The last bloody thing I wanted right now was to leave her. She finally remembered, and knowing Mia, she’d be up all night without an ounce of sleep, replaying her terror over and over again. “I’ll be right back. Let me go talk to the wanker.”
Back on my feet, I walked to the door and poked my head through. “I’m staying.”
Scott’s brows dipped. “No.”
“She fucking remembers. I’m not leaving her alone. I’m staying.”
Scott pulled me from the door and slammed me against the wall. The sound echoed down the dark hallway, and I pushed him off me. “You’re going to ruin everything,” he seethed.
“Ruin what? Give it up, Scott. It will never happen between the two of you.”
Scott turned his head down the hall and chuckled under his breath. “That’s not what I’m fucking talking about.”
“What is it then?”
The red-head took a step back and silence fell between us.
“Just go then,” he stated with his arms in the air. “This is on you two.”
Without wasting another second away from her, the door closed behind me, and I slipped out of my clothes, went back to her side, and peeled off her tank. I hooked my fingers at the sides of her panties, taking those off too.
Both completely stripped bare, her breasts pressed against my chest and we pieced back together— heart to heart, limbs entangled— with my throbbing knob against her heat. “Go to sleep now,” I whispered as my fingers kneaded along the muscles of her back. “I have you.”
Her breathing steadied as my fingers moved along her thigh and pulled her leg over mine, massaging and annihilating all the fear built up inside her, until finally, she drifted back to sleep.