Chapter 202: From Murderous To Going All Lovey-Dovey
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For a few seconds after everything went quiet, neither of us moved. The room felt like it was holding its breath with us, the only sounds being the soft hum of the radiator and some distant music thumping two floors down.
I was pretty sure my legs had officially given up on being useful at this point.
Thanks to...oh, I wonder who?
I attempted to stand anyway, which was a bold move, considering my body seemed to have forgotten how to handle gravity, let alone actually walk.
I managed about two steps before Damien caught me.
His hands landed on my waist, steadying me, and the hard, jealous look he had before vanished so fast it was almost unsettling, like watching a storm blow over in fast-forward.
"Easy."
"I’m fine," I muttered, even though my knees were clearly arguing against that statement.
"You’re shaking."
"That’s because you nearly killed me." I joked, the taste of his cum lingered still in my mouth.
His brows furrowed, all the humor he had earlier gone. "I’m serious, Oliver."
The second I stood up straight, Damien’s face softened completely, the sharp jealousy he had brought into the apartment disappearing under the soft light.
His hands immediately lifted to cup my face gently, almost delicately, as if he needed to make sure I was really okay and still here.
His thumbs brushed softly along my cheekbones, like he was searching for reassurance that I was unharmed.
Despite everything, the corner of his mouth twitched, that telltale crack in his façade that always slipped out before he wanted it to.
Then his expression softened again, the sharpness fading into something gentler that made my chest ache just a bit.
He lifted a hand and gently cupped my cheek.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, his voice quiet and almost soothing, the concern in his tone making the earlier tension feel like a different part of him. "Did I hurt you? Just be honest with me."
The question was so soft it made my chest tighten.
I shook my head, leaning into the warmth of his hands, even though there was a faint soreness at the back of my throat. "I’m just a bit sore. That’s all."
His thumb brushed lightly across my cheek, careful and slow, as if he was afraid I might actually break.
"I’m sorry."
I blinked. "For what?"
Damien pressed a gentle kiss on my cheek, lingering longer than necessary, then brushed his lips against the corner of my mouth, almost as if he couldn’t help himself.
"For being too rough." He said.
There was something in his voice that made any retort die in my throat before I could think of one.
"And for yelling at you about Jeremy."
I sighed and leaned into his palm, letting the warmth of it calm something restless in me. "Damien..."
"I shouldn’t have."
"No," I agreed. "You really shouldn’t have."
His eyes narrowed slightly, probably out of habit rather than true irritation.
I smiled.
"But I get why you did." I said, I wrapped my arms around him tightly, resting my cheek against his shoulder, inhaling his scent, the mix of airport and chilly morning air blended with the warm comfort of his skin.
Holding him, I realized that in the time I’d known Damien, he rarely let his negative feelings take over.
Sure he got really mad and pissed off, but he never did anything rash when he felt like that...
He was better than me for real, because I usually would have just done whatever I wanted to do then regret it later.
The way he held himself, the brief replies, the expression when he first arrived, all pointed to something deeper with his family that he wasn’t admitting.
Something must have happened back with his family.
That thought made me hold him a little tighter.
He looked at me for a moment, something unreadable flickering in his eyes before he pulled me into his arms.
I wrapped my arms around him without thinking, burying my face in the front of his shirt, still a bit cool from the outside air.
His warmth pressed against me, and for the first time since he walked in, I felt the tension slowly ease from his shoulders, muscle by muscle, like a knot finally loosening after being pulled too tight for too long.
I rested my cheek against his chest. "You scared me, you know."
His arms tightened around me.
"Did I?"
"Yeah, when you didn’t answer your phone."
He went still.
"I spent an entire night thinking of every possible disaster. Car accidents, kidnappings, your sister burying you alive and shit. It got pretty creative over time."
"That wasn’t my intention, my phone died and my flight was delayed."
I swallowed hard, oh so that’s why?
"And then Jeremy showed up." Damien’s jaw clenched, the softness from moments ago slipping away just a bit.
"Nothing happened."
"I know."
"No, you don’t."
He looked down at me, searching my face like he had to see the truth, not just hear it.
Still in his embrace, I kept my voice steady as I explained what actually went down with Jeremy.
"It was just a casual hangout for celebrating his test grade. He kept pushing for it, I felt trapped, and I thought one awkward food outing would finally get him to relax and back off. I’d already decided not to see him again until he sorted out whatever feelings he thinks he has for me. So you didn’t need to tell me to stay away from; I was already there, I can make my own decisions."
I sighed. "And this morning when Jeremy came to return my gloves. He apologized for what happened before and I told him it’s best if we didn’t see eachother for the time being. That’s all."
"And before that?"
I raised an eyebrow. "You’re really intent on making me repeat this crap, aren’t you?"
"I need to hear it."
"Fine," I said, pulling back just enough to cross my arms, mainly for dramatic effect. "I went to grab food with him after work because I promised him lunch for acing his test. Then he started flirting. I told him no, he crossed a line, I left, and I went back home."
Damien’s expression stayed serious, searching my face. I pulled back to look him in the eyes, making sure there was no mistaking my honesty. "And that’s happened? Him trying to kiss you and you leaving."
"Yeah."I placed both hands on his face. "Don’t you trust me?"