24. Chapter Twenty-Four #2
The word “sorry” bubbled to Fin’s lips, but it felt paltry compared to everything that had gone down. “What do you need to tell me?” they asked instead.
“Ah,” Ollie said, his voice strained. “I called him over because I’m in the middle of a bad cutting headspace. He was staying to keep knives away from me.”
Oh fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Their bullshit drained away in the face of that. They marched right over to him and plopped down on the couch. “Did something happen? Did me leaving trigger that?” Their stomach churned with acid .
“It had been brewing for a while now,” he murmured. “Any big issue was going to be a catalyst.”
Fin placed their hand over their mouth, their eyes burning. While they’d been riding down the fucking freeway, Ollie had been suffering.
Fuck, they were such a monster.
“You shouldn’t have run,” Ollie said.
Fin swallowed the thick-as-fuck lump down their throat. “No, I shouldn’t have.” The urge to close the distance between them was unbearable. They wanted to crush Ollie in their arms because he was here, and he was perfect, and they couldn’t take that for granted.
They’d been so focused on the people who hadn’t wanted them that they’d forgotten about the ones who mattered.
That not everyone was like their parents.
“Can I hug you?” they asked, their hands balled into fists on their lap.
“You fucking better,” he said, his voice cracking. When they looked up, his dark brown eyes were watery, a hesitant grin there.
Fin launched themself at Ollie and wrapped their arms tight around him.
Their bodies crushed together like two magnets trying to find each other again.
Fin drew in a deep, shaky breath, inhaling his scent, all motor oil and musk.
Fuck. They’d missed him so damn much, and their separation had only been since this morning.
However, this morning felt like a lifetime ago.
“I should’ve been here for you,” Fin said, their throat thick. They held on to him as if he might float away. The idea of Ollie facing that hell in their apartment while they’d been soaring down the highway—they swallowed hard.
“Then be there next time,” Ollie challenged. “Though honestly, it was good to let Julian in. He didn’t know about that part of my past at all. ”
“I’m so damn proud of you.” They pressed a kiss along the side of his neck, the skin-to-skin connection soothing something ragged inside them. Ollie was here in their house, and they never wanted him to leave.
If he could move in today, they’d go and grab the U-Haul.
Fin brushed their lips over Ollie’s hesitantly for once. They weren’t sure if that was too far, if they’d ruined what had existed between them.
However, Ollie sank into the kiss.
His lips on theirs were a balm to their entire existence, a healing they’d been chasing down the freeway.
Except they’d left it behind right here.
Fin’s chest squeezed tight, and they wrapped their hand around Ollie’s nape, keeping him there.
If they had it their way, they’d never let go.
Fin slipped their tongue into his mouth, deepening the kiss.
They claimed Ollie with everything in them except the words, memorizing the taste of him, the lush feel of his lips, the hunger that brewed between them stronger than ever.
When Fin pulled back, their shoulders heaved. Ollie’s gorgeous dark eyes were widened, but they fast crinkled with his smile.
“Fuck, you’re so beautiful.” Fin sucked in a sharp breath. They owed Ollie an explanation, but damn, saying this aloud hurt . “Hera blew up about Whipped, but she declared me unsafe in the process. After yesterday, the idea of losing the only home I have left…” Their throat grew tight.
Ollie chewed on his lip. “Yeah, that makes sense. I hate that you bolted and turned your phone off, though.”
“I hate that I did that too.” Time to summon whatever fight they had left. “If…fuck, if you aren’t done with me after this, I promise if I do need to bolt, I won’t shut off contact. Sometimes a ride cools me when nothing else will, but I shouldn’t have been so reckless about it. ”
“Mmm, depends.” Ollie arched an eyebrow. “What does the future entail for us?”
“Damn, making me sweat.” Fin squeezed their nape. Their skin prickled. Still, he deserved their words more than anyone. “Boyfriend feels too trivial. I want you to be mine in every sense of the word.”
Ollie let out a low whistle. “Never thought I’d hear you saying it.”
“The text you sent,” they said, their heart thumping a little harder.
“It was the reality check I needed. I’ve never had someone to come back to or somewhere I didn’t believe would get ripped out from under me.
But you made me believe. This might be early, but you’re it for me, Oliver Hale.
I’m fucking in love with you. And I don’t do love. At least, I didn’t until you.”
Ollie blinked, his breaths coming faster. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Fin’s heart thrummed, but they’d already committed. “I love you, Ollie.”
“Fuck, I love you too,” he said, a gorgeous light arising in his eyes, dawn breaking on his face.
Fin’s chest spasmed, and they rocked back slightly as if they’d been struck. The weight of what he’d said sank in, dripping through them like warm honey. Ollie had said it back.
Ollie loved them.
No one had ever said those words in that way. Fin hadn’t let them. The second anyone showed hints of romance, they’d jetted, and yet somehow, Ollie had worked his way through their defenses.
They leaned in and closed the space between them to press another kiss to his lips.
This one was filled with promise, with the hope he’d ignited in them.
Hope they hadn’t even believed had existed.
Ollie melted into the kiss, all sweet submission that they devoured.
And yet despite the way he softened for them, he’d proved himself to be strong and unshakable in his own right.
They couldn’t be more proud of their partner.
Fuck. Their chest burst with butterflies. Giddiness rose in them as they kissed and kissed and kissed him.
Until the door smacked open.
“Finley Williams, if you ever no-contact on me again, I’ll tie you up and force you to talk feelings for twenty-four hours,” Meg called through the apartment.
Fin broke apart from Ollie. Meg wasn’t the only one who’d arrived. In came Tristan, Parker, Micah, Pixie, Eva…and shit…everyone.
The entire Whipped crew was piling into their tiny-ass apartment.
Ollie grinned. “The cavalry’s here.”