Chapter Four
“DID YOU SEE THE NOTE on the board?” MJ’s next-door neighbor in the dorm, Katya Vlahos, asked when MJ entered the common room. Katya was also in her freshmen year, but that was basically the only thing they had in common. It was a well-known fact that Katya was an heiress, had a loving family back home, and hated Greek men with a passion.
MJ shook her head as she threw herself on the vacant space on the couch next to Katya. “Nope. Why? What’s it about?”
“The R.A. wants you.”
She shot up in her seat. “What? Millie? Why?”
Katya looked up from painting her toenails. “I don’t know. It just says so on the board.”
MJ got to her feet with a sigh. “I better check what it’s about.” One of the conditions to getting free boarding in the dorm was playing sidekick to the R.A., a senior Economics student who occupied the sole bedroom on the ground floor. She couldn’t figure out why Millie would post a memo on the board about her when she could have just as easily texted MJ. It boded something ill, and the thought had her hurrying down the stairs.
She tried to calm her racing heartbeat when she knocked on the R.A.’s door. “Millie?” She tried the knob, found the door open, and stepped inside like she usually did. R.A.s always had an open door policy.
Unlike MJ’s tiny room, Millie’s was basically a suite, with a small living room and a private bedroom. Crossing the living room to get to the bedroom door, MJ knocked again. “Millie?” She tried the knob again and found it unlocked.
The first thing she saw was a pair of bare feet. Too large to belong to any girl.
Naked legs then a small white towel wrapped around muscular hips.
To-die-for abs.
MJ’s head slowly lifted.
“H-Helios?”
She couldn’t believe it was him, so much so that she rubbed her eyes repeatedly. Was this a Helios Andreadis withdrawal symptom? It had been a week since she last saw him, and maybe this was her heart’s way of telling MJ that it couldn’t really exist without seeing Helios for long periods of time.
MJ held her breath when she opened her eyes.
He was still there.
Helios was still there, and oh, her heart. It was starting to race and ache at the same time again. She pressed a hand against her chest, hard, hoping it was enough to calm her heart down. Why was it that every time she looked at Helios Andreadis, she wanted to cry and smile at the same time? It was like looking at a dying sun. Her life would end when it stopped shining, but at the same time, all she could think of were the best memories she had with it.
Helios kept himself still, afraid to do anything that might cause her to run away. Looking at her, he thought of how young she was and how much she had already endured in so little time. Ever since he found out about her past, there hadn’t been a night when he hadn’t castigated himself for making her feel like she had to earn his love.
“Y-you cut your hair.” MJ’s words, tinged with confusion, had him looking up.
Seeing her wide-eyed gaze made Helios feel self-conscious about his newly shorn hair, and he touched the neatly shaved sides of his hair gingerly. “Looks bad?”
“N-no, but...” MJ dug her fingers into her palms, the only way she could prevent herself from reaching out to touch his hair as well. “Why did you have it cut?”
Ah. It seemed that Yuri hadn’t told her everything about him then. He said lightly, “It just felt like it was time.”
“I...see.” She touched her chest again, hoping her heart would be a lot calmer now, but it wasn’t. She glanced down and caught sight of a pair of pink bedroom slippers. A gasp spilled past her lips as MJ remembered exactly where they were. “Where’s M-Millie?” Oh God, she would die if this meant Helios and Millie had hooked up. Without thinking, she rose to her toes, trying to see past Helios.
It took a while for Helios to catch on. When he did, he didn’t know if he was furious or exasperated. “Are you serious, brat?” He grabbed her shoulders and gave her one good shake so MJ would look at him. “ I love you. Why the hell would you think I’d be interested in another woman?”
“I...” She had no idea what to say. She was still reeling from hearing Helios saying those three words with such ease.
The look of stunned disbelief in her gaze made him grit out again, “I love you. I love you, MJ Cartwright. I love you, brat.”
Her heartbeat had raced so fast at his words her mind couldn’t keep up with it. All she knew was that hearing Helios say he loved her wasn’t going to help her move on.
Her silence was killing him, and he said tautly, “Say something.”
A hysterical laugh threatened to escape her. Say something ? He was the most taciturn man she had ever met, the kind of man who would rather walk barefoot on burning coal and swim in a pool of lava than say something emotional. And here he was, telling her “I love you” repeatedly.
He was the man who could take her to heaven and hell with just one kiss, the man who she had so stupidly risked her life for because she wanted to prove to him that she loved him. She would be the world’s greatest fool to believe him now, right? It was just his guilt talking, his honor and conscience forcing him to make it up to her.
She squeezed her eyes shut. It was the only way to concentrate. Taking several deep breaths, she prayed to God that the first thing she said had nothing to do with those three words.
“MJ—”
“Have you been working out?”
Oh. God. Oh. God. Oh Gooooood. Come on. Why do you have to answer my prayer like that?
It took another full second for Helios to understand what MJ was saying. He didn’t think he had lost a couple of IQ points along the way since MJ had left him. It was only because the things she was saying were so completely unpredictable—
The realization of why MJ had said those words hit him.
Drowning in horrified embarrassment at what she had let slip, MJ slowly opened her eyes to peek at Helios’ reaction and saw a grin tug on his beautiful lips as he murmured, “You noticed?”
She lied automatically, “Nope.” But of course she did. She knew every inch of his skin very well, and he had definitely bulked up. He had been on the leaner side before, but now his muscles were more defined.
“Liar.”
The sexy teasing note in Helios’ voice made alarm bells ring inside her head. Oh no, they were definitely heading to dangerous territory if she allowed this – this thing between them – to go on. Without looking at him, she muttered, “I’ll just come back when Millie’s here.” She tried to twist away from his hold, but his grip on her shoulders remained firm.
At MJ’s words, Helios knew it was time to let MJ know of his plan. “Millie’s not coming back.” He allowed that to sink in before saying quietly, “I’m the new R.A.”
Helios was...what?
MJ’s head jerked up. “You can’t be serious,” she choked out.
This time, there was no smile on Helios’ face. He was completely serious, and his tone matched it as he said, “You said you wanted a normal life. You said you wanted a normal guy to love you – and a normal guy for you to love.”
MJ shook her head slowly. “I don’t get it...”
He gestured to the room. “This is me, being normal. I’m no longer the President of the Afxisi.”
She paled at his words, her gaze incredulous as she sought for a clue from the hard expression on Helios’ gorgeous face. Afxisi was his life. Did he really mean what he had just said?
Understanding the doubt clouding her expression, Helios said fiercely, “It was the only way for me to show you that I’m willing to give up everything for you. I mean it when I said I miss you and that I want you back. That I need you back.”
For a moment, memories of the past threatened to weigh him down, threatened to drown him with terror of being hurt again.
For a moment, he vividly remembered Herod and Odessa talking about the kind of fool he had become because of love.
But in the midst of the darkness, a spark of light flickered, and reflected on its flame was MJ’s face. A bravely smiling MJ who, after being rejected by Helios as his date, still hadn’t had a single bad thing to say about him.
She’s the kind of girl who loves her guy enough not to walk out like any sensible girl would when an asshole like you shames her in public.
The words tore the chains to his ugly past, allowing Helios to break free. When he looked at MJ, tears were running down her face, and the sight of it ravaged him. Why couldn’t he stop making her cry? What the fuck did he have to do to stop being the reason for her tears?
MJ whispered, “Why are you doing this to me, Helios?”
“Because I love you.”
“You don’t.”
“Yes. I do. And I’ll prove it to you. If you want a normal guy, I’ll be that guy for you. I’ll be whatever you want me to be, MJ, because you and me, we can be as normal as we can be, but the love we have—”
She started to protest, but he shook his head. “Yes, MJ. The love we have. It’s never been the normal kind of love. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing, an extraordinary love, and that’s what I’m fighting for. I’ve been all kinds of a fool in the past, and my stupid mistakes made you lose faith in it. But I’ve learned my lesson. I’ll find a way to make you believe again.”
Helios cupped her face. “I’ll make you fall in love with me as a normal guy, MJ. Because you and I, we’re meant to be together. Whether I’m normal. Whether I’m the President of the Afxisi. Whether I’m fucked up. You were always meant to save me, MJ. Falling for you was the only way to make me realize what I’ve always been missing and now that I know, I won’t let it go.”