Chapter Thirty Three
To no one’s surprise, Everest did not grovel.
I left him standing there, jaw clenched and the vein in his temple swelling.
My shoulder sang from how hard I shoved past him, my movements bolstered by the defiance radiating through my bones.
It lasted halfway to Thiago’s place, until the momentum drained away and I realized how much energy I’d spent on being stubborn, playing directly into Everest’s assumptions. Damn him.
“Sorry for ditching you back there,” I tell Thiago again, tugging the headset more securely over my ears as I shift against my pillows. There’s a faint crackle of audio before his exhale brushes through the speakers, followed by a soft chuckle.
“I’ve told you, Amorzinha. You never have to apologize to me.
” That brings a smile back to my face. Such a smooth talker for an introvert.
Reaching for my covers, Thiago rushes to stall the shuffle of movement.
“But if you don’t get your ass online, as promised, I’ll come throw you over my shoulder and drag you back. ”
I drop back with an exaggerated whine, remaining sprawled across my bed in an oversized hoodie, my hair damp from a rushed shower I barely remember taking.
The familiar glow of my computer screen is bleeding across the room, Thi’s avatar waiting not-so-patiently.
It was already on and waiting by the time I stepped into my room wrapped in a towel.
Perks of having a hacker at my disposal, I suppose.
“Your silence is speaking volumes, meu amor. Perhaps you are going to lie there until I follow through on that threat.” My head snaps up, looking directly at the webcam attached to the screen. Narrowing my eyes, I glare as the realization punches through me.
“How long have you been watching me?”
“Today?” Thi shoots back and I push up to my forearms. He knows full well I don’t mean just today, but he also knows I’m not as furious as I’m hoping my face portrays. I’m not even surprised.
Last year, my life was turned upside down.
Everyone I thought I could rely on disappeared, everything I thought made me unique was stripped away, but from the day I woke in the hospital, Thiago was there.
A man who owed me nothing, who didn’t even know me, yet he stayed. He listened. He watched, and he cared.
“Fine,” I pretend to grumble. “But I’m bringing my bed with me.” Dragging the covers and pillow beneath my arms, I create a nest in my gaming chair and settle in for the night. It’s not like I have classes tomorrow anyway. I suppose I should thank Everest for that one, but never to his face.
Without even touching the keyboard, my avatar flickers into life, equipped with a new outfit. She’s fierce today, total Katniss vibes in black leather with a bow and quiver. Her hair is a long, brunette braid over her shoulder, a look of determination on her face. I huff a laugh and shake my head.
“Shall I just sit here and let you play on my behalf as well?”
“We might actually win for once if I did,” Thi quips back, the sound of rapid clicking coming through his mic. I bark a laugh, snatching for the mouse.
“You’re insufferable,” I huff, entering the game. My avatar turns and starts walking away, and my eyes narrow at the round swell of her ass. “Have you edited my girl’s body as well?” His throat is cleared through the headset, something smug slipping through his tone.
“I mean, now that I’ve seen your incredible figure in person, I thought your character should match.
” Pursing my lips together, I take the compliment, not pushing the phrase ‘in-person’.
Just how many times Thi has seen my body through the webcam isn’t a question I want answered.
At least he knows exactly what he’s getting with me, a moping mess who makes terrible judgement calls. Oh shit. I inhale sharply.
“You good?” Thiago asks, his avatar on screen pausing briefly. I swallow hard, forcing my face to remain neutral.
“Um, yeah. Yep. Just…remembered something,” I dodge, blinking away the images of me shoving my tongue down Everest’s throat, his length pressing me against the door. Thi responds with a knowing sound and my gut drops.
“I know exactly what it is. Don’t worry, I’m on it.” The still static between us goes silent, achingly so. I’ve been muted.
“W-wait. Thi? What are you doing?” I frown, glancing up at my webcam.
Guilt is plastered all over my face, heat rising to my cheeks.
Damn it. I should have just told him about it when it happened.
It’s not like I planned to be caught in a vulnerable situation with Everest, it just seems to happen.
I need to be smarter now. I have far too much to lose by being reckless.
A few minutes later, my phone pings with a notification. I snatch it up, my eyes skimming a receipt from my favorite Chinese takeout. I’m unmuted and the low crackle of static comes back.
“You just remembered you skipped dinner. I’ve got you covered.
It’ll be there in thirty minutes.” My heart flutters at that.
I don’t know what to say, when thank you doesn’t seem enough to cover what Thiago does for me.
How much he thinks for me, when I’d typically drown in a pit of self-destruction.
My thumb hesitates over my phone, the weight of the device in my hand seeming to double.
Twisting my lips, I tilt my head to the side.
“Can I ask you a real question? Like, no bullshit.”
“Is it how I know your takeout order?” Thiago replies immediately. My eyes fly up to the webcam, glaring with deadpan seriousness. I can hear the mirth in Thi’s voice, and imagine him raising both hands in defeat. “Meu deus, if looks could kill. Okay, I’ll behave. Ask away.”
I draw in a slow breath, my gaze drifting back to the screen, where his avatar stands beside mine. Two figures in a fantasy world where they regenerate. Whatever happens to them, they get to simply try again. It’s not so easy in reality.
“Don’t you ever worry,” I start, then pause, my fingers curling slightly against my palm as I search for the right way to say this without seeming like I’m pulling back.
“About giving too much of yourself away? I suppose I worry you’re going to give me more of you than I can reciprocate.
” My throat tightens at merely the thought, but it needs to be said.
“I just don’t really see what you’re getting out of this arrangement. ”
“That’s exactly why I’m going to love you until you do,” his reply comes instantly.
I suck a breath in, my gut flipping like it’s part of a circus act. Ducking my head away from the camera, I tenderly hold the mic beside my mouth.
“Love is a strong word, Thi. You barely even know me.” I chew on my lip, worry bleeding through that I’m coming across uninterested.
The truth is the polar opposite, I’m definitely interested, but I always fear that our relationship has jumped a few stages, although a huge part of that could be the pre-life crisis I’ve been going through.
I didn’t need to be anxious though, because Thiago simply chuckles and I hear him crack his knuckles as if he’s been prepping for this exact moment.
“I know you have nightmares more than not. I know you hate going out after dark. I know you flinch when people walk too fast or speak too loud. I know that you spend half your time trying to decide how you’re supposed to act rather than going on instinct.
I know someone did that to you, and I know I’m the only one you’ve let even close to helping you through it. ”
“So you care for me out of a sense of duty,” I state far too quickly. The words burst out without giving my mind time to catch up. Smacking my forehead with my palm, Thi makes a sound of amusement.
“It might have started that way. I happen to have experience in having your world ripped away in one single night, leaving you utterly isolated and detached.” The way he says it so easily, has my brows twitching.
Licking my lips, I sit back, tugging the covers higher.
I can feel him staring at me through the cam, so I hold my gaze on the black orb as my voice drops to practically a whisper.
“You…never speak about your mom.”
A long stretch of silence follows. I start to fidget with my cuticles, wondering what he’s thinking.
If I should have kept my mouth shut. This is the foundation we’ve somehow managed to skip, the part where I get to know Thiago, his upbringing and his motivations.
Why he is the way he is, what happened for him to use humor as a defense and not care about the red flags I’ve been swinging around my head since day one.
Eventually, Thi exhales slowly through the headset.
“You know, I was so worried to go home after I dropped out of high school. There was this English Lit teacher that hated me, I swear it. She knew I couldn’t read the words jumping around the page, but she called on me to read to the class over and over.
In the end, I told her to go fuck herself and I walked out of class for the last time. ”
Something twinges in my chest, the dropped octave I’m not used to hearing curling through my ears with a sense of trepidation. I cling onto the covers, my knees drawing up on instinct.
“I knew my mom would whoop my ass when I told her, so I didn’t go home.
I walked around the streets, stopped by my cousins to play some games.
Didn’t want to answer my phone or be found, but I didn’t need to worry, I suppose.
By the time I rocked up at the house, Old Woman Rosa was there with the ambulance.
My mom…she’d fallen down the stairs, but that’s not what killed her.
She’d been sick for a long time. I had no idea.
” There’s another pause, his casual wit fully stripped back to a hoarse whisper. “I had no fucking idea.”
“It’s not your fault, Thi,” I start but he huffs a humorless laugh.