Page 11 of Come to Bed

Oliver treated me as a damsel in distress at the best of times and the worst of times. I swear he thought I was made of thread. One hard tug and I would be frayed for life.

I attempted my most grumpy face. Eyebrows screwed up, lips pursed, air blown into my cheeks.

Oliver laughed at me. “Are you practicing as an anime cat girl?”

I growled and launched a pillow under me at him.

He dodged it easily.

“That was my mad face, you jerk!”

Oliver nodded his head comically slowly. “Sure, sure. Well, as you know, the reunion is tomorrow night, so ready yourself for that. But first, she-who-must-not-be-named has arrived. She has been screaming at me for hours to let her in here to torment you.”

“Yara?” I sat up excitedly forgetting my hangover. While we talked almost daily, I hadn’t been face-to-face with Yara in months. “Why didn’t you lead with that, you big oaf?” I launched another pillow at said oaf a bit more aggressively than the last.

The movement lifted my blouse up over my belly while simultaneously jiggling my titties more than should be possible.

Instead of dodging this time, his eyes caught on the movement and I suddenly became self-conscious.

The pillow hit him in the stomach with a thunk before dropping to the ground.

“I know, I need to get to the gym with you and Maddox.”

His gaze darkened, and a face I had never seen before adorned his features. His hands tightened to fists. A shiver crept up my spine and I almost felt scared. Of Oliver? I blinked my eyes and whatever I thought I saw, was gone.

“I told you; you are perfect exactly the way you are, Isobel.” Oliver’s voice held no room for argument, his eyes holding mine in a trance. They were fathomless dark abysses that seemed to want to convey more to me than I could understand.

“Oh no, not my birth name. Dad is MAD,” I joked uncomfortably, trying to get away from whatever this was.

It had the wanted effect and Oliver flashed his teeth in a grin. “I’ll let the gremlin in.”

He offered me one more indecipherable intense look before turning and heading to the door.

Chapter nine

Izzy

"Can you believe it? This man basically waited for you. He is interested in everything you want and has exactly the same boundaries.” Yara and I were now lying on my bed in our comfiest clothes. She wore a t-shirt and sweats. And I wore my notorious Mumu. This one was bright fluorescent pink and incredibly soft. So comfortable. I needed all I could get with the hangover still threatening to take hold.

Drinking just gets more and more painful with age, and at twenty-eight, I was lucky if I only needed one day of recovery.

I refocused on our conversation and paused the trash TV we were watching. Something about how if you’re in love, you never lie to your partner. The premise itself was a joke. “Honestly it sounds great but like, almost too great. Isn’t that a red flag?”

Yara laughed and rolled until she lay on her side, facing me. “I know what you mean, and a girl can never be too careful, but Izzy, he checked out. Background check, references, the whole shebang. I also cross-checked the name with anyone that you might have run into or know, and he came back clean.”

I still had an uncomfortable feeling deep in my gut that I knew better than to ignore. “And, you’re sure? You met him too, right?”

Yara’s face sobered as she realized the extent of my anxiety, she lifted a hand up and hauled me to her in a hug. Yara was more a sister than my step-sister had ever been, and I allowed myself to soak in the comfort she provided. It calmed some of my worries, but I couldn’t ignore that there was something deep in the recesses of my consciousness that was screaming something wasn’t right. But it could just be my return here. And the man I had done my best to forget about.

“I promise, I did every check known to mankind and I made sure he had nothing but green flags. He seems to be an average sexy Joe, but with a plethora of desires he is looking to fulfill.”

I pushed aside my worries and allowed myself to genuinely believe she might be right. “But he waited for me, why? Isn’t that weird? I first tried this over a YEAR ago. No man waits that long for any woman. Especially one he hasn’t met. Especially me.”

Yara let go to punch me lightly on my shoulder. “Correct! Especially you. I'm sure the man has gotten his dick wet but from my conversations with him, he seems to have been stuck on you. Because, again, you are gorgeous! Stop with that self-deprecating bullshit.”

I swallowed thickly. “I just got cheated on, I’m sorry my self-confidence isn’t at its highest.”

Yara’s expression turned sympathetic. Her golden locks were spread across the bed and if it weren’t for knowing her so well, I would almost think her an angel. She didn’t understand what it felt like to not be the standard image of beauty. I was more of an acquired taste, I knew I was beautiful, but I felt I had to convince the world. Every. Single. Day.

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