Page 25 of Possession

I swallow. Kevan said he tried to stay away from Tim when he transferred here to SCU, tried to give him space, especially when he learned Tim was still in the closet.Loving him is killing me,Kevan said, quietly crying in Tim’s hospital room.But being apart from him was killing me, too.

Kevan apologized for not being totally honest with Bax, that bringing him to the banquet was mostly a ploy to see if he could still make Tim jealous. It certainly worked, and it definitely didn’t make Kevan feel any better.

My breath catches as I watch Baxter take a sip of his drink and, holding me in an intense stare, Bax says, “Dating and fucking a string of randoms isn’t freeing, Olive. You think it’s going to erase what you’re really trying to hide, but it doesn’t work like that.”

The air is heavy between us and my hands start shaking. I want so badly to tell Baxter the truth—to stop hiding how I feel and just take that leap. Ask him what he’s trying to hide. Let myself be with him.

Down the hall, Tim is probably coming to and having to make a choice.

Baxter was right about the rabid paparazzi. Social media “influencers” and sports reporters flooded into the hospital as soon as Kevan was done talking. I saw online pictures from the banquet hall, with Kev stroking Tim’s hair in his lap after I set his shoulder.

Tim’s either going to have to lie to the media to keep up the ruse that he’s straight, or he’s going to risk losing his family to be with the man he loves.

Baxter and I both lost our families a long time ago. We know how dark that path can be. But right now, sitting across from him at the shitty hospital cafeteria, it doesn’t feel so scary to reach out and rub his leg. So I do. “Bax,” I whisper. He rests his hand on top of mine on his rock-hard thigh. “Take me home.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Bax

By the time I get Olive back to my place, she’s shaking all over. I don’t know if she’s cold, or if it’s the adrenaline. It’s probably both, if memory serves. I don’t say much in the car. Something definitely shifted with us after hearing Kevan’s story. The way she put her hand on my leg in the cafeteria…that was different.

I’m not expecting any of my roommates to be home yet—they’re probably all still at the damn banquet gossiping about what the hell happened with me and Kevan. But I’m relieved all the same when the suite is empty. I get Olive right inside the door and start peeling her out of my suit jacket.

“Livvy,” I say, my voice quiet. My throat tight. “You’re trembling and you stink.”

She laughs a little, but her teeth are chattering. “You always get the shakes after something intense. We need to get you in the shower, baby,” I say to her, and she nods, pulling her arms across her chest, shivering. I step into the bathroom and crank on the hot water in the shower, and then come back out to her. Olive is struggling to unstrap her shoe, hopping on one foot with shaking hands.

“Let me do that,” I tell her, kneeling on the floor in front of her. I gently lift one foot and try to get the straps unhooked. The buckle is tiny and I have huge fucking troll fingers. That’s what Olive calls them. I finally manage both shoes and I see that her knees are knocking together. It’s definitely adrenaline. She must have been totally holding back how shaken up she was to have to help Tim like that at the dance.

“Hey,” I whisper, helping her out of her pants. Trying not to look.I’m just helping her. Just helping my friend.“You never told me what had you upset at the banquet. When you ran off.”

She shakes her head. “It’s ssssstupid,” she says, through chattering teeth.

“Not stupid,” I tell her, rubbing my hands up and down her legs, trying to warm her up a bit before I help her get in the shower. Fuck, the skin on her thighs is like silk. “You could never be stupid.”

I move my hands to her bare arms, rubbing her soft skin. I feel her start to relax under my hands and I see so much trust in her face. God, she’s perfect. “You knew just what to do today, Livvy,” I tell her. “I’m in awe of you. You’re magic,” I tell her. On my knees in front of her, my face is just about level with hers. I extend my head up and kiss the tip of her nose. She sucks in her breath in a little gasp. “Your touch always makes me feel better, Olive. Always.” I’m rubbing her face now, her collar bones in that sexy fucking tank top that reeks of Kevan’s puke.

I can see her nipples standing out, straining against the fabric. I swallow, trying my hardest to remember that I’m trying to help her here, that it would be totally sleazy to make a move on her when she’s shivering. “Let me put you in the shower,” I say, and when she nods, I pick her up.

I love the weight of her cradled in my arms. I love the feel of her curves against me. “I wanted to look sexy,” she says, her voice quiet.

“You what?”

“At the banquet,” she says, shrugging out of the stained tank top. I grab it from her and throw it away, trying not to look at her body as she stands in front of me wearing just a bra and panties. “I wanted to look sexy so someone would want to sleep with me,” Olive says.

I close my eyes and rest my head against the tile. I’m trying to maintain discipline and it’s not going well. “Are you ok getting in the shower?” I need to get out of here. I need to keep my eyes shut. I need to respond to what she said in a way that doesn’t ruin everything.

“Bax,” she says. I hear her pull back the curtain and climb in. “Come in with me.”

Come in with me,like it’s nothing. But at this point my control is gone. I have the woman of my dreams standing in front of me, naked and wet.

“Warm me up, Baxter,” she says, so I climb into the shower in what’s left of my tux. I blink beneath the water and stare at Olive. I stare at her from the tips of her painted toes and all up her magnificent body to her brown eyes, that are scanning mine and looking for an answer.

“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” I tell her in a hushed voice.

My hand reaches out and cups the back of her neck, pulling her against me beneath the spray of the water, and then I’m kissing her and everything else melts away.

Like my dream the other night, her lips are pillowy and soft, hungry and wanting. I increase the pressure, the intensity, needing more of her. My tongue explores her mouth and I feel little moans escape her while her hands gather the wet fabric of my shirt.

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