Page 86 of Tangled in Vows

This is it—the edge of the precipice where our current path ends. The new path is still hidden from me, but it has the potential to bring utter darkness and destruction.

I lift my shaky hand and knock on the door.

“One second,” Olivia calls from the other side.

She opens the door with awhoosh, causing a few strands of her hair to move in the breeze.

My fingers itch to brush them back. To touch them. To touchher.

And how easy it would be to let her distract me once again.

I shove my hands in my pockets to resist the temptation. “Hey.”

One corner of her mouth quirks up. “Hey.”

I let my gaze roam over her, noticing the slight red sheen still visible in her eyes. “You okay?”

She sighs. “Archer told you?”

My chest expands with thoughts of my best friend and how he stormed off. “Something like that.”

She stares at the ceiling as if she’s gathering the strength for whatever she will say next. “Listen, can we talk? There’s something I wanted to tell you.”

“I was going to ask you the same.” I swallow. “Do you want to go for a walk?”

The question spills out of my mouth. On my way up here, I told myself we’d sit down and just get it over with. But now that she’s right in front of me, I can’t imagine looking her in the eye when I spill my secrets.

Maybe that makes me a coward, but I don’t care. If I see how much this hurts her, I might not tell her everything.

“I’d love that.” Olivia turns toward the room. “Let’s go, baby.”

It takes entirely too long for me to understand that Olivia’s talking to Stormy, and not me. Despite this dire situation I’m about to propel myself into, my dick thought she meant me.

Stormy runs past us and down the stairs, and Olivia follows. I walk behind her, staring at how her hoodie swallows half her body—myhoodie.

I cling to the hope that she would have burned my hoodie if she truly detested me.

Everything’s going to be okay. She won’t hate you.

Once outside, we walk along the tall hedges that run along the entire property, which allows us the privacy we need now more than ever.

Olivia is the first to break the silence. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

I wipe my sweaty palms on my pants. “I know this probably sounds ominous, but you should share first. What I have to tell you is pretty big, and there’s a chance you might not want to talk to me anymore afterward.”

She makes a snorting noise and then covers her mouth immediately.

I stare at her, as if it’s the first time I see her. “Did I say something funny?”

“No, I’m sorry.” She shakes her head and avoids my gaze. “It’s just . . . I thought the same thing, that you wouldn’t want to talk to me anymore once you know.”

I stop walking, and Olivia halts beside me.

The fine hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “Trust me, whatever you tell me, it won’t be as bad as what I tell you. And I don’t mean for this to sound like a twisted competition.”

“Wow . . . Uh, you’re right, that does sound ominous.”

I’m pretty sure she doesn’t believe my revelation will be worse than hers, or she wouldn’t be poking fun at it.

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