Page 132 of The Catalyst

His eyes widen as he stares at me. “I don’t believe you.”

“Just watch,” I mutter while glaring at him.

We watch the scenes roll by, and it's nice to have a movie night with someone who doesn’t interrupt. He doesn’t need to fill the silence outside of the movie, and that’s comforting.

The front door opens just as the lawyer heads into the basement, and I sit up.

“Here it comes!” I screech with excitement, and Ollie laughs before throwing a chip in his mouth. I slap his shoulder as the lawyer rounds the corner in the basement of glass containment chambers, and the spoiled princess–or I think that’s what she’s called anyway–comes into view completely fucking naked. “Boom!” I jump to my feet and do my little victory dance even though there was no bet or anything. Oliver just didn’t believe me.

I jog over to the TV and motion to it like a game show host. “Full-frontal, butt-ass naked, big-titted ghost!”

Oliver couldn’t hide the smirk across his face if he tried, and the laugh that falls from his lips is music to my ears. It’s tragically beautiful. My fingers itch to touch him, hug him, and laugh freely alongside him, but… Something in my stomach stirs at the sound, and I damn myself for feeling anything at his reaction. He’s not mine, and I’m not his.

“What’s going on here?”

My head snaps around at the sudden interruption, and Nigel stands by the door, hands shoved in his pockets, an amused smirk across his lips.

“You’re back,” I mutter, feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place. I don’t think Nigel knows about me and Ollie and I’d like to keep it that way.

“Ollie has never seenThirteen Ghosts,” I add, and Nigel’s eyebrows fly to the ceiling the moment his nickname leaves my lips. Only the guys and Aimee call him that, and they’re the only ones he allows to do it.

I see the wheels turning in Nigel’s eyes as he waits for Ollie to correct me, but…he doesn’t. Instead, he nods in agreement.

“Popcorn is good, too. Everyone else in this town makes popcorn that tastes like ass.”

Almost instantaneously, laughter bursts from my lips, and I clutch my stomach so I don’t fall to the floor.

“My popcorn is not that great. It’s just a dash of shredded cheddar.” I shrug it off, but the thinly laced praise is something I’m not used to, and it makes me uncomfortable, even coming from him.

“Can you pause the movie, man?” Nigel asks, and I wonder if he’s about to get mad about something, but he just gives me a serious look and nods out the front door.

Okay. Maybe he wants some privacy for whatever he wants to say.

I bite my bottom lip and nod before the room falls silent. Only the air conditioner can be heard. As Nigel opens the door, I glance behind me at Ollie for some reassurance, but he just lifts his shoulders in confusion.

Thanks a lot for that.

Stepping outside, I wait for him to throw some kind of accusation at me, but instead, he just stares at me. The door clicks closed behind us, and I stand by patiently.

“What?” I finally ask after a while passes.

“I’m not asking this because I don’t trust you. I just have to know,” he starts before staring off into the dark neighborhood, refusing to meet my eyes. “Do you have feelings for Ollie?”

“Yes,” I admit, and I watch all of the muscles in his body tense, but he still won’t look at me.

He wanted the truth and he got it. I won’t feel bad for that, not for a single second.

CHAPTER 52

OLIVER

Anytime she’s in the same room as me, my fingers itch to run through that ginger-dyed hair and look into her fairy-green eyes.

I want her, yet I can’t have her.

Not yet at least.

I didn’t think I was capable of feeling this anymore. I’ve never been capable of walking away from temptation, but I’m very talented at destroying the source of it. If she hates me, I can’t hurt her, but I can’t bring myself to make Beth hate me. I don’t want her to go back to sneering at me every time I walk into the room.

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