Page 140 of The Catalyst

“I’ll tell her if I see her.” That part isn’t a lie. I know I won’t see her, but if I did, I doubt I could stop myself from telling Casey.

He nods and walks out the door.

I helped Casey escape Nolan’s clutches and Grove Hill with her unborn children. Martin was so distraught trying to find her that he wasn’t paying attention to how he was driving.

I wait until I can no longer hear his footsteps and throw my face into my hands, ignoring the pain in my neck. It’s nothing compared to what’s in my heart.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” Oliver soothes me with his voice as he rubs my back. The tears fall.

“This is all my fault. The accident, the fight, the arrest. It’s all onme,” I cry as I look up into his beautiful eyes, and his fingers trail along my jaw, comforting me.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because…I helped Casey get out of Grove Hill. I got her on a bus to escape Nolan Gray’s wrath. She’s pregnant, and he was trying to force her to terminate it. She needed help. Martin was looking for her, and I…” I trail off as more tears fall.

They say the single flap of a butterfly's wings can cause a tsunami halfway across the world. A single event can be the catalyst for something much worse and a lot bigger, something that looks completely unrelated. It’s called the butterfly effect. It seems fitting that I am the catalyst since Nigel calls me butterfly.

“You were upset because you saw me and Aimee together, right? That’s why you were swerving on the road,” Oliver whispers, his voice broken. “Fuck. I’m so sorry. The last thing I wanted was to hurt you. Then, you had the accident, and I saw the truck…I thought you were already dead when I saw his car and the truck nearly hanging off the bridge. I’ve never been more freaked out by mortality in my life.” His fingers on my jaw runs back into my hair, and he pulls out the cluster of silver hair hiding there, playing with it. It’s almost like it comforts him, knowing I’m really here and not dead in the blue truck.

“Ollie.” I suddenly gasp, not realizing I’d been holding my breath for his ardent summation. “It’s okay.I’mokay, and you can’t put your life on hold because of me. I’ll…adjust.” The idea of seeing him gallivanting around with Aimee makes me sick to my stomach, but I can’t have him. He deserves to be happy. Oliver isn’t mine, even though I want him to be.

So I have to let Oliver go.

Ineedto let him go.

“We need to stop this,” I whisper as he presses his forehead to my temple, breathing me in.

“I know, crazy girl. Trust me. I know we can’t continue like this, but I’m too involved now. I can’t just walk away without knowing you’re okay.”

My heart flutters, and I know deep down I’m not alright. I’ll cling to Oliver even though I know I shouldn’t because he understands every emotion and thought in my head.

“I don’t think I ever will be after this,” I admit as tears collect in my eyes.

The pad of his thumb runs under my eye, swatting away every tear that falls, and he commands my attention, determination in his eyes. “Then, I won’teverwalk away.”

My lip trembles as I stare up into his eyes. “You’re with me?”

“Yeah. I’m with you. Always.”

CHAPTER 56

OLIVER

My crazy girl is so stubborn that I swear sometimes I want to rip her throat out just so she can’t argue with me. I think a part of me prefers her being scared of me.

“You’re not going,” I growl as she holds the back of her neck, pain etched across her face, and still tries to stand up, but I push her back down with a single finger.

She yelps with surprise before glaring at me. “What the fuck!”

“You’re not going to the county jail. You haven’t even been discharged.” This is not me being possessive or anything. I know that she is in no condition to leave this hospital, especially since she can’t have any pain medication and she nearly fucking died in that accident. She’s lucky she didn’t have a miscarriage.

The guys don’t understand why I’m here, and they don’t need to. My highly complicated relationship with my crazy girl is none of their business. She needs me right now, and we both know it.

“I swear, if you get in my way again, I will cut your dick off,” she warns while sending her death glare. Does she really think that scares me?

I lean over her and pin her arms down on the bed. “No, you won’t. You’re too attached to it and what it can do to you,” I whisper, making sure my point is clear. She can threaten me all she wants, but there’s literally only one thing I’m scared of, and I’ve almost experienced it this week.

Her dying.

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