Page 20 of Outlier
I couldn’t trust Mike.
“This isn’t a good idea,” I whispered at my feet.
“What?”
I shook my head from side to side, trying to find the right words. “You said it yourself. I’m not the right person. And that was before you knew that I’m…” my voice dropped lower. “Not normal.” I chanced looking up at him.
His arms were crossed over his chest, and he was frowning down at me. “Who says you’re not normal?”
I tilted my head to the side in confusion. “Um… everyone.”
He shrugged. “Well, I don’t give a fuck about normal.”
“I’ll stop staring at you,” I blurted out. “I can get really focused on… some things. But I’ll try to stop focusing on you.”
“What if I don’t want you to stop focusing on me?” he asked, his frown melting into a small smile.
I shook my head again in jerky movements. “I am incorrect for you. You like your women ‘warm, cute, kind, able to express actual emotion, and equipped with a personality’.”
He blinked at me, his smile fading as I repeated his words back to him. “Christ, I’m a fucking dickhead.”
“No, you were honest. I actually appreciate honesty. It helps me judge situations better.”
Mike’s jaw was clenched tight. “Can we just forget what I said two weeks ago? I made some stupid assumptions, and I’ve already said I’m sorry.”
“And I’ve said you don’t have anything to apologise for.”
“If I’ve nothing to apologise for,” he said, frustration leaking into his tone. “Then why the fuck are you telling me this isn’t a good idea?”
“You have nothing to apologise for because you were simply being honest. And we won’t work because I’m not your type.”
“How about I decide what my type is, baby?” he said in a low voice as he stalked a couple of steps closer to me and frowned when I took another one back.
“You already did. You said?—”
“Fucking hell, can we just forget what I bloody said?”
I flinched at his sharp tone, and he let out a shaky breath.
“I’m sorry, love,” he said, his voice soft now. “I’m not angry with you. I’m angry at my stupid self.”
“Mike?” Lucy’s voice sounded from inside the house, and both our heads whipped in that direction. “Legolas has gotten out again, and we need to… oh, Vics. What are you guys…?”
Mike turned back to me and closed his eyes for a moment as frustration crossed his features, and he swore under his breath.
Lucy was standing next to us by then and looking between us with a curious expression. “Am I interrupting something?” she asked cautiously.
“Yes.” Mike snapped at the same time that I said a firm, “No.”
“Okay,” Lucy said slowly, one of her eyebrows winging up, and a small smile on her lips. She seemed happy. Happy that I was here with her brother. That arrow of guilt shot through me again. Lucy shouldn’t be happy for me in any capacity. It may have been months ago, but I remembered with perfect clarity everything that had happened to her in our office, and how I had let her down.
Lucy had forgiven me. She was in love with Felix, who was head over heels for her, and who had managed to claw his way back to her after much grovelling.
But I wouldneverforgive myself. And now, here she was, looking between me and her brother, her expression bright and hopeful, as if the chance Mike might be finally caving to my obsession was fantastic news.
I didn’t deserve her, and I definitely didn’t deserve her brother.
The Mayweathers were a close family. They didn’t need someoneempty inside, someone who would never fit in. I took another few rapid steps back.
