Page 31 of Only Ever Yours
I turned my back for a moment to grab a beer, unsure of what to make of her admission. It certainly wasn’t helping the thoughts I’d been having about her recently. “I bought you a bottle of wine,” I said, changing the subject.
“Kind of wish I hadn’t brushed my teeth already then.”
Taking one of the mugs from the tea tray, I unscrewed the cap of the wine bottle and sloshed a healthy amount into it. Although, given what Hollis had told me, I wasn’t sure alcohol was a good idea. After I passed it to her, I took my beer and carefully settled next to her on the bed, on top of the duvet.
I held my beer can up and moved it towards her. “It’s been a day, right?”
She clinked her mug with my beer can. “Yeah. I’m sorry you had to do it. I should have waited for Finn to be available.”
“Reckon you’d have been waiting a long time. I hear those personal trainer interviews are very tricky to nail down.” I still hadn’t quite forgiven Finn for setting me up.
I put the television on as a distraction. Flicking through the channels, I found an episode ofFriends, one I’d seen many times before, and I knew Hollis had, too. She started to watch, as well, sipping her wine and giggling every so often. I couldn’t quite believe this set-up, sitting together in bed, practically naked and not being together. After a couple more episodes, I noticed Hollis had already closed her eyes and seemed to be sleeping. I turned off the TV and the bedside lights, then carefully got under the duvet, making sure I kept a decent distance away from Hollis.
“Thanks for today, Jase. You don’t know how much I appreciate it.” Clearly, she wasn’t asleep yet.
“No problem. It’s sort of been fun.” I smiled to myself in the semi-darkness.
“I’m glad you were there when Gil came.”
I recalled how on edge she’d been while he was there.
“Hollis, what happened between you and Gil?”
For a long while, she didn’t reply, and I thought she’d fallen asleep again.
“It’s hard to talk about.” Her voice was low, and I had to strain to hear her. “He was pretty possessive and controlling at times. I had to get out of there.”
Hearing her say the words made me want to roll over and wrap her in my arms. To tell her everything was going to be okay and he wasn’t going to hurt her anymore. Loyaltyto Finn stopped me from doing it. For now, at least. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.
“He tracked my phone, Jase.” Hollis sat bolt upright in bed and switched the bedside light on, flooding the room with brightness and making me blink. “Who does that to someone they love?”
I groaned, rolling onto my back, and flinging an arm across my eyes. “I’m sure your brother has at some point.”
“It’s different,” she grumbled.
“It’s definitely a shitty thing to do.” I pushed myself up onto my elbows. “I didn’t think you wanted to talk about it.”
“I don’t.” Hollis crossed her arms over her chest, probably not realising how good the action made her tits look.
Tearing my gaze away from her rack, I challenged her. “You’ve just switched on the light and asked me why he’d do such a thing. Why me, though? Why not your brother or Ella?”
She huffed out a breath. “Finn would go batshit crazy if he knew the whole story.”
“What makes you think I won’t be the same?”If not more so because I hate the idea of anyone hurting you.
“Because you wouldn’t go into a situation without considering my feelings.”
She had a point. Much as I didn’t like the way Gil had acted around Hollis earlier, I wouldn’t go in all guns blazing unless she wanted me to. I sat up, meaning I could be on the same level as her. “Did he ever hurt you?” I had to know. She’d been way too nervous around him for that not to have happened.
“No.” Hollis shook her head vigorously. “At least not physically. Coming after me on a night out and screaming in my face is the closest he got.” She let out a sigh, and I knew she had to be reliving the memory.
Against my better judgement, I pulled her towards me and held her close. “We’ll get your mobile number changed so he can’t track you any longer. And I presume you’ve blocked him on all your social media accounts?”
Hollis sagged into my chest. “Thank you, and yes. Seeing him today brought everything back, and now I know for sure he tracked me, it all makes sense.”
Breathing in the citrus scent of the shower gel I’d bought and having her snuggled against me had me responding with all sorts of inappropriate reactions. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, Hollis. You’re safe with me.”
Although as my dick hardened at the feel of her soft body close to mine, I couldn’t be sure how true those words were. She turned her face up to look at me, and I stared into her green pools. I didn’t mistake the longing in her eyes, but knew I shouldn’t act on it, no matter how much I wanted to. I reached over and tucked her hair behind her ear. Every fibre of my body screamed out that I should kiss her, comfort her, tell her everything was going to be okay. Her breath hitched at my touch. It would be so easy to lean down, press my lips to hers, reassure her.
