Page 86 of Revolve
“You thought it was a bad thing too?” She peers at me through wet lashes.
“When I was younger, my mom would hide her tears from me. So I thought it was a secret, something bad that wasn’t for others to see. But I know now that’s not true. You don’t need to hide from me.”
“I don’t want you to think I’m weak.”
It catches me off guard, because I can’t understand how she doesn’t see how brave she is. “I could never think that. You’re the strongest person I know.”
Her green eyes are a forest after rainfall. Stormy. “I started to hate Justin, you know. I’d be on bed rest just thinking about how I wished it was him that fell. And I know that’s terrible to think, but everything felt so unbearable, inside and out. I wanted him to understand for one second what it felt like.”
“I’ll happily make him understand what pain feels like. Just say the word.”
She lets out a watery laugh. I don’t think she realizes how serious I am. All she would need to say is yes, and everyone would know exactly howphysicalI can be.
“I can’t have my partner getting arrested. We still have another competition.”
“After that, then?”
Her smile falters as her gaze locks on mine, a devastating realization settling in. “Wehaveto win, Dylan.”
There’s a lead weight in my throat. “We will.”
She nods like she’s trying to believe me over her head this time.
“So, the next time you want to skate like a crazy person, tell me, and I’ll join you.”
“It’s not like you were free,” she mutters, pulling back.
Shit. I should’ve told her about hockey. I’ve been allowed backwith the team, but after placing third, I couldn’t celebrate that with her when I knew she was hurting.
“You don’t owe me an explanation,” she says quickly. “I know hockey is important to you.”
“You’re important to me.”
She studies me intently as though trying to detect a lie or figure out whether she’s heard me wrong. Neither of us speaks—her because she’s grappling with the meaning of those words, and me because I want them to sink in to her stubborn brain.
She smiles then. It nearly kills me. There she is again. The girl with the soft, bruised heart.
When another shiver racks through her, I let go so she can shower. But before I can head out, her hand catches my wrist.
The delicate column of her throat moves. “Don’t you need to shower?”
If my heart hadn’t already stopped, it would right now. Is she offering?Fuck. I don’t think I can refuse. But I try my hardest to think with my actual head, and not the one that stands to attention, blood rushing south, leaving me blinking.
“I do.” I decide not to mention the four other showers in the house.
“Take it with me?” Sierra steps closer to placing her head on my chest. “I don’t want to be alone.”
The words create painful fissures all over my heart, and I stop breathing for a moment. She’s been trying to figure it all out herself this entire time, but now she wantsme.
“I need you, Dylan,” she whispers.
There’s a pang that lodges itself in my chest. No one has ever meant that the way she does—no one who has ever needed me for me. I’ve heard those words in moments of desperation, lost in the pleasure of an orgasm, but never like this. Never with such vulnerability and certainty.
With one swift move, Sierra yanks off her soaked sweater, lettingit hit the floor with a wet thud. Her white tank clings to her as she peels off her leggings, leaving only her panties. She stands there, in the middle of my bathroom, half naked, as if daring me to look.
My throat feels like I’ve swallowed chalk. I’ve had naked girls in my bed before, but never here, in the solitude of my bathroom, where everything feels too real and intimate. And never Sierra.
Then her gaze drops to my jeans, and something takes over. Something much smarter. I unbutton them, let them fall with my shirt, leaving me in a pair of boxers. When I reach for her tank top, she stops me. I know it’s because of her scars, and I wish I could make her see how beautiful she is, inside and out. Instead, I guide her under the shower. She sighs in contentment when the warmth hits her skin.
