Page 16 of Your Second Chance
“Why are you here, Ollie?” Her voice was firm, her eyes narrowing as she tightened her arms around herself, clearly trying to put distance between us.
“Figured you owed me for making me a sensation without even asking.”
“I owe you nothing,” she snapped. “In fact, ticket sales to the game next week are up by two percent, so you’re welcome, actually.”
“Come out with me.” My tone was gentler than before. “I hate being on camera. Make it up to me.”
“No.”
“Please,” I begged, stepping closer, my voice softening further.
I didn’t understand the pull she had on me, why I wanted to peel back her layers to understand her better. But I damn sure wanted to find out.
From where I stood, I could see the photo on her dresser—a picture of her with a woman who looked so much like her it was uncanny.
“You look like your mum,” I murmured, picking up the frame.
She grabbed it from my hands, her expression softening as she looked at it. “I know,” she mumbled, setting it down with care.
That’s when I noticed the papers stacked next to it. The words at the top caught my eye immediately:Divorce Finalized.
Shit. I was a dick. She wasn’t out drinking. She was... processing.
“Fuck it,” I declared. “Get changed. Otherwise, I’ll dress you myself, but we’re getting out of here.”
“No,” she shot back, glaring. “If you want me out, I’ll wear this rag.” She gestured at her stained sweats.
I stepped closer, grabbing her chin gently but firmly, forcing her to look up at me. “I don’t care what the fuck you look like, because to me, anything would look beautiful on you. But I’m not letting you sit inside today.”
Her gaze flickered with something sharp, and she pulled away, pointing at the papers. “Because I got divorced?” She sighed, the fire dimming a bit. “That’s not why I’m sad, for the record. He was an asshole.”
Every muscle in my body tensed, my fists curling instinctively.I will kill him.Fucking murder him.
She swallowed audibly, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Everything hurts when I think about what I lived through.”
My chest cracked wide open, splintering with a pain I hadn’t expected. The weight of her words, the quiet heartbreak in her tone—it wrecked me. Completely.
Who the fuck would hurt her?Howcould anyone hurt her? She was fire and ice, warmth and steel, all wrapped into this beautiful package.
But beneath all that strength was something raw, something fragile she worked so damn hard to keep hidden. And someone—somearsehole—had taken advantage of it. Someone had seen all her light, all her fire, and decided to snuff it out.
It didn’t make sense. She was so closed off, so wary of the world around her. How did someone like her let anyone close enough to break her like this? And why did she let them stay long enough to cause so much damage?
I couldn’t stop staring at her. She was standing right in front of me, stubborn and defiant, but the cracks were there, just below the surface. She wasn’t hiding them as well as she thought.Her eyes gave her away—red rimmed, glassy, and filled with a pain so deep it made my chest ache looking at her.
It killed me to think of her living through something that made her feel like this. To think of someone tearing her down, breaking her spirit. She deserved the world. She deserved to be cherished, protected, adored. Not... this. Not whatever had left her standing here, fighting tears and wearing her heartbreak like armor.
And the worst part? She wasn’t even asking for help. She struck me as the kind of person who’d probably never ask. She’d keep moving forward, carrying it all on her own, pretending she was fine.
“Nova,” I whispered. My hands itched to reach for her, to do something, anything, to make it better, but I forced myself to stay still. “You didn’t deserve that. None of it.”
She blinked, her lip trembling for a second before she bit it, forcing herself to stay composed.
“Whoever he was, whatever he did—he doesn’t get to keep hurting you. Not anymore.”
Her eyes flicked to mine, and for the briefest moment, I thought I saw something shift. A crack in the armor.
Then she turned away, her voice soft and distant. “I don’t need saving, Ollie.”
