the crack before closing it behind himself. He drops his back against the door, not approaching me. I don’t know what to say. I expected him to come in his usual self, to smooth things over. But he isn’t even talking. I pick at the fabric of the bedspread. “I’m sorry.” I settle on apologizing, hoping they aren’t too mad at me.
“For what?” His voice sounds off. I look up and find Ollie staring straight ahead, not looking at me at all.
He’s going to make me say it. I swallow, not liking the way he’s acting. “For the elevator, for acting like… like.” I look down at my hands unable to finish.
“Like a jealous girlfriend?” Ollie adds when I can’t find the right words, and his eyes finally meet mine. But he doesn’t have his usual easy grin. Instead, his lips are a thin slash and I can see a tic in his jaw every few seconds, telling me he’s grinding his teeth.
I don’t know what to say. I don’t know why he’s the one in here and not Dante. Are they all mad at me because I can’t control this shit I have going on involving him? Blowing out a deep breath I say, “I don’t know what comes over me, ever since he told me about Delaney and the kiss, I just get… I get this feeling…” I wave my hand in front of my chest.
“What kiss?” Ollie interrupts.
“At school on Friday, Delaney kissed him, and he told me he kinda kissed her back.” I can’t keep the hurt from my voice.
Ollie uses his shoulders to push himself off the door and he walks over to the edge of the bed where I’m sitting. “Yesterday?” He drops himself next to me, his shoulders falling in a sag as he hangs his hands between his legs.
I curl my knee up and nod. If he doesn’t know about the kiss, he probably doesn’t know what happened at my camper either. “It all really confusing,” I confess, my hands in my lap. “Ares says I don’t have to share you guys, but you have to share me.” I can’t even look at him when I say it. It’s so fucking embarrassing. “How can I ask that of you guys? It’s not fair. And the jealousy, I don’t know how to deal with it.”
“You’re not asking us, we’re asking you.”
“That’s not how I feel. I feel like you guys don’t have any other choice.”
Ollie bumps his shoulder with mine. “You’re right about it not being a choice.” He holds up his hands when I flash my eyes to him and open my mouth. “But not for the reasons you think. I could walk away Laura, so could Milo.” I rub my fist over my chest, trying to ease the pain his words cause. Ollie pulls my hand down, holding it in his own. “When we realized what you were to us, we could have all walked away and never even spoke to you. It would have been hard, but it’s possible.”
“You didn’t, though.”
“No, we didn’t. Honestly, it never even crossed my mind. I knew from the very first time I laid eyes on you that you were our future.” A little piece of me melts with his words. Ollie is being serious, not his normal joking self. His words are carrying weight.
“But you’re mad at me about the elevator?” I peek up at him from under my lashes.
He sighs, looking at the door in front of the bed. “Not so much mad as a little hurt.”
I squeeze his hand, which is still wrapped around mine. “What, why?”
“You didn’t drag me away from them.” He tries to force a lightness into his tone, but it fails.
“Because I’ve never doubted you.”
Ollie’s eyes jump to mine, his lips parted on an inhale. “What do you mean?” he whispers.
I wince. “Well, that’s not really true. When we first hung out, I was a little jealous about you and Milo. But I was crushing heavily on all three of you. Once I got to know you a little better, I kinda,” I shrug my shoulder, “well, it just didn’t bother me so much anymore.”
Ollie goes rigid beside me, his hand pulling away from under mine. “So, you growl if someone gets close to Dante, but you don’t care if you think I’m with someone else?” His jaw is pulsing again and his head shakes before he lets out a dark chuckle.