Chapter 31

Nathan

Olivia didn’t know it when her eyes widened and she realized that my arms were around her, but I was already awake.

I had been awake for a little while. When sleep finally released its grip on me, I slowly came to the realization that there was no longer a thick wall between the two of us, but that we had moved closer together in our sleep.

At first, I considered getting up and leaving the room so that Olivia would never know that we cuddled in our sleep.

But when I looked over and saw her beautiful sleeping face, and I felt her warmth up against my body, I couldn't help myself. I wanted to stay there.

In an odd way, I sort of wanted to know what her reaction would be like. Would she jump up and leave, feeling disgusted? Or would she stay and nuzzle down into my arms?

Secretly, I hoped it was the latter.

But when she woke up, the latter wasn’t her choice after all.

Olivia's eyes widened as she noticed I was still asleep. I had my eyes cracked open just enough to see a sliver of her, so that she didn’t know that I was awake.

In a sudden rush, she sprang out of bed and hurriedly left the room like a flash, leaving only the echoes of her bare feet pattering on the floor in her wake.

The last thing I saw was a glimpse of her long hair as she slipped through the door.

Little did she know, I had been awake the entire time, feigning sleep. Once she was gone, I sighed. The space where she had just been lying, tucked perfectly into the crooks of my body, now felt empty and uncomfortable.

With an ache in my chest, I sat up and ran my fingers through my disheveled hair.

I wished that she had stayed with me. Already, I missed her warmth and the feeling of her slender body against mine. I felt as though I could still feel her gentle curves touching me, her narrow waist and round hips.

Alone in the room, I let out a frustrated sigh and flopped backwards onto the bed once more. For a while I just stared up at the ceiling, lost in a swirl of longing and regret. Something else swirled in me, too.

Arousal.

I had to swallow the fantasies of her that started to pop up in my mind, and decided to distract myself with getting ready for the day and taking a shower.

Eventually, I headed downstairs for breakfast. Olivia was already standing at the kitchen counter, in front of the coffee machine. Her eyes flickered up to me as I walked in, her face turned red, and she quickly looked away.

“M-Morning,” she stammered, her hand shaking slightly as she poured her coffee. I noticed that she sloshed a bit onto the counter in her nervousness, but I chose not to say anything.

“Good morning,” I replied. “Did you get some sleep after all?”

Olivia nodded. The atmosphere in the room was thick with awkwardness. Olivia finally cleared her throat and spoke, her voice tinged with apology and tension.

"I did get some sleep,” she said, then paused and bit her lip in an incredibly cute and involuntary way before she continued. “By the way… I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to bother you with my silly fears," she murmured, her eyes averted.

“Olivia…”

I didn’t know what to say.

I couldn't bear to see her burdened by guilt. Although my own body was burning with a desire to hide my head in the sand knowing fully well that I just had to quell an erection after she left my bed, I hid it well and reassured her with a gentle smile.

"Olivia, you never bother me,” I finally said. “It's my job as a man to make you feel safe. I'm glad you turned to me. And besides, it wasn’t silly."

Olivia’s gaze lifted, and her big eyes widened as she looked at me with a mixture of surprise and sheepishness.

“Oh…” She smiled a bit and looked back and forth between me and the cup of coffee in her hands. “Thanks, Nathan. It means a lot.”

Neither of us spoke for a bit. We stood in the kitchen for a few long moments as though we were frozen in time, our unspoken desires swirling around in the thick and electrified air between us.

Part of me wanted to know if she felt the same way. I couldn’t help but wonder if she had similar thoughts about me when she was laying awake at night, as I had been having about her lately.

Even when she was fighting with me the other day, I wanted to kiss her. She looked so different now from when I last saw her ten years ago. She was no longer an awkward teenage tomboy, but was now a beautiful woman.

She was still a bit of a tomboy, too. I had gotten a good glimpse of that when she destroyed her dress during the hunt.

But secretly, I kind of liked her like that. Besides… I couldn’t get the image of her round, plump breasts out of my mind when her dress tore open. Even now, as I looked down at her I had to actively restrain myself from staring at her chest.

Her nipples showed a bit through her tight tank top, and the wolf in me wanted to throw her against the counter and ravage her right there.

I had seen her in both feminine dresses as well as tight leggings and sweaters, and each time I looked at her it felt as though I was discovering some new curve or feature on her body. I wanted to see what was beneath those layers of clothes…

Damn it, I thought to myself as I tried to shake those images out of my mind. She’s gotten too hot for her own good.

For what felt like an eternity, we locked eyes, the weight of our unspoken emotions filling the space between us.

Finally, a small smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I attempted to break the spell.

"Um, Olivia... Can you please move? I'm trying to get to the coffee machine," I interjected, pointing awkwardly behind her.

She blushed, realizing her unintended blockade. "O-Oh, sorry! Of course… Let me get out of your way."

Olivia quickly shuffled aside, and I couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment mixed with amusement as I watched her slender figure scurry out of the room and disappear.

She clumsily sloshed a little coffee out of her cup on her way out, but I just sighed softly and shook my head to myself, chuckling a little under my breath as I wiped it up with a cloth.

I didn’t know what this delicate dance between us was, exactly. I didn’t know if I would ever figure out what any of it meant.

The tension of unspoken desires made every interaction feel like stepping on thin ice. And in an incredibly strange way, I had to admit to myself that I quite liked this game that we were playing.

But at the same time, as I poured my coffee, I knew that this game couldn’t go on forever. We were just friends, and we had made a promise to just keep our fake relationship on the public side of things so that we could maintain our true friendship in private.

But, dammit, I couldn’t deny my growing feelings and lust for her. When I kissed her on the day of the hunt, her lips were so soft. Her chapstick tasted like cherries, and when we pulled away, her eyes were big and round and her cheeks were flushed red.

We were just supposed to be friends, but I wanted to taste her lips again.

Why, oh why did I have to go and get myself into this mess?!