Page 43 of The Fake Divination Offense
Walk away, Orok.
Turn around, andwalk away.
I stare at his apartment door. And I can’t make myself leave. Leavehim, here. Upset.
Any chance of escaping this situation with my dignity intact evaporates when the door groans open.
Alexo’s there, a full trash bag in one hand. He startles backward when he sees meskulking here, and he makes a frantic noise of alarm as he thrusts the garbage bag out in defense.
“Alexo,” I say. “I—”
“Orok?” He doesn’t lower the bag. Doesn’t relax, his whole body wound so tense I can see the muscles straining in his arms,the tendons bulging in his neck. His eyes are wide, highlighted still by his makeup, and as he holds in place, frozen, they go glassy with tears.
“Oh my gods,” he gasps, chest rising and falling in too-fast breaths. “Oh my gods—”
It’s what happened with Treva all over again. Only several thousand times worse, because IknewI was doing something wrong this time.
I stumble backward, trying like hell to make myself as unthreatening as possible. My size against his feels stark now; he barely comes up to my pecs.
“I’m so sorry. This wasexceedinglydumb. I shouldn’t have followed you, and I… oh fuck. I’m sorry.”
He still doesn’t move, doesn’t drop the bag, doesn’t let go of the half-open door. But his terror is a little more pinched now, more like anger, and he glares at me as I fumble my way through the shittiest of shit apologies.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” I tell him. “That isn’t an excuse. Just an explanation. That’s the only reason I’m here. I wanted to see you, to make sure you were okay, because honestly? That guy, whoever he is, he betterwatch himselfwith the way he treats you. I don’t know what’s going on with you two or what situation you’re in, but… if he’s dangerous. If you’re not safe. I can—I want to—”
I wilt even more, eyes rolling shut.
This moment is proof that my god’s as fed up with me as I am with him, because if he gave a single remaining shit about me, he’d strike me down dead in mercy.
“That’s why you’re here?”
My eyes fly open.
Alexo’s lowered the bag. He still looks livid.
I nod. “To check on you? Yeah.”
“That’s it? You didn’t… come for me?”
Come for him? Yes, but—
My brow furrows. “Yeah? Oh—oh,fuck.” He doesn’t mean… “Iwouldn’t, I wouldneverdo anything like—holy shit. I’m leaving. Now. I’m so sorry.” I turn for the stairs, stop, pivot back. “If you want to call off this PR thing because of me being exponentially stupid, say the word, and I’ll take care of it so you’re not at fault for anything. I’ll make sure you keep your place on the team and Urzoth’s patronage. Again, I’m so—”
Alexo steps into the hall. He slams the door shut—seems like hehasto, in order to get it to close properly, and my teeth grind at the security risk—but his eyes stay on me.
His anger is gone. It’s like he’s decided something.
Whatever it is, he’s studying me again in that searching, wondering way, and I go immobile.
“You’ve been kind of an ass recently,” he says, point-blank.
I bellow a laugh.
Calling me on my shit iswaybetter than him being scared of me.
“I think that’s part of why I came here,” I admit. “Because I hated how things were between us.Hatehow theyarebetween us. None of this—the whole PR bullshit, the fake dates, the pretend interactions, none of it is what I want with you, and it’s—” Go for honesty. Go for broke. “It’s killing me. You deserve better, and Iwantbetter. With you.”
No matter what he decides, I won’t be able to keep pretending this isn’t real for me. That every time we touch or have ourinteractionsisn’t the highlight of my day.
