“But I let him take my virginity. I let him have sex with me for nearly two years. I let him fuck me unprotected. I let him use my body and hardly ever make me come. It’s no wonder that he thought he could take what he wanted.”
Charlie hissed, shaking his head. “He’s a grown ass man, and you were a teenager. He manipulated you, Princess, and then when you chose to walk away and sayno more,he got angry and did this to you.”
Out of nowhere, my heart rate picked up, my chest heaving and my stomach rolling, threatening to bring up my delicious dinner. I pushed up from the seat, Charlie’s hand falling from my face. “I just need a minute. Sorry. I’m just going to step outside for some fresh air.”
“Take a blanket. It’s probably freezing out there, and don’t wander off in the dark.” He paused, obviously realizing he was being too nice again.
Pulling a throw from the sofa, I stepped into the cold night sky, hoping the change in temperature would cool some of the burning regret in my chest.
Chapter 12
Charlie
I tried to busy myself, tidying the things from dinner and adding more wood to the fire, but all I could think about was Fern. That fucker had used her and, even before last night, he’d taken things from her that he had no right to take. Anger rolled through me, making me desperate to break something… or someone, but I pushed it down because I knew from experience that it wouldn’t change anything.
The problem was that I didn’t know how to help her feel better and start to heal from this or whether that was even my job. I was doing what I’d promised Neo; keeping her safe. Maybe I needed to give her space and let her work through this on her own. I could be there to listen, but I wasn’t in any position tofix this for her. Jesus, my life was a mess, so how could I help someone else in theirs?
I stared out of the window. The sky was pitch black and without the city lights, was sparkling with stars and in that moment, I knew I could do something. So I did.
“Hey, Princess, you can’t just sit out here and freeze to death, hoping all your problems will vanish,” I joked as I walked around to the bench at the back of the house, with the panoramic view of the sea.
“Spoilsport.”
“Is it helping?” I asked as I sat next to her, pulling her blanket over me, because it was Baltic out here.
“It might be, but I’m so cold, I can’t really think straight anymore.”
“Come inside.”
“I like this view.”
“I have a better one.”
She snapped her head around to stare at me, raising the eyebrow over her good eye. “Really, Myth Maker? You’re going to make dick jokes right now? You have balls, I’ll give you that.”
I cried out in mock horror. “Your words wound me, Princess.”
“Fuck off calling me that.”
“I like seeing you like this… fiery. It suits you way more than being the Stepford wife, but I wasn’t talking about my dick. My poor Johnson has shriveled up to nothing in this freezing weather. Come on, before I get frostbite and it falls off.”
“I could sit here all night.”
“And then you’d die from exposure. Trust me. Come on.”
Pulling her from the bench, I grabbed her blanket in one hand, entwining my fingers with her other one, leading her back intothe house and straight up the curved staircase to the top of the lighthouse.
Fern
“Oh, wow. Charlie!”
Standing in the circular room, I stared around. The fairy lights glowed and candles flickered in the tall storm lanterns that littered the space. He’d flipped a wooden box and made it into a side table, where an open bottle of red wine and two glasses sat alongside a bowl of cola bottles from the stash of sweets Neo sent us. And he’d added more pillows and blankets to the window seat, so we could look out at the view I was so reluctant to leave a minute ago and still stay warm.
“Thank you,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
“At least you can see the stars, but you won’t freeze.”
I climbed under the blankets, leaning back on the pillows, grateful for the heat. “You joining me?”