As usual, Ollie surprises me. He doesn’t fixate on my virginity. He doesn’t judge me at all.
“Thank you,” he murmurs instead, knocking the wind out of me with those two little words. “For trusting me enough to share.”
“Thank you for listening.”
“I had a feeling something like this might’ve happened.” There’s no accusation in his voice — only a grim sort of resignation. “I could sense you pulling away, day by day. That something — or someone — waspullingyou away from me. It’s why, the first chance I got, I hopped on a plane here.”
“Are you angry with me?” I ask. My voice is shaking. “I swear to you, Ollie, nothing happened between me and Archer. I would never be unfaithful.”
“I know. I trust you, Josephine. But I don’t trust him.” Storm clouds of anger move across his typically sunny expression. “He hurt you.”
He had his reasons,I think instantly. My first instinct — as always — is to spring to Archer’s defense. A long-ingrained habit I can’t seem to break.
“Do you still love him?”
The question makes me flinch. “I’ve barely spoken to him in a year, Oliver!”
“That’s not what I asked.”
My lower lip is trembling. “When it comes to Archer and me… things are just… complicated.”
“Not complicated.Unfinished.”
“No, Ollie,” I say immediately, rejecting his gentle correction. “It’s over. It never even started, actually.”
“Just because you didn’t put a label on it doesn’t mean it wasn’t real. He may not have ever been your official boyfriend, but you gave him your heart all the same. He holds a piece of you in his hands. A piece I’ve spent a year wondering about.” He shakes his head sadly. “When I first met you, I could see how sad you were. How broken. I knew whatever guy came before me had done some serious damage. And I made it my mission to fix that damage. To repair what he’d broken. To bring back that light in your eyes.”
A tear slides down my cheek. “I know you did.”
“But it’s tough to be an antidote if you don’t know anything about the poison. I’ve done my best.”
Reaching across the table, I take his hand in mine. “You’ve done more than I ever deserved, Oliver. More than any other man would have, in your shoes.”
“As usual, you sell yourself short.”
“You’ve been so good to me.” My voice cracks. “If you want to leave… I’ll understand. I won’t hold it against you.”
He blinks. “Leave? Why would I leave?”
“I just thought… after hearing all that, you wouldn’t want…”
Me.
You wouldn’t want me anymore.
“I didn’t fly halfway around the world to break up with you, Josephine.”
“So it doesn’t disappoint you that I’m not a…” I falter on the wordvirgin.
“Disappoint me? No, it doesn’t disappoint me. If anything, it makes me a bit sad that we won’t get to experience our first times together. But I would never judge you for something you can’t change. That’s not who I am. I’d never leave you because of something you did long before we met. That’s not how I operate. Darlin’… I’m not going anywhere.” His brows lift swiftly, as though a thought has just occurred to him. “Unless that’s whatyouwant?”
“No! No, I…” I swallow hard. “Of course I want you to stay.”
“It’s going to take a lot more than an ex-boyfriend to scare me off, Josephine. He can have your past. I want your future.” He squeezes my hand gently. “I wantourfuture.”
My eyes fill with tears. I don’t know how to respond. “Oliver…”
Something in his expression changes. I see thoughts working behind his eyes; see a new sort of resolve settle into his features as he stares across the kitchen island at me. He gives a small nod, as though he’s made a decision, and clears his throat. “I was going to wait to do this. To find the perfect time. To plan some silly romantic moment with flowers and candlelight… But I just realized something. I don’t want to wait another second to start building a future with you. And I’m tired of carrying this around in my pocket like a pipe bomb, set to go off.”