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I look at him and want to cry. Why is he acting like this? My loyalty does not allow me to embarrass him, however. So I walk over to him and put my arm through his. "I'll walk you to the door."
I wait for him to say goodbye to everyone, and I pretend that I don't notice that Ares follows my movements carefully.
Eleanor, like the sweetheart that she is, offers her driver to take him to the airport.
We go down the stairs arm-in-arm, in silence, but when we get to the car, where the driver is waiting with the door open, I say, "Why are you acting like this?"
"He wants you."
“Even if it's true, it's none of your business, Otis. We are friends. Over the last two years, we pretended to date, but you never stopped going out with your women, even if it was in secret. I never cared, and I still don’t, because that's not the way I love you."
"You could learn to love me like that."
"Don't do that. I don't want to lose your friendship."
"Serenity—"
"Don't think that because I'm young and inexperienced, I'm malleable too, Otis. I only do what I want because I learned to make decisions on my own when I was very little. I may not know much about the world, but I know everything about myself—what I feel and, most importantly, what I don’t feel."
“He's no good for you, Serenity. You two?—"
"There is no ‘us two.’”
"Yet. I am a man. He wants you, but I’ve looked him up. The guy has a reputation for discarding women like clothes he no longer wants."
"I will ask you once again not to interfere. Please don't drive me away. Don't make our friendship impossible."
"I can't see you go into the wolf's den and just stand there and watch. I need some time."
"What? Are you trying to say this is the end of our friendship?"
He stays silent for a few seconds, and for a moment, I'm afraid he's going to say yes, but then he pulls me into his arms and kisses me on the forehead. "If he hurts you, I'll always be waiting."
"Because you are a wonderful friend. And I will always be here for you, too."
"I'm being a selfish asshole, right?"
"Yes, you are. I never felt jealous of your women."
"Never?"
"No. I want you to be happy."
"I feel like shit right now."
"You were a little bit of an asshole, but you are forgiven. Send a message when you arrive in Germany."
"I will. Take care."
Serenity
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
I'm almostat the house, walking distractedly and looking at the ground, when I hit a concrete wall.
Except the wall has strong arms, it's warm, and the smell of it acts as a kind of numbing agent on my senses.
It takes me a few seconds to look up at him, and at the same time I wonder if he doesn't mind them seeing us like this, because now Ares has one of his arms around my waist.