Page 93

Story: The Unseen

He climbs into the tub, sinking beneath the bubbles. He takes my hand and supports me as I sink down into the tub, my back leaning against his chest. I’m nestled between his thighs, and I feel him adjust himself as he hardens behind me.

“Ready to go again, old man?”

“Is that the nickname you’ve chosen for me, Killer?” He nips at my ear, tugging my earlobe between his teeth.

“If the shoe fits.” I laugh, leaning my head back against his shoulder.

He holds me against him, his arm resting over my lower ribcage, pulling me tight against him. I’m so small compared to him; I love how he cages me in.

I sigh, closing my eyes, the warmth of the water engulfing me as the heat from Austin presses into my back. My fingertips skate over his thighs and up to his knees. I repeat the process, back and forth encouraged by the soft groans I hear humming by my ear.

After a few minutes of silence, I finally find the courage to ask him, “What did you mean when you said you’d worked very hard the last few years to build a different life?”

He stiffens behind me; the water sloshes as he shifts. I press my back into him, using my foot at the end of the tub to anchor me against his chest.

“Are you trapping me in the bath, Olivia?”

I twist my neck so I can assess his face. He’s grinning.

“Maybe. You know how I like control.”

“Ah, yes, but I also know how out of control you love to be as well.”

His hand slithers down my stomach. His fingertips trail across the tops of my thighs, but I snap my hand over his to stop him. I bend my knee so I’m no longer pushed against him, and I turn.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. But tell me. Don’t try to distract me with sex.”

His lips part for a moment before pressing together in a flat line.

I lean my head back to let him digest that request. I’m sure he’s not used to someone talking to him like that. I’m sure he’s had everything done for him his whole life with the money he’s grown up with. There are a lot of yes-people around men like that. I’m trying to be patient, trying to be understanding. He’s different from what I initially thought he was; I know that. But despite our chemistry, despite our attraction, I still don’t know him very well. And I desperately want to. I need to know that the man I’m falling for is worth the time and effort and won’t leave me heartbroken.

“I told you about the day we met...at Squeeze the Day,” he whispers, pulling me back against his chest, his forearm strapped around my chest.

“Yes.”

“And I told you about the man I was running from—the man my father had asked me to sleep with. Him and his wife, I mean.”

“I remember.”

He nods, shifting uncomfortably behind me, before moving his hand up to rub his face.

“Fuck, I don’t know if I can tell you this. I don’t want to scare you away.”

I turn to him, the water sloshing over the side of the tub as I reach out to cup his face.

“I can’t promise you I won’t be scared or unsure. But I really like you, and I want to know you better so that I can understand you and we can stop having these misunderstandings about who we both are. If you don’t wantto tell me right now, that’s okay. But I’m going to keep asking questions because I want to know the real you, Austin. All of you.”

I snuggle into him, kissing his neck before settling my cheek on his damp chest. He begins running his fingers through my hair; my eyelids close almost instantly.

He takes a deep breath. “I had been doing a job for my father and had taken the week off before I bumped into that guy. I’d been contemplating my next steps, and I’d even spoken to someone—a therapist. I knew I didn’t want to have this life anymore, but I didn’t know what to do about it.”

“What changed to make you speak to a therapist?”

“My father had given me a job. I had to go and get some cash from one of our dealers. The guy only sells weed, but he had been skimming off the top. Despite weed being legal, we have the variety and the distribution the legal guys don’t. It’s technically legal to be selling, but you need a license—something our guys don’t have. But we have the best product so our sales are still through the roof. At least they were two years ago. I have no idea what they’re like now.”

He continues to stroke my hair, and I drop kisses of encouragement on his chest.

“So I went round his house, and I told him to give me the missing money, and we’d be square. He told me he didn’t have it. And I...I did my job. I beat the fucking shit out of him. He was crying, begging for me to stop, and I just kept pounding and pounding, screaming at him to give me the money.”