Page 93 of Try Hard

I laughed a little wetly. “You were just a kid too. And you’ve had more than your fair share of gross comments.”

“Me deserving better doesn’t preclude you from deserving it too. Nor does it stop me from wanting to protect you.”

“You aren’t required to do that.”

“I know, but I care about you, just like you care about all of the inappropriate comments and exposure I get.”

“I guess I do wish I could protect you from that.”

“Right.” She brushed one hand through my hair, and I realised it had been a very long time since I’d last felt so truly safe. Sure, around my parents I was safe, in my home too, but this was safety with another person, with someone who cared to know the me I didn’t show the world.

If all the pieces I was putting together were correct, Eve Archer had been working on knowing the real me for over half her life.

“I’m sorry about Soph,” she said after a long moment. “I’ll talk to her before dinner tomorrow night.”

I shook my head, feeling the fabric of her shirt almost rough against my cheek. “That’s not necessary.”

“It is if she’s doing something that makes you uncomfortable.”

“I can handle it.”

“You shouldn’t have to.” She paused and I felt her heart racing in her chest. “Ophelia, I want you to feel safe and welcome here. I know you can handle those comments, but she shouldn’t even be saying them. I don’t want you to have to keep your guard up here.”

I laughed shakily. “I’ve known Sophie a long time. It’s not my first experience with her… approach.”

“Jesus Christ. I guess I’m not surprised by the confirmation that she was just as bold with you back then.”

“I think she might have been worse, actually.”

Eve groaned. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I will get her to stop.”

“Eve,” I said, lifting my head to look at her, unbothered if she saw the tears and emotion in my eyes, “I can handle Sophie’s comments.”

Her gaze softened as she took in my face, as if just seeing me soothed something inside of her. “I’ve seen the way your body locks down, the way your expression changes. I can see how much you hate it and how it hurts you.”

“It’s tolerable. I know Sophie doesn’t mean anything by it, and, to her credit, I definitely know it’s not about how much I weigh.”

Eve’s face twisted to something repulsed which I knew was her trying not to think about her little sister boldly and brashlycoming onto me. “Well, I suppose there’s that. But still. I don’t want her hitting on my…”

I saw the way her eyes flashed wider as she realised where she was going with that sentence. More surprising was the way Iwantedher to finish it. I wanted to know exactly what she wanted me to be, exactly what I was to her. I hated people coming onto me. I hated the way people imagined me being theirs. Not with Eve, though. Perhaps because I’d spent over twenty years wanting to be hers. Perhaps because, two decades later, here we were, seeing each other for exactly who we were, and fitting perfectly together.

“I think I wouldn’t mind if you complimented me. Physically.” My voice was uncertain, but I knew it wouldn’t feel the same with Eve as it did with everyone else.

She stared at me with wide eyes. “You don’t have to say that. You don’t have to give me something you think I want if it’s going to hurt you. Iwantto meet you where you are, to give you what you actually want.”

Eve Archer was the most beautiful person in the world—in every sense that word had ever meant or would ever mean.

I smiled at her, and I wasn’t sure that all the unshed tears were those of sadness anymore. “Tanika and Kim said something tonight.”

“About the way you look?” she asked urgently, her body locking down, arms tightening around me.

“No, not that. They said you liked me, back in school.”

“Oh.” She bit her lip, looking momentarily at the way we were tangled together in her bed. “I did. I do.”