Filthy Secret

OLIVE

The alarm piercing through my ears was what normally woke me up, blaring at me to roll out of bed and get ready for the day. There were two kinds of people in this world: those who set one alarm and got up right away, and those who had to set alarms for every five minutes for an hour before they needed to get up.

I was the latter. I always had been.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

But not this morning. This morning I was already staring at my phone, waiting for it to tell me it was time to get up. Sleep had evaded me most of the night.

Usually moving into a new place didn’t affect me. I could fall asleep practically anywhere. Not here though. I wasn’t sure whether it was because I’d never slept in a place so big and fancy, or if it was because I couldn’t get the sight of Apollo’s eyes out of my head.

He’d stared right through me, but not in the way everyone else did. He wasn’t dismissing me-he was peeking into my soul, trying to find out who I was without asking.

I groaned, rolling over and throwing a pillow over my face. This whole situation was trouble, moving here was a mistake, but there was nothing I could do about it. Not until I’d finished school anyway.

Grinning, I pulled the pillow off of me and stared up at the pristine white ceiling. Fifteen weeks. That was all I had left. One hundred and five days of following Mom around. We’d probably be out of here before then anyway. Although, it was nicer here than the rest of the places, so maybe she’d stay a little longer this time.

I puffed out a breath. Who was I kidding? The moment we started to get comfortable, she’d be packing our bags and taking us on another “adventure.” That was what she’d called them when I was little, only now I knew different. Now I knew she was running from something…or someone. The sad thing was, I was certain it was herself she was trying to escape.

Needing to think of anything else but the way I’d been moved from city to city and state to state all of my life, I flung the comforter off me and walked into the bathroom attached to my bedroom.

It was a novelty staying in such an elaborate place, and I intended to soak in every second of it while I could. So I got into the shower that had the biggest shower head I’d ever seen. I took my time doing my hair in the mirror that took up most of the wall in the gigantic bathroom.

By the time I was completely ready, I’d wasted enough time and only had ten minutes until I needed to leave to start my first day at yet another school.

The house was silent as I opened my bedroom door and slowly walked down the hallway and down the right side of the staircase. I tried to remember which way Melinda said the kitchen was, but the place was so big I was scared that I’d get lost.

Standing in the middle of the entryway, I looked left then right, trying to figure it out. In the end, I spun around and walked toward the right side of the house.

Several doors were in front of me, but the one that drew my attention was in the middle. The air charged with something I’d never felt before, and my feet were moving toward the door before I even realized.

My palm touched the cold wooden surface as I pushed the door, and as soon as it was open fully, I halted, inhaling a sharp breath.

Apollo leaned against the kitchen counter, a cup in one hand and his phone in the other. He hadn’t even looked up at me, but I knew from the way his shoulders stiffened that he could sense someone was in here with him.

I swallowed against my now drying throat, not sure whether I should say good morning or not. I opened my mouth, wincing as I couldn’t get the words out. Dammit. This wasn’t how I wanted my first morning here to go, but I just couldn’t bring myself to act normal. Just like yesterday when I had first met him.

Stop staring at him.

My eyes widened at the thought, and I lurched forward. If I didn’t need to get myself something to take to school for lunch, then I would have turned back around and avoided coming in here altogether.

Each of my steps toward the refrigerator were slow, my shoulders slumping to make myself seem smaller than I was. I hated intruding on someone’s space.

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, realizing that he was standing only about four feet away from where I needed to get to.

“I just…” My voice cracked so I cleared my throat. “I just need to get something for lunch.” It was a hint, a subtle one, but still a hint. He didn’t move a single inch though, he just stayed leaning against the counter, his eyes focused on his phone, but his thumb wasn’t scrolling anymore.

I stopped a couple of feet away from him, waiting for him to move, but when he didn’t, I stepped forward, squeezing past him, and opening up the refrigerator.

A box with my name on the label was right at the front. I frowned at it. “What’s this?” I pulled it out and turned around to face Apollo, hearing the refrigerator door close behind me.

He slowly lifted his head, placing his phone into his pocket as he did. It was then that I realized he was dressed in a suit so well fitted it couldn’t have been anything but designer. Much like yesterday’s suit, only this one was a dark gray.

“Looks like your lunch to me, Olive.” He was stating the obvious, but… I didn’t understand. I’d never had a lunch packed for me. Mom had never- “Melinda did it for you,” he tacked on to the end.

“Oh.” I stared at it, blinking rapidly, hating that I could feel tears pricking at my eyes. Something so simple shouldn’t have gotten to me so much, but it did.

“Olive?” His voice was softer now, his tone unsure. “You okay?” I didn’t know what to say to that, or how to respond, so I just stood there, frozen to the spot. “Olive?” His finger touched my chin, bringing my face up so that he could look at me.

“Sorry.” I swallowed, trying my hardest to push my emotions down the way my mom had taught me to. “I know it’s only a packed lunch but…I’ve never…no one has ever…” I trailed off, not able to find the words to explain it.

“Fuck,” he whispered. “You’re even more beautiful when you’re sad.”

My breath caught in my throat, my eyes widening as I stared into his eyes. He still hadn’t moved his finger from under my chin. “I…”

He stood to his full height, towering over me, his musky cologne wrapping around me like smooth velvet.

Each breath he exhaled, I inhaled. We were trapped between the counter and the refrigerator, but I could have easily moved away from him. I just… didn’t. He was enticing me, drawing me in closer without saying a single word. It didn’t matter what I told myself, I couldn’t look away from his ice blue eyes.

“Apollo,” I whispered, not sure what I was trying to say, but I had a deep-seated need to say his name out loud.

His nostrils flared, his body swaying closer to me. I watched his gaze flick down to my lips, and I was helpless in my response to trail my tongue across them.

“I don’t understand,” he started, “why you make me feel like I’m losing all sense of control.”

I wasn’t sure exactly what he meant, but I’d been in this man’s presence twice, yet it felt like I’d known him my entire life. How was that even possible? How could I feel so connected to someone so quickly?

He wasn’t just someone though…he was my mom’s latest boyfriend. That thought had me yanking back and putting as much space between us as I could. Yet I still didn’t look away, not until my back hit a wall.

“I…I need to leave.” With my lunch held tightly in my hand, I spun around, practically running out of his house.