Page 114 of Game on, Love

“Fancy seeing you here, Gorgeous.”

34

Oliver

RAINA TURNED TO LOOKat me, and I felt my world shatter the moment I noticed her tear-streaked face, her eyes filled with a broken look, and I felt anger rise in me like I’d never experienced before. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” She replied, walking towards the small bench.

As I walked towards her, I took the time to calm myself as much as I could. My hands were twitching, but no matter how much I wanted to take away her troubles and tear them apart, I had to give her the space she needed to let it out without having to think about managing my emotions towards it.

Her eyes were fixed on the steady flow of the river, the surface reflecting the cloudy sky like it was brewing a storm and just waiting for something before it unleashed.

I was having a hard time deciding where to focus on her, but as I sat next to her, her red hands were the first thing that captured my attention. She had pressed on them for so long that I could see the nail marks she’d left on them. A rough breath left me as I covered them and looked at her further.

What the hell had happened?

She was still in her coat, meaning whatever had happened was right after she got there.

I wanted to ask her, wanted to know what she needed, but I knew that she needed silence more than anything. The past two months that I’d spent with her had told me something I’d assumed wrong. When I’d offered to help her with learning about cricket, she wasn’t hesitating because the idea of accepting my help put her off. She didn’t need my help; she didn’t wantit either, and just because I offered it didn’t mean that it was a favour.

She knew she could do it alone, and sure, a lot of it was because of her being used to doing things alone, but she enjoyed every second of it, too. She just wanted someone to be with her. So, that’s what I did.

When she knew that I wasn’t going to prod her with questions, she shifted and laid her head on my shoulder.

“I used to love coming here as a kid,” She whispered as her thumb traced the side of my hand. “Me and my Mum would take a walk each night after Dinner, just the two of us and once I was close enough to race here, I would leave her behind. This bench was never there, though, so I used to sit on the rock by the river with her.”

My heart raced as I took in her words, turning to place a soft kiss on her forehead before I shared. “Me and my dad got this built. We used to do the same thing when I visited them after they moved back.”

She looked up at me; her expression held a sense of incredulity, though I knew it wasn’t a bad thing, and I made sure she understood that. “I know.”

But, now, I couldn’t stop myself from holding her either. My arms went around her, her head now on my chest. We stayed like that for a couple of minutes before she leaned back, her face softer.

“I’ll be okay,” The way she’d said it told me she had said it more for herself than me, but it made me frown nonetheless. “You should go back. You came down to spend time with your dad, and the next month is about to be even busier, so you won’t be able to spend time with him again.”

I had. When she told me she was going to go back to go through her Mum’s journals, I’d come up to spend some time with Dad before training camp started. Even though he hadgone into remission, the doctors weren’t too sure if he wouldn’t relapse either, and we wanted to enjoy the little peace we had while that lasted.

I still hadn’t heard back from the board just yet, and we wouldn’t for another week, but with the T20Is season starting shortly after, I had to travel up to Loughborough for the camp. Butliterally, none of that mattered without her.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

She shook her head as she tried to get out of my grip, but I held on to her tighter. “Look, I—”

“You don’t have to tell me anything, not right now. I know you need space to digest whatever happened, and it could take days before you find ways to share it with me, and I’m okay with that. But I’m not leaving you here.”

“It’s not about that.” Her voice grew louder. “Oliver, I wish I was the person who could just let you in my life in the way you want, but I am not. Neither am I selfish enough to drag you into my chaos. You have enough things to deal with as is, and I don’t want you to choose between being there for me when you have more important things that need your focus.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I repeated, my voice even but final. My heart was racing at what had happened that had completely shifted her in a matter of hours.

“Stop being so stubborn,” She pushed my hand away as I tried to wipe the angry tear that had trailed down her face. “I’ll be fine.”

“I know. Still not going anywhere.”

Her jaw tightened at my words, the heat in her eyes flaring up. She tried slipping out of my hold again, but the more she tried, I held on to her tighter.

“Let me go.”

I didn’t.