I LIVE THIS, I BREATHE THIS, YOU CRAVE IT

CHAPTER 3: Take a Load Off (Explicit)

"Emma! Emma, wake up, wake up," Rhea said frantically. She was shaking my shoulders and it sent a wave of pain through my torso. I was startled awake.

"Rhea, fuck," I groaned. I was going to scold her for shaking me like that, but then I saw her face.

She had tears gathering in her eyes as she pulled back, worry and anger lining her beautiful features. "Why would you do that?" She backed away from me and turned around, running her hands through her hair. She was trying to gather her emotions before they came bursting out. I didn't know what to say so I just laid in bed and waited for her to say something.

After what seemed like forever, she turned around. Her face was wet and red and she had a look of complete anger on her face. "I know you know better than to fall asleep with a concussion like that, Emma. I thought you..." That look of anger melted into relief, but there was still worry there. She walked over to the bed and crouched down next to me, clutching my hand. "Just don't do that again. Don't scare me like that." She pressed her forehead to my hand and just held it there for a moment.

"Come here, Rhe," I said softly to her. I ran my fingers through her hair with my free hand. She rose and crawled into the bed to lay on my good side and laid her head on my shoulder as I hugged her close. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Rhea took a deep breath and I felt her nod against my shoulder. "It's okay," she said. She sounded like she had more to say. The thoughts running around in her mind weren't exactly quiet.

"Look, I know you don't wanna talk about you right now, but I need you to listen to me." I struggled to sit up but succeeded nonetheless. She followed suit, sitting next to me. She wasn't making eye contact and she was playing with her hands. Grabbing them in mine made her look at me. "You need to stop internalizing everything. Tell me what's on your mind. Please, Rhea."

She shook her head and looked down once more. "I don't even know. I just know I don't wanna lose you."

"I'm not going anywhere, baby. I'm yours," I told her. Using her hands in mine, I pulled her over to me as I settled back down against the pillows she had set out for me earlier. I just wrapped my arms around her and let her feel me. We just laid there for a while and I let my mind wander.

Rhea's my world and I put her in danger today. Regardless of whether or not it was on purpose, it was my fault that Michael knows who she is and what she looks like now. He's relentless and he's not going to stop until he gets what he wants. At this point, I wasn't even sure what that was. Does he want me dead? Does he want me for himself? Does he want to hurt Rhea? Or worse... I couldn't even think about someone taking Rhea away from me. He's already taken so much from me. I can't let him get away with this, whatever this is. No one will take my Rhea from me.

It occurred to me then how little Rhea knows about my past. I knew a lot about hers, she was never shy about telling me anything I wanted to know, but there was always a big gap in my life that I kept from her. She knew I was from Toronto. She knew I lived with my parents and moved out at twenty-one years old. She knew about my wrestling background. However, she didn't know what pushed me to move to the States and pursue it as hard as I did. She didn't know how I came up with the persona of Devon Valour or why I had nightmares sometimes. It was about time she knew.

"We need to talk about what happened, Rhea," I said reluctantly with a sigh. She nodded against my shoulder, gave me a gentle squeeze, and sat up next to me.

"You don't have to mention everything if you don't want to," Rhea told me. I knew that but she deserves to know. This was the only thing I'd ever kept from her.

"Yes, I do." She nodded and waited patiently for me to start. I thought it best that I just start at the beginning.

"So, back in Toronto, I was dating this guy. Liam. He was a couple of years older than me. We met at the gym I used to go to and started dating pretty fast. He wasn't a bad guy, he was nice and thoughtful and all that. But I was different than him. Too different. I didn't have the heart to tell him it wouldn't work out. So I didn't. I just played along with him for a while. Then I met his older brother, Michael. He gave me what Liam didn't. He was dangerous and exciting. So I ended up having an affair with Michael..." I paused and looked at Rhea.