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Chapter 7- Leo's POV

Did she just say she loved me?

My mind blanked at her confession. What?

"I..." I didn't know what to say. I was speechless, for probably the first time in forever. "Cat..."

Her blue eyes clouded over and she sat back, letting the cold sea wind from the open door rush into the space she had left behind in doing so. I shivered and reached out to pull her back, but she was rubbing her arms and staring out to the sea- completely gone. 

"Cat?" I nudged her gently with my foot. It was then that I saw the tears sparkling in her eyes and I realised that in detaching herself from me, she was trying to protect herself from being hurt. In being distant, holding her tears back, she was re-building the guard I had broken down. "Cat, please look at me."

Her gaze travelled downwards, to her knees, and a tear escaped. She grimaced. 

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," she said, her voice barely audible. I reached over and placed my fingers under her chin, turning her head so she would face me. Her eyes refused to meet mine.

"Please look at me," I said, verging on desperation, "you have nothing to apologise for."

When she looked up, it felt as if someone had gone and stabbed me in the heart. She looked so broken. She was hiding something from me. Nobody looked that sad after admitting their love for another, surely? And it wasn't as if it was unrequited- I was still unsure of what I felt every time I saw her.

"What happened?" I said softly. She pulled her head away and leaned forward against my shoulder. 

"Do I need to talk about it?" she said, tracing her fingers down my neck to my chest and lower. I tried to ignore the effect it had on me. 

"Yes," I answered, "I want- I need- to understand you, how you're feeling."

She sighed heavily, her hand balling into a fist. "I've only ever admitted to loving someone properly- like, not as family- twice in my life," she said, "just there and years ago. But the past is the past. An old ghost just decided to pop up. It's nothing."

I stroked her back gently. "It's not nothing," I said. "But it's not that I don't love you, I think I do, it's just... It was so quick. We've only known each other a few days, only just decided to make something more of it like half an hour ago, and suddenly you're saying you love me? I... I will say it back, once I've sorted out my emotions, because you've fucked them up more than anyone else has in all my years in just a few days."

She laughed slightly and sat up. God, I would never get tired of looking into those eyes of hers. They were like a kaleidoscope of blues, up close. 

Suddenly, an idea came to my head, and I smiled. She quirked an eyebrow. "Do you want a massage?" I asked. 

The expression that came across her face was one of utter confusion. "What?" 

"A massage," I repeated, "do you want one?"

"Sure," she sounded uncertain. I grinned.

"Well then, lie down," I said. She did as she was told and stretched out on the sofa, her feet almost hanging off the of the opposite end. I perched myself on the edge of the sofa and reached down to untie the back of her bikini. She gasped as the material fell to her sides. 

"I need better access to your back," I explained. She nodded and closed her eyes as I began. 

She didn't stay quiet for very long. 

"Oh my gaawwdddd..." she sighed. "That feels so good."

She continued moan and sigh as I moved my hands against her skin. I hadn't realised just how tanned she was until now- her skin was a perfect caramel colour. She had a freckle near the base of her back and I leaned down to plant a kiss on it. She arched her back into the couch and groaned. 

I felt my face flush, my heart rate picking up, at the noise. "Shit," I muttered. 

"Leo," she breathed heavily. Should she be breathing heavily? I didn't know. My thoughts were a mess, clouding over as she said my name. "Leo."

"Y-yeah?" my voice sounded strained. She rolled over, her blue eyes sparkling, her lips parted. 

Her bikini top falling slipping off of the couch.

Oh my fucking god.

"Leo," she said again. 

And bit her lip. 

STOP IT! I CAN'T HANDLE IT!

I swallowed. Hard. My mouth had gone dry. My head was spinning. 

"I thought all you wanted was a massage?" I forced out. She smirked, a mischevious glint flashing briefly in her eyes, and she reached out to trace her fingers over my body; following the V-line of my hips down... Down... 

DON'T YOU FUCKING STOP.

She removed her fingers, biting her lip again, and seemed to trace the exact same pattern she had on my body, on her own. 

The room had gotten hotter. It was clear in the faint flush that covered Cat's cheeks. 

Weren't massages meant to make you relax...? Not... Whatever the fuck this is.

She slipped off the couch, forcing me into a kneel on the carpet as I looked up at her, and bent down to draw a slow kiss across my lips. It felt as if she had left fire in her wake. 

I watched as she walked over to the door and closed it silently, turning the key in the lock at her back. She didn't seem to care- or didn't seem to notice- that she was fully exposed to me save for her short Hollister shorts. 

And even then, she was drawing them slowly lower. 

"C-Cat," I stuttered as she stepped out of them and walked back over to me, "y-you said n-no earlier, that it was too early." 

What the fuck are you saying Leo?!

She kneeled down in front of me, wrapping her arms around my neck, her lips inches from mine. 

"I was stupid to stop you," she said, her lips brushing mine. My whole body burned now. What she was doing to me, it was unfair. "But the past is in the past." 

Her blue eyes met mine briefly and just like earlier, our lips met and we were kissing; me holding onto her waist as her hands raked through my hair. 

But this time, only my trunks separated us. 

"Leo," she breathed against me as I planted kisses down her neck, across her chest. Her hand tightened in my hair and she let out a soft gasp, arching her back into me. Her other hand slipped into my trunks and- 

"Oh my God," I moaned. She smiled wickedly and pulled my trunks down to my knees. I stood up with her, slipping completely out of them. "Bedroom," I said against her ear. 

She grabbed my hand and dragged me after her down the hall. We wasted no time in getting back to what we'd briefly interrupted, the two of us falling backwards among her pillows, her below me.

I positioned myself over her, my elbows braced at either side of her head to support my body. She stared up at me, blonde hair billowed out across the pillows- an angel in the darkness of the room, and nodded. I leaned down to kiss her again and her nails dug into my back, but I didn't feel it for the oblivion of ecstasy that overcame me.  

And at that moment, I thought that maybe I really was in love with her.