The Gender Lie (The Gender Game #3) by Bella Forrest (i have read the book a hundred times .txt) 📕

“Afraid of Viggo?” I teased Owen.

“Terrified might also be an understatement,” he declared, shooting me an over-exaggerated wide-eyed face. I chuckled again.

“Well, don’t worry. I’ll put in a good word for you when I make up with him tonight.”

Owen shook his head, practically vibrating with how much he didn’t want me to do that. “Oh no. Don’t do that. You start saying nice things about me, and he’s gonna find me and kill me.”

I snorted. “All right, I’ll talk about what a pain in the ass you are, and how cowardly you are.”

“Good,” he smirked.

“You’d better get out of here before he gets mad,” I said.

“Thanks for having my back,” Owen said before he winked and strode away.

I turned back to see Viggo looking at me again and when I met his eyes, he cast a small smile my way. I dared smirk back as I placed my chin on my knees. Our talk couldn’t come soon enough.

29

Viggo

I walked up to where Violet had been sitting, torn between wanting to pull her into my arms and wanting to maintain the distance between us for fear of another fight. She had been patiently waiting for me though, which had to mean something.

We locked eyes as she noticed my approach, slowly picking herself up off the floor with a calm expression. I felt a glimmer of hope slip through my feelings of foreboding.

“Viggo,” she blurted, taking a step toward me. “I… was wondering if we could talk.”

I gave her a considering look. “I’d like that,” I said.

She held out her hand to me and I took it gingerly, allowing her to guide me back to our room. It was slow, painstaking, and way too quiet, but once we were there, I sat down on our nest on the floor and rubbed my legs.

Her eyes took in my action. “How have you been feeling?”

I nodded. “Good. It’s taking longer and longer before I feel the need to sit down, so that’s something. It’s so frustrating, though.”

“And… your chest?”

I nodded again, my hand rubbing the area on my ribcage. “Not so sore anymore. Just the legs.”

She sat down in front of me, crossing her legs under her. “Listen… about the other day,” she said, her eyes on her hands. “I took some time to think about it and… I think you’re right. I just… needed time, I guess.”

I stared at her. “Are you sure?”

Violet smiled gently. “Of course I am. I forgot to… take in the motivations of the speaker, I guess. Desmond wants to win… you want to be fair. And I think your way is the better way.”

I allowed the smile that had been threatening to form on my lips to come to life, and waved her over with my hand. “Come here,” I said, and she crawled over to me, until she was inches in front of me. I reached out and gripped her gently by her shoulders. I stared deep into her eyes, and then let out a sigh of relief, crushing her to me and holding her tight. I gave her a long moment to collect herself as her chest heaved. I also gave myself a long moment to just feel her against me.

Then I guided her to a sitting position next to me. I angled my body toward hers until our knees touched. I kept her hands firmly in my own, not wanting to release them just yet.

“So, what do you want to do?” I asked.

“I… I don’t know,” she answered, with an air of tired frustration.

“I get it. It’s hard pissing off the only friends we’ve got at the moment,” I said.

“I’ve talked to Desmond about these kinds of things before, and it hasn’t always ended the way I wanted it to. I doubt this will either.”

“So, what are you thinking?”

She pressed her lips together and shook her head, blowing out her breath. After a minute, she turned her gaze to mine and raised an eyebrow. “What are your thoughts?”

I ran through the options in my head. “Well, we can confront her or we can leave.”

“We can’t leave,” she said. “Not with those boys. You’re doing fantastic work with them… I don’t want to take that away from them, do you?”

“No,” I replied immediately. “But then that means we should confront her.”

“A part of me wishes I had just… I don’t know… found another way to save your life. Demanded that they made you stable and then delivered you to Patrus so that you could get healed up faster.”

I leaned over and cupped her cheeks in my hands. “Violet, no. You’re not at fault for this. I mean… how could you have known that she was willing to go to these lengths? You did what you had to do to help the people you care about. It’s what I love best about you.”

I froze at the words tumbling out of my mouth. I had just admitted that I loved her, which hadn’t been my intention. In point of fact, short of a few stolen kisses, we had never discussed what was between us. There was no label that felt applicable in our situation, not that we had even talked about labeling what we had in the first place.

I felt a wave of insecurity rush through me. I had no idea how she would react to this news, and I felt a pang of doubt at her dumbfounded expression.

Until a smile lit up her eyes, causing them to shine in that peculiar way that reminded me of mercury. Her mouth curled up as she reached out with gentle fingers to trace the lines of my face.

“You… love me?” she asked, her heart in her eyes and a teasing quality in her voice.

I felt my expression softening as I nodded. “Of course I do. Think I’d give up my homeland for just anyone?”

She laughed loudly, and I stooped down to lay a gentle kiss on