Accepting His Home by Ember Davis

OLIVIA
Being the only woman at Banks Ink. can be tough sometimes. The guys look at me like a little sister, which I don’t mind…for the most part. The only one who doesn’t treat me like a little sister is Zeke, thankfully, because I’ve wanted him from the moment I met him two years ago. If he treated me like a sister I don’t think I could handle it. We’re friends, which is great and all, but I want more. So much more.
I don’t know how much longer I can keep wanting him and being close to him without my heart breaking. I’m losing hope that we will ever be more. Can I let my feelings go? Can I move on? Will he ever let me into the past he guards so fiercely? Will he ever want me the way I want him?
I need to figure out a way to keep my heart and our friendship intact. I just have no idea how to do that.

ZEKE
If anyone knew about what I did then I’d lose everything that I’ve built with my family at Banks Ink.. I can’t risk that, not even for Olivia. When I met her two years ago there was a moment where I didn’t feel the weight of my past and I could almost imagine a happy future. It was fleeting and then reality came crashing down. I’ll never escape my past. I don’t deserve it.
Beckett got me off the streets and gave me a purpose. I’ve worked hard to get to where I am now, but I’ll never deserve love; especially not from someone as amazing as Olivia. She’d look at me like a monster if she ever knew what I did. I can’t let that happen.
So, I guess, friends it is. There’s just one problem: I don’t know how to let her go. I need her.