“You all good now?” she asked, arms crossed.
“I’m working on it,” I said quietly.
Claire tilted her head, then nodded slowly. “Alright. But if he breaks your heart again. We—” She pointed between herself and Thalia. “—will not be held responsible for our actions.”
“God,” Theo groaned, rubbing his temples. “That’s…that’s fair, but just for the record, I don’t intend to ever hurt him again. I want to spend the rest of my days making him happy.”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about.” Thalia smiled at me, squeezing my shoulder before grabbing some tequila and shot glasses. Pouring one for each of us, she lifted her and toasted. “To Sin and Theo, for finally getting his head out of his ass and realizing what was right in front of him this whole time.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Claire said, downing her shot and keeping her eyes locked on Theo in warning.
We all sat on the floor, circled around a low coffee table that had been filled with the remains of the junk food and empty wine bottles but now bore the glorious burden of shrimp lo mein and wonton soup.
Thalia cracked open a fortune cookie, squinting at the tiny slip of paper. “It saysyour stubbornness is your strength.That feels dangerously close to an insult. I’m feeling called out right now!”
“It’s a personal attack,” Claire said, digging into her food. “Eat it anyway.”
Theo handed me a spring roll, our fingers brushing. Electricity skittered across my skin, making me shudder. He smiled a devilish smile and licked a drop of sauce off my lips.
It wasn’t the smile he wore at galas or in front of cameras. This one was crooked. Unpolished. Real. It was reserved only for me.
“So,” Thalia said, leveling her chopsticks like weapons across the table. “What’s your deal, Astor?”
Theo blinked. “My… deal?”
“Yeah.” She took a bite of chicken. “What do you do when you’re not kissing Sin and looking like emotional roadkill?”
I almost choked on my rice. “T?—”
“No, it’s okay,” Theo said, holding up a hand, his laugh a little self-conscious. “I, um… I used to read a lot. Still do, when I can. Mostly history. And I was on the sailing team in college.”
“Sailing?” Claire echoed, unimpressed. “So you’re rich,andyou wear white shorts on purpose.”
Theo grinned. “It was a phase. I have photos.”
“Oh, we’lldefinitelyneed to see those,” Thalia said, cackling as a blush stained his cheeks.
I leaned back, watching them banter. Watching him loosen up. Watching his walls fall as my friends welcomed him into our little group. This version of Theo—the one who could laugh at himself, who could admit he was scared, who didn’t try to wear perfection like armor—was the one I’d fallen for. And finally, they were starting to see him too.
“Do you really like him? Like, likelikehim?” Claire asked after a beat, looking Theo dead in the eye.
“I do,” Theo said without hesitation. “I think I always have.”
Claire was silent for a long moment, then nodded. “Ooo he’s smooth.”
A quiet settled over the room as we ate, soft music playing from my speaker, the city breathing outside the windows like it didn’t even care that something was quietly healing here in our little corner of it.
Eventually, Thalia yawned and declared she was taking the last egg roll and going to bed. Claire followed after her, muttering something about needing to recharge her social battery. Which was her code for sex and that things might get loud.
That left me and Theo alone again, surrounded by empty cartons and crumbs and the distant echo of the girls’ laughter from behind their door.
He looked at me, something raw in his eyes. “I didn’t think they’d give me a chance.”
“They didn’t,” I said softly, nudging his knee with mine. “But you earned it.”
We sat there, the glow of the room dimmed but warm, and for the first time in weeks, I felt full. Full of food. Full of hope. Full of him.
CHAPTER 27
