“No.” I smirked “just us.”
“And your family.”
“They’re cool.” I shrugged. It was true. My only problem was that introducing him felt strangelyseriousto me.
Theo hesitated, peering up at me through narrowed eyes “John won’t let us-“
“We’ll sneak out.” I replied quickly.
“Past palace guards?” Theo snorted sceptically.
“Yep.” I replied with a ridiculous amount of confidence “I know them all. They’ll cover for us.” I was sure they would.
Theo blew out a breath.“Maybe.”
I chuckled “that’s a yes.”
“No.” He denied, unable to help the smile pulling at his lips “it’s amaybe.”
“Sure.”
My attention flickered back to the gates as the group began moving. “Think they’ll let us share a room?”
“I’ll be sharing with Stryker.”
“Stryker will swap.” I shrugged dismissively “he’d be alright with that, right?”
Theo winced, nodding “hm. He’s know since Christmas.”
I knew that. I was there too.
“He cornered me about it.”
His head snapped back round to me at the words, eyes widening “why?He promised he was cool with-“
“Calmdown.”I chuckled back “and lower your voice. Heis.Just told me to be careful and…” I trailed off.
Theo’s eyes narrowed once more “and?”
I didn’t know if I was allowed to say, but went for it anyway. “Don’t get scared off by your indecision.” I said softly “that you’ll come round.”
Theo grimaced “oh. Yeah. That…”
“It’s fine.” I said quickly, taking him by the wrist and pulling him along through the gates and up the steps with the rest of the group “I knew that already.”
“Matt…”
“I understand. It’s scary.” I whispered, avoiding his gaze “there’s no…future. For us. For this. But it’s nice.”
“It is.” Theo agreed slowly “it is nice.”
“Hm. So…” I trailed off once more, rubbing the nape of my neck.
“Dean is too.” He mumbled in a low voice.
It took me a moment to process his words. “I’m sorry…what?”
“You heard. He told me when he apologised for…being a bit of a prat.”
