“Theo.”
I grabbed for my phone and brought up his text again. My heart lurched. He said he missed me, and I’d left him on read. I tapped out a quick apology but caught myself halfway through. It was late. He was probably asleep. And the damage had already been done.
The flight back was torture. Or rather, I tortured myself. I should’ve replied.I miss you too,that’s it. It wouldn’t have taken more than a second, and McAvoy still would’ve had all of us at the airport on time.
The wheels of my suitcase rattled along the floor, the strap of my kit bag digging into my shoulder. The building was eerily quiet, obviously, and all I could think about was soaking in a shower then crawling into bed.
“Already leaving me on read, huh?”
My head snapped up to find Theo leaning against my apartment door.
“What are you doing here? Do you have any idea what time it is?” No. The first word out of my mouth should’ve been “Sorry”. I bit the inside of my cheek and just looked at him.
His scowl slowly eased out, and then he bent down with a sigh. I was so out of it, I hadn’t noticed anything other than his face. Now he was holding—
“Is that a make-up bag?”
“I’m not one for labels but if you wanna get technical… it’s a care package.”
My sleep-deprived, over-worked brain struggled to keep up. I was so sure he’d be mad at me. The first time I traveled for work, I also forgot to text him back. Not to mention that said travel was for games he should’ve been a part of. My insides twistedwith guilt and regret and a bunch of other stuff I didn’t have the wherewithal to decipher.
“Theo, you really didn’t have to do this. It’s after midnight.”
“What it is, Reese, is high time someone took care of you for a change.” He leaned in for a chaste peck to my cheek, then motioned to the door with his head. “Let me in, woman. I’m a man with a plan.”
21
Theo
Her foot was already warm in my hands, skin loose with trust, toes twitching every time my thumbs found a tender spot. My shoulder complained if I leaned the wrong way, so I stayed propped on my good side and let my hands do the talking.
“This is so unnecessary,” Reese murmured from the far end of the couch. Her voice dragged, words sticking together with exhaustion. “It’s after midnight. You’re ridiculous.”
I worked oil into the arch anyway. She’d called it unnecessary twice so far, and was yet to pull away.
“This mask is amazing; I’ll give you that.” The candle on the coffee table had burned low, wax folding in on itself. The dim light flickered across her face as her head lolled back.
The sheet mask I’d pulled from Josie’s bag of tricks made her look like a low-budget ghost, edges puckering where it didn’t quite fit her jaw. Only her mouth and eyes were visible, lashes heavy, lips parted in that way that meant she was losing the fight to stay awake.
“I’m almost done,” I said.
“You said that already.”
Her toes curled.
I smiled to myself and kept going. Her skin gave under my thumbs, pliant, grateful. She made a small sound she’d never admit to later, and it went straight through me.
Hunter would say I had it down bad—a phrase he’d used to describe Mason when he was deep in the throes of falling for Cass.
“What’s wrong?”
The boulder in my gut twisted as Reese looked up. My fingers had stopped on their own, jarred by a runaway thought.
Because was this me falling?
“Nothing… uh…” I rummaged through the bag and came upright with a tube of cream. “Just moving onto the next part.”
The mask ruffled with what I imagined was a frown. “Next part?”
