“I thought it was Audsbodkins?”
“Not since he didn’t get the part. Too painful, he says. He’s been searchingfora bodkin to make his quietus ever since.”
Theo finally laughed.
It was low and deep, his eye crinkling so much that it closed before the laugh was suddenly stifled with a grunt and a wince. But after a second, his gaze traveled back up to her face, and he gave her hand a light squeeze before returning his grasp to his coffee mug.
“How about you tell me what you’re working on at school? I’mreally interested in hearing more about this whole electrical engineering thing.”
“You remembered?”
“Of course I did. I never forget anything you tell me.”
So she did. Audrey prattled on and told him all about her classes, her classmates, her capstone project, and her goals for graduation and beyond. Theo listened, nodding attentively when warranted and asking intelligent, incisive questions when he had them. Her break time flew by, and before she knew it, the timer went off on her phone and her heart sank to the bottom of her stomach.
“Over already?” Theo’s one visible eyebrow dipped into a disappointed frown.
“I’m afraid so.” Audrey gathered her mug and stood. “What are you doing tomorrow?”
He lifted a shoulder in a careless half-shrug. “Same thing as usual. Nothing.”
“Do you want to change that?”
He straightened so quickly in his seat that Audrey stifled a laugh. “Yes.”
“Okay, great. Then I’ll text you later and we’ll figure something out.”
His eye widened and panic flashed across it. “Oh, uh, I—I haven’t—I h-haven’t been out in so long, I don’t even know what to—”
She rested her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Theo, it’s all right. Don’t stress about it. We can always just take a walk in Central Park and look at the trees.” She leaned down and swept part of his sweatshirt hood carefully out of the way of his right ear with her free hand.
He froze as soon as he felt the subtle movement of the fabric. His breathing quickened and he stared straight ahead.
She leaned down. Theo was so tall even sitting that she didn’thave far to go. “Does that sound okay to you?” she murmured. “A walk—with me?”
It was a chance she was taking, she knew that, but she wanted to see how he might react to stripping away part of his public armor.
For the first time, she could see one of his ears. It was huge and adorable, and while it was partially buried in the depths of his thick, dark waves, the tip of it poked through beneath his cap. The tiniest freckles dotted along it like the delicate speckles of a quail egg.
It flushed bright red, the scarlet creeping swiftly along the visible curve of the shell and settling fiery-hot at the apex.
But Theo didn’t say anything. He didn’t even turn to look at her. He only nodded once—a tiny movement, barely perceptible—and then again slowly, more assuredly.
A wicked grin spread across Audrey’s lips as she gently tugged his hood back into place and straightened it over his cap for him, running a hand along the fabric to smooth it down and tuck him safely back in. She squeezed his shoulder fondly before pulling away.
“See you tomorrow, Theo.”
For the rest of the time he stayed in the café, he didn’t draw. He didn’t pull out his phone. He didn’t even so much as shift his posture or move.
Instead, for almost the next hour, he alternated between clutching his tumbler to his chest with his eye closed and glancing quickly up at her over the counter to catch her gaze while she worked.
This time, he was never the one to look away first.
Theo| Are you sure all you want to do is take a walk tomorrow?
Audrey grinned at her phone as she walked home from the coffeehouse, tired and spent and with a pocket full of tips in cash. Anot-insignificant portion of it was from Theo, and the message from him lit up her screen just as she was turning onto her block on the way home to go take a nap.
Audrey| What, did you have a better idea or something?
