His voice was tight, strained, and he reached into his pocket to pull out his phone, tapping a few times at the screen before holding it up to his ear. He waited, and there was a faint beep on the other end before he started speaking.
“Come to my place when you get off work, you asshole,” he growled. “And don’t be a chickenshit and try to hide. I’ll fucking find you.I have time.” He hung up and Audrey gulped.
He looked furious.
All right, so maybe Diego hadn’t been kidding about his temper.
Theo set his phone facedown on the table and calmly folded his hands next to it. “I am so sorry about that. He is, very unfortunately, more like family than a friend. I’m going to have a talk with him about sticking his nose in other people’s business—and overstepping boundaries.”
“What if he doesn’t come over?”
He huffed. “He shared his location with me when he was drunk one night and couldn’t find his way home—and then completely forgot about it. I’m able to track him anywhere he goes, but I don’t want him to realize that. I’d rather he continue to think I’m on Liam Neeson’s level.”
He turned his phone back over and unlocked it again to show her the Find My app. There he was: a little circular floating headshot simply labeled “Diego” hovering somewhere in Midtown.
“It’s been four years and he still hasn’t figured it out. For such a talented investigative reporter, he really has some truly idiotic moments.” He tucked his phone back into his pocket. “I guess he can’t use all of his brains all at once on all things.”
Audrey laughed, and some of the light came back into the visible corner of Theo’s face. She covered her mouth until her giggles subsided and considered him again. Okay, he was mad, but he didn’t seem like he was going to completely kill his friend. Maybe Diego wasn’t so bad.
Maybe hewasjust a little dumb.
“He cares about you,” she finally ventured. “That’s clear. He was concerned.”
Theo buried his face in his hand with a sigh. “I know. And that’s generous of you to point out. But frankly, I’m exhausted by it. I’ve had enough people fretting and hovering over me for the last several months. I don’t need it anymore. I’m okay. Okay enough.” His throat bobbed, and he glanced over at the machine where Josh was busy working. “I’m not an invalid these days, and I’m a grown man. I can manage my own life again, and I need certain people to back off. Diego is one of them.”
He took Audrey’s hand between his massive ones. His fingertip skated along the lines of her palm, tickling across the grooves in her skin like he was trying to read her fortune again. “You’re important to me, Audrey. Really important. I wanted to spend more time withyou, but your schedule’s set. You need this job right now. You’re doing big things at school, and I want you to succeed so you can graduate in December.” He shrugged. “I’m not working and my schedule’s flexible. I decided to change it because I can. It made the most sense.”
“Diego said you’d be missing some PT and therapy appointments, though, and he has a point. Those are important too, Theo.”
His fingers stopped gliding across her skin. Instead, he rubbed his palms across her fingers to warm them. Audrey hadn’t even realized her hands were cold until she felt how hot Theo’s were in comparison. But it had gradually been getting chillier outside, and she hadn’t been working the machine before he came in.
“I’ll be fine. I’m healed enough to skip a few weeks, and I can do a lot of the PT exercises at home. Dr.Harper is supportive of all this, and she understands and is excited. I can always call her if I need to. Diego’s the one who’s overreacting. My mom already has being suffocating and overbearing on lock.” The eye crinkles were back again. “I don’t need two of them.”
Audrey chewed on the inside of her cheek. This was the most self-assured she’d ever seen him. Maybe all this was a good thing. Maybe he felt like he was more in control of his life today than he’d felt previously. She interlaced their fingers and squeezed his hand.
“Okay. I just wanted to make sure.”
“Thank you for telling me. I’d have been disappointed and probably a little embarrassed on Monday if you weren’t surprised.”
She barked a laugh. “And I’m not all that good of an actress. It was partially self-preservation.”
“Honestly, you have no idea how much I appreciate that.” The way his gaze shifted, she had the sneaking suspicion that he wore a wicked grin under that mask. “And on top of it, now I get to go yell at Diego properly. That’ll be fun. For me, not for him.”
“I have a really hard time imagining you yelling.” Audrey raisedan eyebrow. He was so gentle, the idea was incompatible with everything she knew about him.
But it was Theo’s turn to hum in amusement. “I have my moments. And I’m going to milk this for all it’s worth. Trust me, he’s done plenty of things to deserve getting ripped a new one. He’s overdue.”
They spent the rest of her break chatting before she had to head back behind the counter. Theo was already busy taking out his iPad to stay and work when Audrey remembered what she was originally going to talk to him about today. She turned and rested a hand on his shoulder.
“Before I forget again, I was going to ask you something.”
He looked up at her curiously “Oh? What is it?”
“Do you have any plans for this weekend?”
Theo snorted. “Sweetheart, I don’t have any plans ever these days, aside from coming to see you. And I’m even freer for the next month than I normally am. What did you have in mind?”
“I’m an officer for Earth Matters, the campus sustainability student group and environmental club at NYU, and we’re having a costume party to raise awareness about green energy and university initiatives tomorrow night.” She looked down at her hands, suddenly a little embarrassed. “I know it’s really dorky, and it’s really last-minute, but do you maybe want to come with me?”
