Theo tried to drag his gaze back to Max, to Sebastian with his haunted eyes, to Julian making a scene.
Group dynamics. That’s what matters. Balance, commitment. Not?—
“Small world, huh?” Cameron’s grin was cocky and warm all at once. “I didn’t expect to find you in a place like this.”
Theo’s throat was dry. “You shouldn’t be here.” The words were out before he could rein them in.
Cameron tilted his head, clearly amused. “Why not?”
Because I’ll ruin you.
Because Gary would slit my throat.
Out loud, Theo clipped, “It’s not exactly your scene.”
Cameron’s smile turned a shade softer. “Maybe it is. Maybe you just don’t know me yet.”
Theo’s chest tightened. His rules—his whole system of order—shook under the weight of that look.
“My round,” Oliver announced. “Just to prove firefighters arenotpoor as church mice.” He glanced at Cameron. “Why don’t you join us? Seeing as you’re a friend of Theo’s.”
Theo clenched his jaw.
When everyone had given their orders, Cameron and Oliver headed for the bar, and Theo breathed a little easier. He tried to catalogue voices, energy,anythingbut the way Cameron’s laughter still thrummed in his chest. He scribbled something meaningless in his notebook just to ground himself.
“You’re twitchier than usual,” Max murmured from across the table.
Theo didn’t look up. “I’m fine.”
Max’s chuckle was infuriating. “You only say fine when you’re two seconds from combusting.”
Theo kept his tone flat, his face rigid. “Drop it.”
Then Max leaned in, his leather creaking, his voice pitched for Theo’s ears alone. “That boy walks in here and suddenly you forget how to breathe. Who is he?”
Theo’s pen stilled. He didn’t want to answer, but Max had already seen too much. He always did. “Gary’s brother, Cameron,” Theo said curtly.
“Gary Walters? You two still friends?”
He nodded.
A pause, then a sharp grin in Max’s voice. “Ah.NowI get it. Forbidden fruit.”
Theo’s jaw clenched even tighter. “He’s not fruit. He’s… irrelevant.”
“Mm-hm.” Max leaned back, sipping his beer, his eyes still glittering with that unbearable knowing expression. “If you say so.”
Theo forced his gaze back to the others. Sebastian was telling a dry joke, and Julian was laughing too loud, Liam looking between them as though he saw more than he let on.
Everything normal. Manageable. Ordered.
Then Cameron’s voice rose above the noise, warm, playful, threaded with something adult Theo had no business noticing, and every system Theo relied on felt one error away from collapse.
Max, damn him, was still watching.
Cameron came back from the bar with Oliver, balancing three pints and an easy grin. Instead of taking the spare chair at the end, he slipped into the gap between Sebastian and Julian as if he’d been there all along. Within seconds he had Julian laughing too loud again and Liam leaning forward, his eyes wide, soaking up the warmth of Cameron’s presence.
Theo gripped his pen. Ink smudged across the margin of his notebook, but he didn’t move.
