“Oh no, a ticking clock,” I said, my tone mock serious. “That ups the stakes.”
He nodded. “It does. Although I guess if we haven’t figured out what happened to him by next summer, maybe the answer is nothing.”
“True. We don’t have proof he was murdered.”
“No. But doesn’t your gut tell you he was? Because mine really does.”
“Mine does, too. I feel like we at least need to look into it.”
“Agreed.” He held out his fist and I bumped it with mine. He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. “I should hit the shower. What are you up to today?”
I glanced around the kitchen, as if I’d find the answer sitting on the counter. “Not much. I’ll probably make lunches for the week.”
“Meal prep for the win.” He grinned. “And you know you don’t have to make mine.”
“I know, but it’s easy to double whatever I’m making.”
“Awesome. Thanks, Pen.”
He turned to go, and I tried to focus on what I’d make for that week’s lunches. But all I could think about was a time when I’d be eating lunch alone. No Theo. No little pranks on coworkers. No chin tips, shared office gossip, or fist bumps.
With a sinking feeling, I faced the fact that Theo was not just my only friend at work, but the only real friend I had. Everyoneelse I used to see socially were Sean’s friends. And to be honest, I was happy to let him keep them.
But Theo was all I had. And I was losing him.
I was not going to cry. I breathed it all in, shoving it down as deep as I could, and stuffed all those awful feelings in the empty place Theo was leaving behind.
As I was pulling myself back together, he reappeared in the kitchen doorway. “Thank you.”
His voice was so sincere, it almost ripped me wide open. “For what?”
“Being happy for me. You’re my best friend. I hope you know that. And if you were the one leaving, I’d be pretty bummed about it. School wouldn’t be the same without you.”
Trying desperately to hold in the wave of emotion threatening to overtake me, I blinked and glanced away. “Yeah, it’ll be an adjustment. But this is what happens. People find new opportunities and move on. I’m happy for you.”
His eyes searched my face, as if looking for evidence that I wasn’t being honest. I smiled, hoping he thought it was real. Because if he said anything else—or worse, hugged me again—I’d be a puddle of tears in an instant.
Thankfully, he didn’t. He pressed his lips together in a subtle smile, tipped his chin, and disappeared down the hall to take a shower.
With another deep breath, I crossed my arms, hoping it would be enough to hold the pieces of myself together.
CHAPTER 17
Theo
It wasa good thing school and coaching kept me so busy. Otherwise Iwould have been in trouble. What sort of trouble? The guy-who-hugged-his-roommate-and-probably-shouldn’t-have sort.
A week after hugging Pen in my kitchen, I still thought about it. I didn’t want to admit how often. But damn it, she’d felt amazing. The way she’d melted against me had been better than scoring a game-winning touchdown.
It had been tempting to hold her again after telling her about the job, but I’d held back. I hadn’t trusted myself to touch her like that without doing something stupid. Like kissing her.
I couldn’t go there. She was still recovering from a breakup. What she needed was a good friend, not a make-out session in the kitchen.
But I was going to have to live with the knowledge of how good she felt, and that I was never going to feel her like that again.
So I threw myself into work, which, to be fair, wasn’t hard. I had classes to teach, tests to grade, and lesson plans to tweak.Parent meetings and a staff lunch. Not to mention football, which was almost a full-time job in itself.
After a busy week at school, and another Timberwolves win, I got up Saturday morning with one thing on my mind.
