“Lola, I’m here to help.”Pete frowns.
“I don’t need help,” I snap.
“You could have broken something just now,” he argues quietly.He tips his head toward the road.“It’s pure ice out there.You shouldn’t drive.”
“I’ll be fine,” I reply.“Thank you for your concern, but I asked you to leave me alone, and I meant it.”
“What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn’t offer you a port in the storm?”he asks calmly, his hazel eyes passive, like he’s just doing his civic duty.“I live a few blocks away.You know that.”
“Then go home.”I’m almost past him when he steps in front of me and blocks my path.
I have to stop abruptly, but the ice under the snow has me slipping again, and he reaches out and grabs my arm.I try to jerk away from him and almost end up on my ass.“Don’t touch me!”
He laughs.“Jesus.I’ve seen you naked, who cares if I touch your arm?”
“Let go.”I pull and free my arm.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”Pete snaps, and it’s the first time he’s lost his eerie calmness.His eyes are wide and hard, and the flush on his face isn’t just from the cold anymore.“You’re being such an irrational bitch.You liked it.Liked us.You came back for seconds, remember?You said it was a one-time thing, but then it wasn’t.You wanted me as much as I wanted you because there’s something between us.So stop acting like?—”
“It was just sex.I don’t want anything, and I don’t owe you anything.I’m sorry.”Why should I apologize because he can’t navigate boundaries?
I take a step, but he reaches for me.I pull back and slip again, but hands that steady me from behind.I freak out, thinking that maybe he brought a friend and I’m outnumbered, but then the person helping me stay upright speaks.“Dude, you should walk away.Now.While you still can.”
I glance over my shoulder, and there is Theo Richard, his dark, thick hair peppered with snowflakes.His almost black eyes are narrowed in a look that I can only describe as casually threatening.I don’t know where he came from, but he’s only wearing a T-shirt, sweats, and untied winter boots.No coat.In a snowstorm.
“Who the hell are you?”
“This is my boyfriend,” I blurt out.“He’s here to take me home.Thanks for your concern.”
“You're what?”Pete snaps, his face losing color.“Since when?”
“It’s been a while.On and off forever, really,” Theo replies, jumping feet first into this lie.“You must have been during our off period, which is fine.But now we’re on.So don’t worry, kid.I’ve got her.”
He wraps one of his big, solid arms around my waist and turns me away from Pete—and the parking garage.
“My car is that way,” I whisper.
“My place is this way.”
I want to argue, but I don’t want Pete to see us, so I just continue walking with Theo.
To my shock, but also relief, Pete doesn’t follow or say another word.When I dare to glance over my shoulder, he’s stomping off down the sidewalk in the other direction, toward his apartment.
“So.Was that the ex you broke up with a couple months ago?”
“It’s complicated,” I mutter, because it is.“My brothers call him my ex, but we were never dating.We hooked up twice, and he got weird and clingy, and when I tried to make it clear we weren't a thing, he got even weirder and clingier.And now we’re here.”
Theo doesn’t say anything, so I get defensive.“And if you’re going to judge me for hooking up, I will shove you in a snowbank.”
“Zero judgment.I’m a firm believer in hookups and no strings sex.Used to be my number one hobby,” Theo replies immediately.“I’m just wondering why dudes like him have to ruin it for the rest of us.He sounds delusional.”
“He is!”My shoulders loosen with relief because someone finally gets it.“And he gaslights me into thinking I’m the one who is off.Like I’m irrational for not wanting to see him.”
“Definitely not.And you should explain this to your brothers,” Theo advises as we reach the corner of the street, and he guides me down an uncleared walkway to a building I don’t know.
“They won’t get it,” I mutter.“And I’m handling it.”
“Actually, I handled it,” Theo corrects with a smirk and a wink.
