Loud sounds of scuffling on the wood above me finally spurred me into action and I shot up off the chair. I didn’t make it three steps before Theo dropped down from the planks a foot away from me. His eyes connected with mine and struck me like a bolt to the chest. I stumbled back a step as though physically moved by the magnitude of it.
“What are you doing here?” I snapped.
“Well, I was enjoying the free concert, but then you had to go all diva and walk off stage before the encore,” Theo teased.
“Are you following me?” I asked, anger warming my blood. At least that’s what I convinced myself it was.
Theo looked around exaggeratedly like the answer was obvious. “Um, pretty sure I wasn’t the follower if I got here first. You’re the one who interruptedmyquiet time being all Kurt Cobain-y.”
“It wasn’t a Nirvana song,” I grumbled under my breath.
Yes, because that’s what’s important right now. Way to sound as dumb as a sack of dicks, Hayes. Good job. I’m proud of you.
“I’m aware,” Theo said simply. “How could I forget one of your favorite songs to play for me?”
“I wasn’t playing it for you,” I muttered petulantly. “Now or then.”
“That’s not quite how I remember it, Mercury,” Theo tsked, circling me slowly like I was prey caught in a trap. His presence was heavy and oppressive, robbing me of breath and coherent thought.
“Stop calling me that,” I bit out through my tightly clenched jaw. I breathed deeply through my nose, holding myself back from flying off the handle and wiping that impish look off his face with my fist.
Right, like punching him is what you’ve fantasized about doing to him lately. Show of hands for anyone who buys that?
“Now why would I do that when it puts that sexy blush on your face?” he smirked, stopping right in front of me and sinking his teeth into his full bottom lip. I felt another flash of heat bleed onto my cheeks, his eyes flaring when he noticed.
What was wrong with me that he still had this much control over me? My body wasn’t his anymore, yet he was still able toinfluence the blood to rush straight to my face…or down to other places.
I inhaled shakily and wet my chapped lips. Theo’s gaze drifted down to my mouth and the air evaporated in my lungs. Heat suffused every limb and my heart rate spiked dangerously while we were caught in this tense standoff. I was vaguely aware that I could now see each individual lash on his mesmerizing eyes and the small, pale birthmark on the outer corner of his left brow. The urge to trace my finger over it like I used to hit me hard and my hand twitched at my side.
When did he get so close? Or did I get closer to him?
His warm breath fanned across my lips and I jolted out of the spell he’d put me under. I jerked back, nearly tripping over my own feet in my desperation to create space between us. Theo’s hand darted out to steady me, but I pulled away from him as though he would burn me. He’d already done enough damage without even laying a finger on me.
“No, just—stop,” I begged, dragging in oxygen greedily and distancing myself a bit more. When I felt more in control, I turned back to see him watching me warily.
“What…I mean…you just…I don’t…”
“I think I’m gonna need a few more syllables there,” Theo replied awkwardly as I sputtered like my brain was skipping.
“What the fuck is your deal?” I barked out. “Almost four years you’ve been gone without a damn word and now all I get are mixed signals? First, you ran away that day at your apartment, then you kissed me in that alleyway. Right after that, you told me to move on and forget you, but then you call me sexy and try to kiss me again now? What the hell do you want from me, Theo?”
He stared impassively at me while I struggled to keep my cool. He was like a sadistic seesaw, going up then down, hot then cold, my old Theo then…whoever he was now. I didn’t have thecapacity to keep going back and forth with him. I wasn’t strong enough.
When he just stood there, unwilling or unable to answer me, I headed back to the golf cart.
“I’m sorry, okay?” he called out just as I loaded my guitar onto the seat. I waited and listened with my back still to him.
“You’re right. I’ve been an asshole to you,” he started. I turned to look at him and saw regret and sincerity in his gaze. “That first day I saw you in my building, I kind of freaked out. I obviously hadn’t expected to see you five fucking feet from me while I?—”
He trailed off uncomfortably, looking anywhere but at me. “While you made out with your boyfriend?” I couldn’t help but add.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Theo scoffed, but it did nothing to tamp down the acidic envy I felt remembering how he’d kissed and looked at the other man.
“Don’t care,” I lied flatly. Theo’s brows pinched and his lips turned down before he nodded tightly.
“Right,” he muttered. “Anyway, I wasn’t prepared for that first time, and I figured when I saw you again, I’d be ready to actually talk to you and…explain things maybe.”
The last part kicked up at the end like a question and he looked unsure of himself. It was so unusual to see Theo be apprehensive and nervous that I wondered if his warning really was true. Maybe he wasn’t the same Theo I used to know.
