“Hey, I just remembered they have cookies…”
I quickly wipe at my cheeks as Theo comes back into the room, his eyes landing on me as I attempt to clear away the emotions on my face, but I’m not quick enough as his head tilts to the side, concern etched in his expression.
“What’s going on?” he asks, coming to my side and kneeling down.
“Nothing.” I shake my head.
“Tears aren’t nothing.” He swipes at my cheek. “What’s going on, Gossy?”
“Toilets are hard,” I say, trying to just pass this off as nothing.
“How come I don’t believe you?”
“Because you don’t understand toilets.”
“Gossy,” he says softly, taking a seat next to me and connecting my hand with his. “I know this is not about toilets.”
Another tear stains my cheek and I quickly wipe it away. “It could be about toilets. They can be quite complicated.”
“But is it?” he asks.
“No,” I answer. “But I don’t want to talk about what it really is, so if we can just say it’s about toilets, I’d appreciate it.”
His thumb rubs over my knuckles, his silence leading me to believe that he wants to press but is also warring with my request. After a few agonizing moments, he says, “You know, I once heard that toilets can cause stress and uneasiness.” He plucks the instruction manual from my hands and sets it to the side. “Let’s just set that to the side. We don’t need to be triggered any more than we are.” Then he shakes his head and mumbles, “Fucking toilets.”
I snort, because…God, he gets it. Anyone else would press, would question, would demand answers. But not Theo.
And it just makes me like him that much more, something that I loathe, but that I can’t help.
“No wonder they call them shitters.”
I cover my mouth, another snort coming from me. “Low-hanging fruit,” I say to him.
“Made you smile though.” He wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his side before placing a kiss on the top of my head. “I came back to see if you wanted some of those chocolate chip cookies with sea salt that they make.”
“I feel like you should know at this point what my answer would be.”
“I never want to assume, because what if you were looking for a meatball sandwich and not a cookie?”
“I think it’s safe to say that half a dozen cookies are in order.”
“Yes, that’s what I was thinking too.” He kisses the top of my head again. “Are you good? You can handle the evil toilets while I’m gone?”
I nod. “I can.”
“Okay.”
He goes to stand but I stop him. When our eyes connect, I say, “Thank you.”
The softest, most comforting smile tugs on his lips. “Anytime, Gossy.”
Then he takes off, leaving me to question…why the hell did I ask for rule number eleven?
Chapter Thirty-Three
THEO
“I can’t believe we did that.” I’m walking under the moon, Renley next to me, crickets chirping their nighttime lullaby. “We changed a toilet, and after that bastard tried to take you down, we showed him who was boss. Now he’s strapped to that floor for life.”
