I appreciate the varying replies I get, depending on who it is. Caleb is the sensitive one—the metalhead professor with a heart of gold. Noah’s the grumpy high school teacher who never smiles. And Daddy James is the billionaire bestie who worries about me constantly.
Needy Viking needs someloving *shrug emoji*
Noah
There are strip clubs for that
Caleb
You still coming over next weekend? Lauren’s excited to see you. Said she should be back in time.
Noah, fuck off.
I struggle with Noah so much. I love him, I really do, but he doesn’t give me the love and attention I need. He’s suffering in his own way, he has to be with his grumpy exterior. Or maybe that’s me projecting myself onto him, and it’s just his personality? All I know is, he’s the one I don’t have the best relationship with. It feels like he hates me, and I don’t have the mental capacity to try to fix it with him. What if he tells me he can’t stand me, and he’s only putting up with my crazy ass because of Caleb and James?
So, I take the scraps he gives me with a smile and piss him off to show it's not affecting me when in reality… it is. A lot.
As if you could keep me away from the gorgeous Lauren. She gives the best hugs *winky face emoji*
Caleb
The fuck are you talking about? What hugs? When was Lauren hugging you, Theo?
Noah
You’ve done it now, Theo.
James
Tips, you didn’t answer my question.
I’m fine, Dad *eye roll emoji*
Caleb
THEO!! I SWEAR TO FUCKING CHRIST, ANSWER ME NOW!
Oooooh, the professor is mad. Tell Lauren I’ll see her soon *winky face emoji*
I close down my messages and turn my phone ondo not disturb. My chest feels a bit lighter, and my smile’s back. I do enjoy winding them up; it really brings me so much joy.
Chapter Seventeen
THEO
It’s the night of the gala.
Blake’s gonna be there. Frank and Michael are gonna be there. So yeah, I’m dreading it. The only plus side is that James, Caleb, and Noah will be there too. I was freaking out so much I ended up sending them an SOS text for drinks beforehand. I not only needed them but copious amounts of alcohol to numb everything before we arrived.
Walking into a room full of people and having all eyes on you is daunting, but when you have three good-looking dudes on either side of you, you feel a little bit more confident. Especially when we’re all looking like fucking fire tonight. I swear we didn’t color-match on purpose, we just all have a thing for black suits. James made a joke comparing us to a bunch of Mafia men, and he’s not wrong.
I glance around the room, taking it all in. I’m not unused to galas; I’m usually James’s plus one to these sorts of things, but Emma, Raven’s stepmom, has definitely outdone herself tonight. The placescreams ‘money.’ Tables are placed strategically around the room for better conversational flow with only a low hum of music in the background—just enough for you to hear it but not enough to stop the many conversations about how to spend money. And then there’s my favorite part of all—the food.
I spy Raven with Drew. She looks gorgeous in her red cocktail dress, and I don’t miss the look of lust James sends her way. Those two are gonna get caught if they keep this up. I’d eye roll if I weren’t so jealous.
Anyhoo.
At least I have Caleb and Noah with me. Well, Caleb, anyway. Noah will do his usual runner the second our backs are turned, not to be heard from until the next morning when he will ignore all our questions about where he went.
