I smile at him. “I bet she was happy to see you.”
“She was happy to see her bottle, maybe,” he says, tugging the blankets around him like a little burrito. “You’ve just seemed tired.” He snorts, eyeing me. “And ifI’msaying you look tired…”
The way his eyebrows are raised makes me laugh despite myself. “Well, Prince Theo, you just relax and I’ll go get her fed again. Thank you.”
“Wasn’t planning on leaving the bed, truly. I’m going to Luca’s tonight for a game night with Jasper and Arlo. Arlo’s the guy from the diner, right?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
“Anyway. Game night. Can we go for a ride beforehand? And then maybe take a nap?”
“You can definitely take a nap, and we can for sure go riding. Are you feeling okay, though?”
His eyes are practicallysparkling,and I’m not sure what to do with that. I’ve never seen him like this before. If I thought he was a beautiful man before? Fuck.
“I feel great. Like better than I have in weeks. God, I slept so well. Even with getting up to feed Lila. I just want to make sure I’m rested before game night. Peopling can take a lot out of me.”
“Ah. And here I am, draining your battery.”
Theo shakes his head. “No. You don’t count as peopling.”
There aren’t words to describe the way those softly spoken words make me feel.
Theoisradiant.There’sno other word for it.
When he got out of the shower earlier and styled his hair before coming down and eating breakfast with me, I’d thought so. But now? Fuck. Indescribable.
He’s all smiles and bright eyes as he climbs down from Molls. I can’t drag my eyes away.
“Wow,” he says, giggling. “My legs are like jello.”
“I can’t believe you loped her.” He was a quick study, and it only took about an hour for me to teach him what to do. I’m still impressed. I knew he was a natural, but this is impressive even for that.
He laughs. “No, me neither, but God, it’s so fun and so freeing. The sounds her hooves make on the ground…” He trails off, and I smile.
“It’s nice, huh? Soothing.”
“It really is.”
“We call them feet, though. Not hooves,” I say, winking at him.
His grin is blinding, and when he pulls his helmet off, his hair is sticking up all over the place.
“Wow,” I breathe because apparently, I’m an idiot.
Theo cocks his head, his lips curving up. “Are you making fun of my helmet hair?”
“Not at all.” After taking off my own helmet, I step closer to him, even though I shouldn’t. Then I lift my hand, even though it’s the worst idea in the world. He stands stock-still, his lips slightly parted, as I brush a strand of his dark hair off his forehead. “Sorry.”
I’m not sure what’s worse—that I touched his hair at all, or that right after my apology, I run the pad of my thumb along his temple when I shouldn’t have my hands on him to begin with.
He inhales sharply, and before I even have time to drop my hand, Theo is pressing his to my chest. In all fairness, I deserve to be shoved away. But he doesn’t shove me away. He fists hishand in the fabric of my t-shirt, slides the other into my hair, and slams his mouth onto mine.
He swallows my surprised gasp as his fingers tighten, pulling on my scalp. Holy fuck.Theo is kissing me.
Chapter 11
Theo
