Page 47 of Vexatious Queen

Theo shot me a glare but didn’t argue.

“I’m sorry I blurted it out that way. I had been thinking about it, and the words came out before I really knew what I wanted to say and why. Very unlike me, but it was a bad day for me all around in the sensitivity department. Let’s just say I was off my game.”

“I think you were pretty clear. You don’t want to move to Boston,” he said, and my jaw twitched.

He crossed his arms and stared me down, but I wasn’t having any of his attitude tonight. Call me a fucking prick, but he was being…illogical, and for Theo that was a massive insult.

“What do you think is going on here,” I asked, crossing the room and getting into his personal space.

“I don’t know, you tell me. We had a plan. We found a great apartment near campus and had basically figured out what our life would look like for the next six years. Then tonight you tell me that you don’t think you’re going to move, and I’m not supposed to be shocked or angry?”

“I already apologized. My mind was on a million things, and uncharacteristically, I just blurted it out. Theo, I love you. I’m not going anywhere. So stop acting like I broke up with you.”

His gaze softened before he turned and walked away to lean against his dresser.

“Okay…explain it to me then,” he said, still sounding sad.

“When we made those plans, things were different. I didn’t know what I wanted to do after we graduated. Ren wasn’t in our lives, and I had no clue what would happen with Nash, the Kings, or anything else. So much was up in the air with Lawrence alive, but now…things have shifted.”

Walking over to the desk, I sat on the edge directly across from Theo and watched him chew on what I’d said. Deep down, he already knew all of this, which was why it was so baffling that he was angry.

“I want to adjust our plans. I can visit every other week for three to four days. But…we are building a life tied to other things and other people. Theo, you brought me into this relationship with Ren. Begged me for it. You had to know that there would be changes the moment you added such a major piece.”

“You’re right. I knew that.”

He rubbed his eyes and groaned before pushing away from the dresser to pace the room.

“There is also the fact that Nash depends on me. I’m his right hand. That will only increase after he takes over Collier Enterprises and potentially a branch of the Genovese empire. We will have just as many enemies, if not more. I don’t want to leave Ren for eight months out of the year, and I want to build on what we have already started with our own investments. Following you to Boston was a great idea even a year ago, but it just doesn’t fit anymore. Not full-time, but it has nothing to do with how much I love you.”

“Fuck.”

Theo growled and stomped across the floor.

I honestly didn’t understand why he was so worked up, and especially over something that he had to have seen coming. Theo was one of the most intelligent people I knew, and he planned everything down to the tiniest detail. His reaction was entirely out of character.

Something else was going on. The more I watched Theo, the more certain I became that his anger had nothing to do with me, at least, not all of it.

Pushing away from the desk, I stepped into Theo’s path.

“Fuck you’re hot when you’re worked up,” I said, not giving him a chance to respond, before I grabbed his neck, marched him backward to the wall, and crashed my lips to his.

The kiss was almost painful as I devoured him like he was my last meal. After a few minutes, I pulled back, placed both hands on either side of his head, and stared into green eyes that I’d loved for so long.

“What is really going on? And don’t bother trying to lie to me. I can see that something is eating at you, and it’s not me,” I said.

“It is you,” Theo said. I lifted a brow at him, and he sighed. “Fine…I’ll concede and admit that it is not all you.”

“Then talk to me.”

Theo glanced away like he would rather bolt, so I grabbed his hands and held them above his head as I nuzzled the side of his neck. He smelled incredible, all masculine with a hint of musk and soap.

“Tell me,” I ordered, my voice dropping low, and making him shiver.

“I’ve always known what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. The image was clear, concise, and…”

He sighed and looked at me with such defeat in his eyes that it hurt my heart.

“And now it’s not,” I said.