Page 97 of Apparently, I’m Trouble

“Don’t worry. No one will find out.” He reached across the table and put his hand on mine. “This stays between you and me.”

I shivered. The last time he said that, I wound up dry-humping him in the meeting room.

“Thanks for coming with me to the bookstore. Lilly’s going to love this.”

I tipped my glass toward the two signed copies of Arlena’s book resting neatly on the table.

Theo adjusted the cuff of his sleeve and looked away. “You and Miss Fares are pretty close, aren’t you?”

I smiled. “Closer than a thong in an ass crack.”

He burst out laughing, and the sound of it made me feel so warm and fuzzy inside, I almost didn’t want to douse it with icy-cold caffeine.

He was still smiling when he asked, “How did you meet?”

I shrugged. “The usual. We met at college. She was a brainy, shy people-pleaser, and I was a loud, pushy ass. We were in the same sorority and had the same literacy class, but I didn’t really notice her. Until some asshole had her cornered on one side of the classroom one day. She was in her face about some assignment Lilly didn’t help her finish, and I–” I shrugged again and took a sip of my coffee.

Theo crossed his arms on the tabletop and asked, “You what?”

“I may’ve stepped between them and said something like ‘if you can’t handle your own assignments, I’ll report you to the professor’. She backed off and left Lilly alone after that.”

Theo gave me an expectant look, like he needed more detail, and I gave in. “Lilly has this problem with helping. She gives and gives until she has nothing left. I hate it. Not the part about her caring so much, just that people take advantage of her.”

He frowned. “But you could’ve just… left it there. What made you friends?”

Condensation was building up around my glass. It dripped over my thumb.

“I couldn’t walk away from someone in the middle of a panic attack, could I?”

His brows shot up.

“I stayed with her until it was over, then I listened to her apologies, and I couldn’t believe she was still worried about the ass who was in her face earlier.” I shook my head. “People don’t usually think about others the way she does. I don’t know. I couldn’t walk away from someone like her. I wanted to make sure she took care of herself.” I scoffed. “No one else was going to.”

He gave me a thoughtful hum. “Have you two ever tried living together?”

I nodded. “In the sorority, yep. But I’m a loud masturbator. She wasn’t a fan of living with me long-term.”

His laugh was long and loud this time, and the flutters in my chest made me want to reach across the table and kiss him.

What did that mean? Nope. Better not think about it.

This was just sex. No matter how date-like this day felt, this weekend was about sex. Really good sex. Sex I’d probably think about and masturbate over. Loudly.

His laughter tapered off as he rubbed a thumb across his eye, wiping away a tear. Oh lordy, did I make him laugh that hard? I felt oddly proud of that.

“Why’d you move to the U.S.?” he asked, still smiling.

My thumb traced lazy circles on my coffee cup as I tried not to overthink his question. My family history wasn’t that complicated. There was no sad story here. My parents were alive and well, living their middle-class suburban life to the fullest. And they loved me. We spoke almost every week over video chat, and every time we did, they asked when I was coming home.

The answer was never. But I couldn’t bring myself to tell them that.

“I didn’t really plan to stay,” I answered. “I came here because I was young and impulsive and wanted to get out of England for a while. But my parents felt better about letting me leave on a study visa. If I had it my way, I would’ve backpacked my way through your backyard and would’ve probably fallen into the Grand Canyon–”

Theo shot me a look of absolute horror, and I struggled to hide my smile.

“–But I loved it here. And when I met Lilly, I knew I’d found my person. Once I graduated, I wasn’t ready to leave. I’m still not ready.”

I was used to seeing Theo at his broodiest, so when he softened and said, “I’m glad you decided to stay,” the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.