Page 181 of The Monster and the Masochist

Her cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink, and I marveled for a moment at the fact that I had the power to make her look at me like that.

“Uhm… so I was thinking…” she said softly, and my breath caught in my chest. The way she was looking at me caused a rustling flutter to explode through my gut, and I couldn’t decide if I was excited or nervous about whatever it was she was going to ask me.

“Yeah?” I swallowed, and she cupped the side of my face gently, before skating another soft kiss over my lips.

“I know things have been busy with me getting ready for this event and you for your big fight, but… After… I was thinking maybe we could go somewhere, just you and me? I can get us an Airbnb on a beach or something, and you can bring your gaming thing, and maybe we can order takeout… like real takeout. You can get a real beef burger or whatever, and I’ll get a veggie burger… Maybe tacos too?”

I stared at her in disbelief for a long moment, doing my best to process the fact that she was asking to spend a weekend away with me… after the fundraiser.

Did that mean… she didn’t want this to be over either?

I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but even my self-deprecating mind couldn’t convince me that she would ask me to do something like that if she didn’t actually like having me around.

Jesus.

Why did this woman always make me feel like I wanted to cry?

Maybe… Maybe if we really ended up doing this, it would be a good time to tell her the truth.

Maybe it was the perfect opportunity to tell her that I loved her.

Not just that I loved her. But that I was so fucking hopelessly in love with her it physically hurt me to think about sometimes… But it hurt in the best possible way.

“I would love that, baby girl,” I whispered, forcing myself to swallow the lump of tears that had gathered in the back of my throat.

And then, she smiled, and it felt like the whole world grew a little brighter.

Imade sure we arrived at the venue fashionably late. My hope was that by the time we got there, most of the higher-profile guests would have already been inside, and we’d be less likely to be swarmed by the press as we entered.

As much as I wanted the whole world to see Theo on my arm, I didn’t want to overwhelm her, and I wasn’t sure how she would react to being mobbed by the media.

Theodora was an introvert and a homebody. When she wasn’t training, she was more than happy to just chill in our condo playing her games all day until I came home, so I was worried she’d balk at all the attention I knew she would draw just by showing up as my partner.

I needn’t have worried.

As we stepped out of the car I’d ordered to take us to the event, Theo casually slipped her hands into her pockets and flashed that sexy, lazy grin she used on me all the time when we first met.

Christ.

She was just so fucking… cool.

This was how she always used to be with me before she’d moved in. Which is why I’d been so surprised to find that deep down, Theo had more demons than I fucking did.

She’d always come off as this smooth, calm, unbothered person before I’d really had the chance to get to know her, and I realized with a start that this was her version of a mask.

That suave, lazy smirk of hers and the calm, confident swagger that seemed to come as naturally to her as breathing… It was all a show.

It was a form of armor, and the fact that I hadn’t seen this version of her in weeks meant that she felt safe enough to show me who she really was underneath all that practiced confidence.

Theo had dropped her mask with me a long time ago, and I hadn’t even noticed.

As the realization rolled through me, I felt my breath catch.

It felt like a privilege.

An honor, and something I was desperate to never fuck up.

Cameras flashed, and reporters shoved recording devices and microphones over the roped-off barricade that lined the literal red carpet Alyssa had ordered to line the entrance to the venue.