Page 46 of Until Him

“Cool, bro. I’ll be there soon.”

He huffs in the receiver and then says, “Really, I’m glad you’re coming. It’s been too long. We have so much to talk about.”

Oh, hell. Because he’s right, but I’m just not ready. I should be, but I’m quaking in my metaphorical boots. See? We’re all just a bunch of scaredy cats in this family. You should see my dad; he’s worse than me when it comes to confrontation.

“Yeah, me too,” I say through the lump in my throat, and then I hang up, stuffing my phone in my back pocket.

I sniff a little, my eyes stinging. I need to distract myself before I start weeping openly in the middle of a gas station like a lunatic. Maybe some candy will help. I never have the stuff, so maybe a sugar rush will keep my mind off tonight…and tomorrow, and Sunday.

Shit.

I wait for the tank to fill and then jog into the store.

That’s when I see him. Theo is hovering near the chip aisle, his arms full of junk food. Hell, he’s a sight, all rumpled, his hair sticking out at odd angles, and I just can’t help myself. I duck down and move toward him before popping out into the aisle he’s perusing.

“Look at you,” I say loudly, and Theo spins around so fast he stumbles into a rack of beef jerky.

“Shit,” he mutters when I grab onto his shoulders to steady him.

“Whoa. Didn’t mean to scare you,” I lie.

Theo adjusts all the snacks, and the bags crinkle in his arms.

“Let go of me,” he mutters but makes no move to extricate himself from my grasp. He just continues to face me, his eyes moving across my face and landing on my lips. A slight blush taints his cheeks and I smirk a little.

Caught you looking, Theo. You can’t fool me.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, stepping back just slightly, just enough to give him some space.

“I was hungry.”

I eye the junk food in his arms and raise an eyebrow.

His neck and the tips of his ears turn an even darker shade of red as he turns on his heels and makes his way to the cashier. But before he can fish out his card, I hold mine out to the woman behind the counter.

“I don’t want you to pay for this,” he hisses, but I ignore him and so does the cashier. She doesn’t have time for our shit—there’s a line forming behind us, and she’s paid minimum wage.

“Thanks,” I tell her, grabbing the bag full of snacks and moving to the front of the store. Theo is helpless to do anything but follow me.

“Logan, give me the bag,” he says lowly, and I smirk at him.

“Tell me why the binge? Smoke a little too much?” I tease.

His hand flops to his hip and he sighs. “No. Absolutely not. I just needed a distraction.”

I stand up a little straighter and lean toward him a little. Because, me too. Jinx.

“Yeah? Why?”

He reaches out for the bag again. “Just give me the damn bag.”

Alright, no need to get grumpy.

I hand it over to him and he opens it, peering inside. But he’s not running away from me, which I fully expected him to do. Instead, he just shuffles around nervously and says softly, “My dad showed up at my place.”

I move a little closer to him because fuck, he looks kind of vulnerable right now and I’m not sure I like that look on him. It makes me instinctively feel protective.

“Did he hurt you?” I ask, my chest constricting at the thought. Maybe that’s why he’s always so prickly and defensive.

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