He rolls his eyes. “Fine. The next day, Leo and I went to KET, and you looked hot as hell, had confidence, and I found out you were an athlete, which led me to believe you understood our lives were different and that maybe, just maybe, the girl I beat off to the night before could not only handle me, but put my ass in check when needed.”
I can’t help but smile.
“Then Leah kind of led me to believe you were interested.”
“She’s a horrible best friend, who I love dearly.”
“That night, at Bleachers, the night I met you, and—”
“Beat off to my image?”
Laughing, he nods. “Yeah. That day, I went for a hike and felt like I wasn’t alone. The leaves were changing, but they all seemed to be red, my dad and brother’s favorite color. I swear I could smell them, like they were right there with me. It was the first time I felt like I deserved to be at peace because they were. I felt like he was giving me a gift when I saw you and it was his birthday.”
I slide off my stool and walk around to give him a hug.
“Christ,” he says, moving sideways and placing me between his legs to pull me in closer. After a few minutes, he leans back. “Gotta give this meal the minute it deserves, and then I’m gonna want more of that.”
When I move to go back to my seat, he stops me by pulling me back by my belt loop as he stands. “Sit here.”
“Okay.” I climb up into his seat as he reaches across the island and grabs my plate.
Once he’s seated, facing me, he scoops up a forkful of lasagna and holds it out to me.
Seriously, this guy …
“The ex?”
I hold my hand up to shield my mouth as I chew. “It tastes so good. Don’t ruin it for me.”
He smiles just a little and takes a bite from the same fork, off the same plate, and that is so … hot and intimate andTheo.
“Steven’s parents and mine were close, and he and I ‘dated’ from eighth grade until right after senior prom.” I laugh. “He was someone to go to dances with, an occasional movie, the prom. I think the idea of having a boyfriend was like ticking a box. I literally didn’t have time with my schedule. Kissing him was”—I pause—“unenjoyable. Being felt up or fingered by him made me feel like I was maybe just not a sexual person. When I touched him, he came immediately, so yeah.” I groan and continue, “Full truth?”
“Nothing but.” He feeds me another bite.
Chewing, I nod and finally swallow. “But I was a sexual person, because I did get turned on by …” I pause before I admit, “snaps from the John Stevenson—”
“Wait.” Theo laughs. “One was John Stevenson, and the other’s name was Steven?”
I snort out a laugh. “Steven Johnson.”
“Shut the hell up. No way.”
“Way,” I admit as he feeds me another bite.
“Continue.”
“John Stevenson, the star baseball player, had a girlfriend but zero issue sending me messages, telling me how hot I was and how hot I made him feel, with pictures. I shouldn’t have engaged, but I did.”
As he feeds me another bite, he spills some tea of his own. “Never felt it was wrong to get a blow job from other chicks, because I knew Candace wouldn’t find out.”
I cringe. “But she did.”
He laughs. “Yeah, but not from any of the girls. From me.”
“You told her?” I gasp.
“Sure did. But it wasn’t until after I found out she fucked my ‘best friend’ a week after my brother and father’s funeral.”