Chapter Sixteen
Theo
I flopped down into my favourite armchair in the corner of Novel Tea and quickly piled up the crockery the people who’d just moved had left behind them.
I hadn’t been expecting the coffee shop to be this busy on a Thursday lunchtime, although I supposed it was still the school holidays and tourist season would run for another few weeks.
Alex was definitely going to need to speed up his plans to open a second location. I knew Spencer had been nagging him about it, but Alex seemed to be dragging his feet.
He probably had all sorts of boring, sensible business reasons not to dive into opening a second shop, but he needed to learn to take some risks.
Maybe I’d talk to Henry next time I saw him and see if I could get him to nudge Alex about it.
Technically, it wasn’t anything to do with me and I shouldn’t be getting involved, but I couldn’t help it.
Besides, I needed something new and shiny and not related to my life in any way to distract me from whatever Laurie and I were doing and the email I was about to send.
I pulled my laptop out of my backpack and slid it onto the table, side-eyeing it in case it tried to bite me.
“Hey,” Alex said, appearing through the crowd with a tray to clear away the used crockery. “Everything okay? Where’s Laurie?”
“I’m good. I snuck out of work for lunch today because Laurie’s got client meetings and I’m avoiding Jonathan because I accidentally spoiled the end of Hunted: Death by Daylight this morning and he keeps giving me death glares whenever I see him.
” I sighed, thinking back to the look on Jonathan’s adorable baby face when I’d spilt the details on the final twist. He’d looked about ready to murder me, and I didn’t totally put it past him not to.
“But how was I supposed to know he hadn’t finished playing it yet? It’s been out for months!”
Alex raised an eyebrow at me. “It’s been out for six weeks and I’d want to kill you too.”
“Have you finished it then?” I asked, leaning on the table and giving him an eager smile.
I desperately wanted someone new to talk about the ending and final fight with, but Laurie didn’t play video games and while my gaming friends and I had all talked about it to death, I wanted to discuss it in person so I could get excited all over again.
“No,” Alex said as he put the last of the cups onto the tray. “I’ve been busy.”
“Ugh, you suck! Where are you in it? Have you got—”
“Nope, not a fucking word. I’ve barely started because I’ve been trying to sort buying this fucking house, so I don’t want to hear any of it.”
I pouted. “You’re no fun.”
“I know, I’m a right bastard,” he said with a wry smile. Alex really was a sweetie, even if he could be grumpy sometimes. It was why he was one of my favourite people. “Did you order something?”
I shook my head. “Not yet. I wanted to get the table first since this is my favourite and the people here were just leaving. Is there much left?”
“Yeah, there’s a bit,” Alex said. “Spencer and Mina’ve started making extra since we’re so busy. Helps that we’ve got Lucy in the kitchen too, and she’s not sick of the pair of them yet.”
Lucy was one of the new members of staff that Alex had hired over the summer since Novel Tea had started being overwhelmed with tourists and nosy fans and journalists trying to get a sneak peek at Henry or catch Alex off guard.
I’d met the two front-of-house hires, Ren and Arthur, briefly but since I wasn’t allowed behind the counter, I hadn’t met Lucy yet.
If I hadn’t known better, I’d have said Alex didn’t want me to meet her, which made no sense because I was an utter delight.
“Do you have any bagels left?” I asked as I tried to peer at the counter. There were too many people in the way, though, so all I could see were butts.
“No.”
“Oh… what about sandwiches? Have you got Coronation chicken?”
“I don’t fucking know,” Alex said. “Shift your lazy arse and go and have a look.”
“But you’re already stood up and I don’t want anyone stealing my table.” I fluttered my eyelashes at him and smiled in the vague hope Alex’s cold, cruel heart would be moved.
“Nobody’s going to steal your fucking table,” Alex said. “If you want food, you can go and bloody well order it. I’m too busy to do it for you.”
“You’re so mean.”
Alex laughed, resting the tray against his hip. “I know. You and Henry can start a list and keep track of all my slights against you.”
“Oh no, what did you do to poor Henry?”
“This time? I wouldn’t let him put some fucking awful parrot wallpaper in the bathroom. I’m pretty sure he was joking when he suggested it, but now I’ve said no he’s running a fucking campaign to make me give in.”
“I mean, that doesn’t sound too bad,” I said, trying to imagine what parrot wallpaper might look like. It was probably fun and colourful and very over the top, which was why Henry would love it.
“I’ll bring you a sample tomorrow. Then you can see how fucking hideous it is.”
“What if I like it?”
“Then I’ll give you three free cupcakes a week to take my side,” Alex said with a devious smile. “And I’ll buy you a stuffed mouse.”
“Done!” I hadn’t bought any new taxidermy for myself in a while and was very open to mouse-based bribery and corruption.
I’d have to have a look at my favourite taxidermist’s Instagram and see if they had anything new for sale.
Mind you, I still wasn’t giving up on my dreams of a full taxidermied chess set, even if Laurie kept insisting it was too big, too expensive, and a pointless purchase because I didn’t even know how to play.
I didn’t want to play it, though. I wanted it for the aesthetic.
I didn’t have what sophisticated people would call taste…
mostly because I thought beige, grey, and white were so fucking boring that if I had to live in a house done in just that palette, I’d claw my own eyes out.
Minimalism was a crime in my opinion, and I was only here for bright, kitschy maximalism.
Or maybe gothic, kitschy maximalism. Then I could fill the house with skulls and adorable taxidermy, and Laurie wouldn’t have a heart attack over me painting everything pink.
Alex wandered away and I glanced at my laptop, which was still closed on the table in front of me.
West and I had been slowly starting to email more frequently and I was beginning to look forward to hearing from him.
Only today, I was planning to ask him a question that terrified me and while I could easily not ask it and save myself a ton of pain, I knew I’d only be delaying the inevitable.
It would be better to rip the plaster off and get it over with.
I rubbed my thighs together as I thought, feeling the roughness of the rope garter Laurie had tied for me against the inside of my other leg.
It was soothing and the tension in my chest began to release as I remembered the feel of Laurie’s hands on my leg as he’d tied me that morning, working slowly and carefully to create something beautiful.
His ties had become slightly more complex over the past few weeks, like he was growing in confidence and skill, and I was very happy to be his canvas.
Whenever I felt it—whether that was brushing up against my inner thigh, running my hand over my skirt, or simply acknowledging the tightness around my leg—a new sense of serenity settled over me. It was like Laurie was right there with me, keeping me calm or reminding me to be good.
Not that I’d always listen to him about being good. I had to have some fun after all.
He’d mentioned punishing me the other morning, and I was so tempted to unleash ultimate brat mode to see what he’d do. I didn’t think he’d actually punish me.
But then again this was Laurie, and who knew what other delicious secrets he’d been keeping from me.
Deciding to put off emailing West a little longer, I walked over to the counter to see what was left.
There were a few sandwich options, two of which sounded good, and quite a few cakes, so it wasn’t like I’d starve.
Maybe I’d skip getting a sandwich altogether and just get cake for lunch. It wasn’t like anyone could stop me.
I joined the queue, which was starting to die down, and tried to focus on choosing my food.
There was some strawberry and cream cake that looked delicious and a raspberry and coconut one too, plus some giant chunks of rocky road, two different types of cupcakes, and some fruit Danishes.
There was a chocolate and salted caramel cake too, which looked so decadent I was sure I’d die from just one bite. But I wouldn’t regret it.
As I took another step forward and craned to look at the board of drinks, even though I already knew what I wanted, the rope rubbed against my inner thigh. I sighed. It was like Laurie was stood beside me reminding me cake was not a suitable lunch choice.
And even though he wouldn’t know if I did just eat two or three slices of cake, I didn’t trust Alex not to tell him. Maybe I could bribe Alex to keep his mouth shut about cake for lunch in return for siding with him about the supposedly hideous parrot wallpaper.
But when I reached the front of the queue, I found myself asking Stephen for a Coronation chicken sandwich, a slice of strawberry cake, and a strawberry milkshake. Curse Laurie and his sexy rope powers.
I didn’t want to tell him either, because he might keep using his sexy rope powers to get me to do things like pick my wet towels up or remember to load the dishwasher. But… he might also reward me for being good, so I wasn’t sure what the best thing to do was.
I was still debating telling Laurie what he’d made me do as I walked back to my table where my laptop was waiting innocently for me. I glared at it because I didn’t fancy dealing with it even though I had to or it would still be there tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after.
And that would just piss me off.
Dropping into the seat, I wrenched the lid open, waking the laptop with a start, before pulling up my emails and opening my thread with West. In his last email, he’d mentioned playing a preseason friendly away over the weekend and I’d remembered to check up and see how they’d done.
It had made my stomach feel funny when I’d seen that they’d won and that West had scored a try.
I was proud of him and also unnerved that I suddenly had a brother to be proud of.
Before I could overthink things any further, I squeezed my thighs together and started typing.
Hey West!
How was the match? I saw you won and you scored a try, that’s amazing!
I’ll admit I don’t actually know anything about rugby and I’ve been trying to learn through TikTok but all it does is show me pictures of huge guys with amazing thighs in tiny shorts and then I get distracted.
Are you playing any more preseason games? When does your season actually start?
I meant to ask, have you played Hunted: Death by Daylight yet?
I’m desperate to find someone to talk to about it but everyone I know either hasn’t played it or hasn’t finished it and I’ve already royally pissed Jonathan at work off by spoiling the end (he’s our baby goth receptionist but instead of being cute and squishy he’s kinda mean. Laurie tells me off for annoying him).
Also I know we’ve kinda been chatting via email, but I wondered if you wanted to switch to something like WhatsApp? Or maybe even video chat? I don’t know if that would be weird though and if you’re not comfortable with either of those then don’t worry!
Theo x
I read it over a couple of times and then hit send before I lost my nerve.
Luckily, Alex arrived with my sandwich, cake, and milkshake two minutes later, which was a good distraction, especially because I could ask him more about this supposedly hideous parrot wallpaper.
I still wasn’t convinced it was as bad as Alex said.
I’d just finished my cake when a new email dropped into my inbox. I frowned because I never expected a response that quickly from West, so either he absolutely hated my idea and never wanted to speak to me again or he was super excited.
I wasn’t usually an anxious person and I didn’t feel like being one now, so I opened it before I could think better of it.
Hey Theo,
I’d LOVE to video chat with you some time! What are you doing next week? Maybe Thursday evening? You don’t usually tend to stream then, right? And we can totally switch to WhatsApp too — it’d probably be easier than having to email all the time. Kinda feels a bit formal.
Match was great and I was pleased we won because Brighton are really fucking tough to beat.
We’re playing Oxford in two weeks and that’ll be tough too, but fingers crossed.
It’s a home game so the crowd helps. If you and Laurie ever want tickets then just yell cos we always get tickets for friends and family and I don’t really use mine.
I know it’s a bit of a drive but if you ever come down we can have dinner or something too.
Just a thought, no pressure. Season doesn’t formally start until the start of October so there’s plenty of time for you to think about it.
And no, I’ve not played all of Hunted: Death by Daylight yet but it looks fucking amazing! I was watching your stream a couple of weeks ago and fucking screamed at the betrayal. My roommates came to check I wasn’t being murdered! I can’t wait to play it.
Have a good one.
West xx
(Btw here’s my number in case you wanna message me)
My chest filled with warmth as I read his words, trying to process them all.
Considering we’d once lived in the same house, it felt odd that this was such a big step, but West was still a virtual stranger to me, only one who shared similar genetics.
I was happy he’d said yes, though, and all at once my worries about asking vanished into thin air.
I was sure they’d be replaced at some point by new ones, especially as next Thursday got nearer.
But that was a future Theo problem, not a today Theo problem.
Instead, I picked up my phone, tapped West’s number in, and began to write out a quick reply since there was no time like the present to switch to messages.
As I hit send, I wondered if Laurie would be proud of me, and if he was, what he might give me.
There was only one way to find out.