Chapter 45 ALEX #2
“Oh, I’m never going to go back to prison. I’d starve myself to death, I hate the food so fucking much.” He slips butter under the skin of the chicken he’s preparing, rubbing gently.
Oh.
“Is that why you’re weird about food?”
“I don’t think liking to eat well counts as being weird about food, but not really.
My parents were bad about keeping food in the house when I was a kid, so I had to just eat whatever I could find, and it usually sucked.
” I hold him tightly. “Whenever I visited my grandparents, there was always food, and it was always good. When they adopted me, Nana taught me how to cook, and I got super into it. Maybe I went a little overboard about it after I got out of prison, but again, I don’t think I’m weird about food.
” I hum, pulling him closer and kissing his shoulder.
“Well, either way, you’re a good cook, and I hate cooking.” He looks down at me, curious.
“Why do you hate cooking so much?” I take a large sip of wine before looking at my feet.
“My dad taught me how to cook when I was a kid, and I was fine at it, but I wasn’t great.
After the first year of being married, Danny stopped being as nice to me and started listing out his expectations of a wife.
He expected me to be his personal fucking chef and learning how to cook the way he liked came with a lot of yelling and some gifts.
Remember Thanksgiving?” Theo stills, taking a long, deep breath.
“The first Thanksgiving we hosted was the first one I ever cooked. I’d never even had turkey for Thanksgiving, and the one I made was both raw and burned, somehow.
We had to throw it out, and his family gave him so much shit for it, especially his aunt Tricia.
He got drunk and told me I humiliated him, and he shoved me so hard that I broke my arm when I fell.
I got a brand-new wedding ring a week later with a big fucking diamond, and he was super nice to me for six months.
” I can tell Theo’s trying hard not to react, but he’s so livid that he’s shaking a little as he leans over and kisses my forehead softly.
“Okay,” he says slowly, his voice strained. “We’re never doing Thanksgiving again, and I’m going to break every bone in his fucking body.” I pull his face down and kiss him before I lean against the counter, refilling my wine glass to the brim. I shoot him a forced, flirty smile.
“So, the Yachats house?” Theo eyes my glass of wine and takes a deep breath before rolling his eyes.
“Fine. Nana once drunkenly told me that Boss bought it for her after she ‘put out’ for the first time. She was very drunk, and there were details,” he says, shuddering.
“He was married at the time, so this was where they came every weekend until his divorce was finalized. That part of the story also came with details, unfortunately.” He raises his eyebrows at the chicken.
“They got married here the weekend after his divorce went through,” he says softly, smiling a little and shooting me a quick look.
“That’s sweet, but you’re telling me this has always been a weekend sex house?” He grimaces and nods. “So, who else have you brought here?” He shrugs as he puts the chicken in the oven.
“Besides Ashley, I don’t remember.” I raise my eyebrows.
“You don’t remember?” He gives me an amused look as he washes his hands.
“Honey, I came here a lot in college. High school, too, a little bit.” I stare at him for a second, thinking.
“Theo, how many people have you slept with?” He laughs, shaking his head.
“I don’t know. You’re the only one that counts, though, since you’re the only person I plan on fucking ever again.” I blush, my whole body feeling warm as I look down into my wine and set it on the counter.
“I like the sound of that.” I keep my voice almost inaudible, but I know he hears me because he freezes for a moment before he grabs me around the waist and hauls me into the living room. He’s inside of me immediately, fucking me hard, but his eyes are soft every time they meet mine.
***
Theo’s in the kitchen finishing dinner, and I’m stretched out on the couch, blissful and hazy, when one of the floodlights goes off. Theo walks through the living room quickly, his face and body tense, and he shakes his head at me as I sit up.
“Stay there, sweetheart.” He peers out of the window next to the door before he opens the hall closet and grabs a shotgun and two rounds. I sit up, frowning at him.
“Have you always had a gun?” Theo shrugs.
“I have a few, but I keep them here since I’m on parole. Pass me the laptop?” I grab it from under the couch and hand it to him as he sits beside me. He pulls up the camera feed and watches it, frowning.
“I don’t fucking like that,” he mutters, cracking open the shotgun and loading it.
“What is it?” Theo turns the laptop towards me and replays the video.
There’s some quick movement in the trees, but the cameras are old, and the image is too dark and grainy to make out precisely what it is.
The floodlights flare on, and the screen is white for a second as the camera adjusts.
Then, it shows the front of the house and the edge of the woods lit up, but there’s nothing there.
I pass the laptop back and run my hand down the back of his neck.
“Baby, it’s nothing. Animals always set those lights off, so it was probably just a deer who got spooked by the lights.” Theo makes a displeased noise and watches the video again.
“I’m going to go check it out,” he says, standing up.
“No, you’re not.” I grab his hand and pull him back down towards the couch, but he doesn’t move. He looks towards the door, his body rigid.
“Alex, it’s a security issue.” I roll my eyes at him.
“Teddy, it’s a fucking deer. Dr. Mills is going to have a field day when she finds out that you’re paranoid as well as delusional.
” His head snaps towards me and he shoots me a dirty look.
I smile at him sweetly, and he sighs, cracking open the shotgun again and pulling the rounds out.
He puts the gun away in the hall closet, shooting me a wry look over his shoulder.
“You’re kind of an asshole, you know that?” I grin at him and watch his face soften.
“You just figured that out?” He laughs as I lie back down on the couch, stretching my legs out as he walks towards me and bends down to kiss me.
“I actually figured that out when you threw a glass of wine at my head,” he says, kissing me again quickly when I laugh at him.
“To be fair, you deserved it.”
He shrugs. “Debatable.”
I jerk my head away from him as he tries to kiss me again. “Is it, though?”
He flashes me a quick, sheepish grin. “Depends on who you’re asking. Come on, dinner’s ready.”
***
“Fuck, baby,” I moan, stretching my arms out in front of me as I press my hips back. “This feels so fucking good.” Theo hums softly.
“Nice try. You’re still not getting me to join you. I fucking hate yoga.” I look up from my yoga mat to where he’s lying on the couch reading a book.
“You’re viewing this all wrong,” I say, pressing onto my hands and knees. “You could be over here helping me stretch.” Theo smirks at me.
“Sweetheart, I helped you stretch so much this morning that you could barely walk upstairs. You want more already?” I shake my head as he stands up quickly and I press up into a down dog, pushing my heels to the floor.
“No, you’ve been helping so much that I’m going to be in pain if we don’t restrain ourselves a little bit.” He snorts and sits back down, and I hear a page turn.
“Considering how fucking happy I am, I have been restraining myself.” I laugh as I start walking my feet towards my hands.
“You’re insatiable. How did Ashley deal with you being this insanely horny?” I hear his book snap shut quickly, and by the time I’m standing, he’s got his arms crossed and he’s obviously irritated.
“Alex, can you not ask shit like that right now? I’m having a perfect fucking weekend.” I cross my arms and narrow my eyes at him, trying to decide if I want to push.
“If you answer three questions, I’ll reward you for sharing.”
He rolls his eyes. “You can’t use sex to manipulate me.”
I laugh at him as I walk towards the couch.
“Yeah, I can, because it fucking works. Three questions and everything is on the table.” His eyebrows raise slightly.
“I’ll be your perfect little fucktoy all night long,” I whisper, leaning down and biting his lip gently, and I feel smug as I watch his pupils dilate, his gaze trained on my lips.
“Everything is on the table? Like, weird shit you don’t know I’m into?”
“Please don’t pee on me.” His head kicks back as he laughs.
“Not my thing. Can we go get lunch before you force me to share? There’s a place here with the best fish and chips on the coast.” I look at him, surprised.
“You hate fried food.” He shrugs.
“Exceptions can be made for quality. Let’s go.”
Theo seems to get less and less relaxed as we drive down to the restaurant and order. I grab a table in the outdoor seating area while Theo brings us beers and our number. He sits down and takes a deep breath, crossing his arms, obviously defensive.
“You want three questions? You have three holes, and I’m going to tie you up so tightly that you can’t move, and then I'll take my time with each one. If I don’t like your questions, you won’t be coming. Those are my conditions.” I raise my eyebrows at him and smirk.
“If that’s what you want, I should force you to answer questions more often.” He laughs a little, relaxing a bit. “What were you like with Ashley?” I lower my voice slightly. “I want to know about the stalking, too, so it all counts as one question.” He groans and sips his beer.