Chapter 50
Chapter Fifty
Wren
We did it.
The plan was flawless, and we fucking did it! I wasn’t sure what to expect from Amanda, but her face was priceless. If she thinks she can take Theo from me, she better think again. I’m not the girl I was in high school. This version of Wren will defend the people she loves tooth and nail. No one will walk over me ever again.
“Theo, you won’t believe—” The space is dark and silent. “Theo?” I call out, but he doesn’t answer.
He didn’t tell me he planned on going out. Where could he have gone?
Something seemed off before I left, but then again, he’s been off since Amanda sent him that message. He’s not happy about posting the video, but that wouldn’t send him away. He wouldn’t just leave.
The deadbolt unlocks, and I spin around in time to find Theo stepping across the threshold.
“Hey, love,” he greets. “Are you okay? You look a little pale.” His expression drops before I can respond. “What did she do?” He rushes toward me and takes my face in his hands. “Did she hurt you?” Tilting my head to the side, he starts to examine me.
“No,” I respond breathlessly. “It went well. I mean, as well as it could go.”
“Good,” he sighs. “I was afraid?—”
“She didn’t hurt me.” I reassure him. “You should have seen her face though. . . she wasn’t exactly happy to see me outside her door.”
“I bet,” he laughs, taking a step back. “Hopefully she learned her lesson and won’t try this on anyone else.”
We haven’t decided on a legal course of action yet. There are pros and cons to staying quiet and taking this to court. One of the biggest pros is that if we press charges, it’ll ensure she doesn’t do this again. But one of the big drawbacks is having to see her—deal with her—in court. Taking the high road is never easy, but Theo and I are leaning toward doing the right thing. No one deserves to go through what she forced us through.
“I went to see my mom.” Theo brings my attention back to him. “I just. . .” He looks down before meeting my gaze again. “I needed her to set me straight. My brain was being, well, kind of a bitch.”
“Did it help?” I take his hand.
“I think so.” His voice is low, barely a whisper. “But I don’t want you to think you weren’t helping me. I just needed her?—”
“Tough love?” I ask with a slight laugh.
Those brown eyes sparkle when he cracks a smile. “Exactly.”
“I’m not upset.” I brush my knuckles over his cheek.
I’m glad Theo’s mom is there for him. He needs someone to rely on, someone he can go to when he needs wise advice. I can only do so much, and I certainly don’t have the wisdom she has.
“I’m sorry?—”
I shake my head. “Don’t be.”
He doesn’t have to say it. I know what’s going through his head.
Wren doesn’t have a mom to run to. I shouldn’t shove it in her face.
But I’ve been over this before, and I’ve come to accept that I never truly had a mother. It’s hard to mourn something you never had—someone who was never there.
“You need her just as much as she needs you,” I tell him as he presses his forehead to mine. “And there’s nothing wrong with that.”
The only sound between us is our breathing, and for the first time in days, the tension in my shoulders disappears. It’s over, and the only thing that’s left is us. We don’t have to worry anymore. . .
Except for the fact that you posted a sex tape with your boyfriend.
“Theo,” I murmur, my voice shaky. “The video. . . have you looked?”
“No.” His voice is smooth and comforting. “But I can if you want.”
I close my eyes and breathe out. Theo’s videos perform well. So I have no doubt it has views—and comments. Most people talk about his performance and how they wish it were them. Sometimes, they talk about the women and how beautiful they are. I can imagine what they may be saying about me, and after today, I don’t have the energy to face it.
I choose blissful ignorance.
“Not yet.” I force a smile. “I just want to be with you.”
“Sounds like heaven,” Theo whispers, brushing his nose over mine before he kisses me. “Let’s go, mi amor.”
Theo takes me to our room, and a soft smile spreads across my face. When did it become our room and not his? Was it when I crawled into his bed after I couldn’t sleep? When he asked me to stay and not go back to my old apartment? Or was it more recently—when we made the video and whispered how much we love each other on camera? I wish I could say I knew for sure, but what I know is that my home isn’t a place or room—it’s Theo.
It was always him.
The air is chilly, and the sheets are cool. With a relaxed sigh, I flip onto my side and inch closer to Theo. Normally, he sleeps on his side with his arm draped over my waist. He’s not a back sleeper, so when I bump into his arm, I can’t help but take a peek.
“What are you doing?” I ask, my voice thick with sleep.
His eyebrows shoot up while he stares at his phone. “Who is this woman? And why is she so stunning ?”
My own brows knit together. “What are you talking about?”
“What I’d give to be her,” he says.
My confusion intensifies. I press my elbow into the mattress and glare at him in the dark. “Are you sleep scrolling? Who do you want to be?”
He tilts his head, and those dark eyes bore into mine. “Theo, I’ve been a fan since the beginning. This is the best and hottest video you’ve ever posted.”
Silence descends between us, and I don’t dare move a muscle.
He says the next few words without looking away. “The love, passion, the heat. What I’d give to be loved like that.”
It hits me all at once, and my mouth becomes dry. “Are those... ?”
“Comments on our video?” He starts to scroll again, nodding ever so slightly. “Yes, about five hundred and thirty-eight, to be exact. This one guy won’t stop complimenting your ass. . . I’m banning him.”
“Theo . . .”
He looks at me again with a smirk. “You don’t want me to ban him?”
“Why are you reading the comments?” I ask in barely a whisper.
“I was curious.” He shrugs, dropping the phone.
“About what?”
“If they see what I do.”
He’s said it time and time again, but I don’t stop the words from tumbling from my lips. “And what do you see?”
Theo’s eyes leave mine to scan my features. My breath hitches in my throat when they land on my lips, and my heart drops into my stomach.
He brings his eyes back to mine. “How beautiful you are.”
My expression softens, and I smile softly at the man I’ve loved for years. “You make me feel beautiful,” I whisper.
Which is true. I never thought I was pretty because no one seemed interested in me, but Theo, he was always there. His subtle compliments, tiny glances, they meant something. I never connected the pieces because I was scared.
But not anymore.
It’s time to stop holding onto the past. I’m not the girl I once was, and that’s okay. She’s been strong for far too long; it’s time she rests. I can handle this.
“I know you think you have to redeem yourself,” I start, and Theo seemingly stops breathing. “But you don’t. After all you’ve done—after all we’ve done for each other. . . I think we can agree a mistake is a mistake. And honestly, I don’t think you would have followed through with your original plan.”
He stays quiet, almost as if he’s thinking it over.
“You wouldn’t even have made it to her door.” I reach out to trace his jawline. “You would have found a way to me. . . because that’s what we do.”
“You’re right.” He admits with a small grin. “It’s what we do.”
I lean forward and rest my forehead against his. “I love you.”
“And I love you, mi hermosa.”
As he holds me, I start to drift off. For the first time, I’m not scared of what the future may hold. I have the man I love, and that’s enough.
“Hold on.”
I jolt awake as Theo reaches for something behind him.
“What are you?—”
“I need to ban that guy. I don’t want him looking at your ass again.”
“Theodore.” I cackle as he proceeds to tap at his phone. “What am I going to do with you?”
He shoots me a wide smile and winks. “Love me forever.”
Now that is something I can do.
With the phone in his hand, he glances at me with a troublesome smirk. “Wren?”
I side-eye him, not trusting that gleam in his eyes.
“We should watch the video.”
“Why on earth would I want to see my naked ass on camera?”
“Because it’s hot.” Theo winks and inches closer. “You’re not even a little curious?”
I can’t say the thought ever crossed my mind. Sure, I’ve had sexual fantasies, but most of the time, those are in first-person point of view. The only body I imagined was Theo’s, not mine.
But now. . . he has me wondering.
“Let me see,” I murmur.
Theo hands me his phone, and I nestle against his arm. He doesn’t speak as I scroll through the comments. One thing I can say is that Theo has a supportive fan base. Sure, there are the ones begging to film with him, but most of them are simply excited he posted and that he seems happy. One person mentions that the light is back in his eyes, and it piques my curiosity again.
With a heavy exhale, I hover my finger over the play button, trying to steel my nerves. “I can stop it if I get uncomfortable?”
“Of course,” he says without hesitation. “You’re in control.”
I nod and stare at the screen, wanting to start the video, yet too nervous to move. It doesn’t matter what others may think or say. All that matters is that Theo thinks I’m beautiful. He always has.
He grazes his hand over mine. “Love.” He kisses my cheek, inching toward my ear. “Just press play.”