18. Chapter Eighteen Theo
Chapter Eighteen: Theo
“ W e got Miss Maisie-ed,” Lucy says.
“We… what?”
I know she explained who Miss Maisie was earlier, but I don’t quite understand how the silver-haired woman’s name has been turned into a verb.
“Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter.”
“But—”
“Listen, Theo, I should probably go check to make sure Josie and Elijah’s getaway car is ready to go.”
The night isn’t even close to over yet, though. She’s just making an excuse to step away. Or maybe it’s not merely an excuse, but it clearly shows that Lucy has about a thousand other things she needs to be doing right now. Things that are far more important than talking to me.
But after everything she told me about what happened with Eric after we left Camp Hannefort, I need to tell her exactly how I feel.
I need to tell her that, if I could go back in time and do everything all over again, I wouldn’t have been such a sourpuss about her sunshine-y attitude. I wouldn’t have spent the entire summer glaring at her from afar because I was annoyed about how pretty and charming she was. I wouldn’t have spent all my energy either arguing with her at every chance or avoiding her at all costs.
I would have done everything differently. I might have talked to her. I might have told her that I liked her eyes, her smile, her laugh.
I definitely would have kissed her during that silly game. Maybe I would have even gotten the courage to kiss her before that, if things were different. Maybe I would have asked for her number at the end of the summer so we could text each other from opposite coasts.
Maybe there’s a version of reality where everything worked out between us twelve years ago.
I want to tell her that I wish I could have that reality. That, even though I know it’s impossible, I’d like to at least try to emulate it now that we’re older. I want to tell her that I’m seriously considering Stacy’s proposal, and that I might be living just an hour or so away from her soon enough. If there really is nothing between her and Eric, maybe that means there could be something between me and her.
“Lucy,” I begin. “I wanted to tell you—”
“Come on, Maidzilla!” shouts one of the blonde twins whose names I still don’t know. “Josie is about to throw the bouquet!”
My lips are still parted, ready to let loose the rest of my bold declaration, when Lucy shoots me an apologetic look and allows herself to be dragged away by her friend.
A massive crowd of young women forms around Josie, who is grinning from ear to ear as she holds her bridal bouquet over her head. I find myself absorbed into a group of guys whose only choice is to watch from afar as the girls attempt to win a happily ever after by catching the bouquet.
“Are you ready?” Josie shouts.
The girls cheer loudly. Beside me, Harry chuckles.
Josie turns her back to the crowd and then flings the bouquet so high up in the air that several people watching from the sidelines let out gasps of appreciation. The bouquet seems to hang suspended in midair for a moment before beginning its descent, flipping petals over stems several times as it sails over the outstretched hands of dozens of women.
At last, with a sense of profound finality, the bouquet lands directly in the arms of a very shocked-looking redhead. I recognize her from the barbecue. Mabel, I think. She wasn’t even really part of the bouquet-catching crowd, from the looks of it. She’d just been loitering on the outer edges to make it look like she was eagerly participating.
From the look on her face, she certainly wasn’t expecting to catch it.
I see Lucy take one look at Mabel and the surprise in her expression, then burst out laughing. Many of the other girls follow suit, seeming to understand why it would be such a shock that the bouquet would land so decidedly in the redhead’s arms.
My attention is coaxed away from the amusement, however, when someone taps my arm.
Eric has found me.
“It’s Theo, right?”
“Yeah. Hi. How’s it going?”
He shrugs. “I was wondering if I could ask you something.”
I glance around, but Harry has already drifted away. I’m stuck in this conversation for now.
“Uh, sure.”
“What’s the deal with you and Lucy?”
“Pardon?”
“I mean, you literally interrupted us when you asked her to dance, so don’t act coy, dude.”
I raise my eyebrows at his tone. Every other time I’ve seen him, Eric has been friendly and easygoing. Now, however, he looks peeved.
“If you wanted to dance with her, you should’ve asked,” I reply, keeping my tone light. “The night is young. There are still plenty of opportunities.”
“Listen, man. I like her. We’ve got history. And I feel like I’m finally getting my chance to recreate the magic we used to have.”
“The magic where you gave her infectious mononucleosis and then didn’t see her again for over a decade?”
Eric narrows his eyes. He’s much shorter than me—most people are—but he’s doing a decent job of trying to pretend he’s not.
“I get it. You think you’re special because she shared that little story with you. Or maybe you’re just friends. Whatever.” Eric tosses his head to the side, trying to look totally unbothered during this confrontation, but I can’t help thinking that this is exactly the sort of self-conscious man who hides behind bravado.
“If she likes you so much, why don’t you go ask her out instead of bothering me?”
I want to punch myself as soon as the words are out. That wasn’t what I meant to say. Now it sounds like I’m encouraging him to go after Lucy, which is the last thing I want. Especially now that Lucy has confirmed she’s not interested in him like that.
Eric snorts humorlessly. “Well, I was in the middle of that before you showed up.”
“Maybe you should’ve spoken up before she got away.”
“You think you’re a real cool guy, don’t you?” he retorts.
For some reason, that makes me laugh. Cool is the last word I’d use to describe myself.
“Oh, yeah,” Eric continues, nodding as if he has me all figured out. “I asked around about you. Cool guy from California with a famous mommy and rich daddy. Sauntering around here in your Tom Ford suit—”
“It’s Thom Browne, actually.”
“—thinking that you can just have any pretty little thing you set your sights on. Well, you’re wrong, man. Lucy is a nice girl. A small-town type of woman. You can’t dazzle her as easily as you think. I understand what kind of man she needs, okay? She needs a man who is humble and hardworking. Someone who isn’t going to whisk her away to Hollywood for a little while, then grow bored of her and toss her away like she’s nothing. Lucy belongs with a guy like me , so stop trying to get between us.”
For a long moment, all I can do is stare at him.
My first thought is, This guy is crazy . Because how would he have ever drawn the conclusion that I’m trying to get between him and Lucy? What evidence would he have to back that up? The scene that he walked into when we were in the woods? Or just now, when all I did was simply ask her to dance?
Clearly, Eric is the sort of man who gets jealous easily. The possessive sort of guy who thinks he’s being protective when he’s really on the border of being blatantly controlling and manipulative. Basically, a walking red flag.
I should’ve known all that lighthearted friendliness was a mask. All my fretting about how he’d be a better match for Lucy seems stupid now. He doesn’t match her energy at all. It’s all a front. But Lucy’s light is all genuine. She truly is a ray of sunshine.
Even if I’m pretty sure Lucy isn’t interested in him, there’s no way I’m going to let him think he has a chance with her.
“Listen,” I say. “You’ve got me all wrong. I have no interest in whisking Lucy away to Hollywood, and I really don’t think there’s even the slightest possibility that I could ever get bored of a woman like her. Also, the way you’re talking to me about her right now is really inappropriate. She’s a human being, not a toy for us to fight over.”
Eric sneers and takes a step toward me. I can smell the alcohol on his breath. “You’re good at that, huh? Acting all chivalrous? Acting runs in your family, after all. I bet everyone thinks you’re just the nicest guy in town, don’t they? Got everyone fooled. But I saw you in the woods last night. You had your hands all over her. She looked relieved when I showed up.”
I hate the flicker of uncertainty that his words coax to life within me. Was Lucy relieved when Eric interrupted that moment? I knew she probably wasn’t delighted to be tangled up in a bunch of muddy plants with me, but I thought we’d made a small breakthrough.
Have I merely been consumed by wishful thinking since then? Did Lucy simply accept my offer to dance because she wanted to be polite? Or because she only wanted an excuse to exit her conversation with Eric?
No, I don’t believe that.
“Yeah, look at your face, man. You know I’m right,” Eric says. “Lucy is mine , so back off.”
Before I can tell him that he’s acting like a complete moron, another voice cracks through our standoff like a hammer.
“I am not yours.”
We whirl around to find Lucy standing there, hands clenched into fists at her sides, glaring at Eric with all the force of a hundred fiery suns. She is no longer sunshine, but a raging inferno.
Like a chameleon, Eric’s expression melts into a mockery of pure innocence. I can see the strain in his features when he pastes a smile onto his face and tries to look as relaxed as ever. “Lucy, hey! Believe me—that’s not what I meant.”
Thankfully, Lucy doesn’t buy it. Maybe she’s seen through him from the very start and I’ve been an idiot to think that she actually might be interested in him.
“I belong to nobody,” Lucy snaps. “Not you. Not Theo. Not any other man who has the audacity to bicker over me behind my back at my cousin’s wedding, of all places. You’re really not the man I thought you were, Eric. It’s a shame.”
Eric’s mask drops. A few people nearby are subtly looking on. I resist the urge to fade into the wallpaper and disappear. I’m not abandoning Lucy.
“Lucy, you’re being ridiculous. That’s not what—”
“The only thing that’s ridiculous is your assumption that, just because you’ve been nice to me, I’d happily let myself be considered one of your possessions,” Lucy practically hisses. “Leave me alone, Eric. Go put that fake smile back on your face and play nice for the rest of the evening, because I’d really hate for Elijah to find out that his long-lost cousin is an absolute loser on his wedding day.”
Then, with a sheepish glance up at me, Lucy turns on her heel and stalks away through the crowd.
Eric scoffs loudly. “Whatever, dude.”
Shaking his head, he heads in the opposite direction toward the open bar.
I don’t think twice. I go after Lucy.