CHAPTER FOUR THEO
CHAPTER FOUR
THEO
Lucy stops just on the other side of the pool.
My breathing quickens, my heart stumbling over itself as I take in the way she looks.
She’s beautiful, with her auburn hair windswept and pulled away from her face.
I know there are seven freckles on the tip of her nose and when the light hits her eyes, you can see the dark swirls of blue in her irises.
Lucy Taylor has been the apple of my eye since we were kids. If only I hadn’t made a promise to her long ago that nothing would ever ruin our friendship—including the feelings I’ve harbored for her for years.
My brows cinch closer as I take in her appearance. Her eyes are red rimmed and puffy, dark bags beneath them. She’s been crying, but why? Did someone hurt her?
She interrupts my thoughts and the silence. “Hey,” she says, her voice rough as she forces out the word.
“Hey.” I swallow hard, the muscle in my jaw tightening. Who made you cry, Luce?
She walks around the pool, closing the distance between us, although she doesn’t get too close. Her eyebrows draw inward. “What are you doing here?”
I could lie. I could make up some bullshit excuse that I was in the area and stopped by, but she can read me like a book. She would know it was a lie before I’d get the sentence out.
“I came to check on you.”
She blinks, her head tilting to the side. “How’d you know I was here?”
“Your mom called me. She said you were upset.”
Her nostrils flare and she stares back at me with a hint of irritation. It vanishes just as quickly as it had appeared. I don’t know what’s going on with her, but I have every intention of figuring it out. I knew it was weird when she blew me off, saying this weekend didn’t work to get together.
And when her mother called to ask me if I knew what was going on, I knew it was something more than Lucy had alluded to. I wasn’t surprised to hear she came to the beach house, but hearing she was upset struck a chord inside my chest.
This is her safe place. The place she always retreats to when she needs a break from the outside noise.
“I’m fine,” Lucy says, shaking her head dismissively. Her walls are in place, concealing any emotion she’s feeling. I hate when she’s like this—when she acts like nothing bothers her.
“Luce,” I say, my voice hushed as I take a step closer to her. “You don’t have to hide from me.” I pause, swallowing roughly. Her eyes are damp as they snap to mine. “It’s me.”
She lets out a breath, her throat bobbing. “I just—” Her chin wobbles. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
“That’s okay.” I reach for her, pulling her closer. She doesn’t resist as she steps into my embrace, wrapping her arms around my waist. My eyelids flutter shut and I breathe in the faint smell of her shampoo. Jasmine and rose. “We don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to talk about.”
Her head nods against my chest and she doesn’t release me. She’s silent, her body softening against mine as she holds onto me as if I’m her lifeline. My chest constricts. What the hell happened? I’ve known Lucy my entire life and she doesn’t get upset easily.
“Let’s get you inside, it’s getting chilly out,” I murmur into her hair. She nods again, her arms tightening around me before she takes a step away, taking any warmth with her. “Have you eaten yet?”
“No,” she admits. “I hadn’t really thought much about food.”
A small smile tugs on my lips. “You let me worry about that, okay?”
She stares back at me, her bright blue eyes filling with tears. “Okay,” she whispers, the word barely falling from her lips before the tears spill over the edge.
“Luce, come here,” I murmur, reaching for her again, tugging her body close to mine.
She collapses into me, her body shaking as she quietly cries against my chest. “I got you.” My heart splinters open.
I want to take her pain away. Whatever’s upsetting her, I want to take the burden from her. “It’s okay.”
A moment passes before she snakes her arms around my back again, pressing her body flush against mine. She hugs me tightly, her body racking with sorrow and shivering from the cold. I need to get her inside where it’s warm. “Let’s get you inside, Freckles.”
I reach for her wrists, unwrapping them from my torso and pulling them up over my shoulders.
Her cheeks are damp, her eyes swollen and red as she stares up at me.
She doesn’t protest as I bend my knees and sweep her into my arms. She tips her head, burying her face in my neck as I carry her in through the back door into the house.
I don’t stop until we’re in the living room and I sit down on the couch. She doesn’t move from my lap, and I revel in the way she feels, holding her tightly against me. She hiccups, her body jolting as another quiet sob ripples through her.
“Theo,” she whispers. “I fucked up. I fucked everything up.”
“Shh,” I murmur, smoothing her hair over her head. My mind reels, grasping for any possible scenario, but I have no idea what the hell she’s talking about. “Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out, okay? I got you, Luce.”
“How can you—” Her body jolts with another hiccup as she pulls away. Her eyes are wide, her nostrils flaring as she stares down at me. “You don’t even know what happened. How can you say that?”
My heart hammers in my chest. “Because I’m your best friend.”
“That doesn’t mean my problems are yours.”
The muscle in my jaw tightens. “Maybe not, but it means I’m not fucking going anywhere. It means I’m here through thick and thin to help you with whatever is happening. I may not be able to solve all your problems, but I’ll try my hardest to, every time.”
Her expression fractures and her blue eyes soften. “This isn’t a problem you can solve,” she whispers. “I don’t know that there’s anything anyone can do.”
“Lucy,” I plead, my hands lifting to brush the hair away from her face. I rest my hands on her collarbones. “Tell me what’s going on. Let me in. Let me help you.”
“I—” She stops, her face screwing up, eyelids slamming shut. “Fuck,” she mutters, sucking in a deep breath. What the hell has her so torn up right now? Her slender throat bobs as she swallows hard. “I’m pregnant.”
The air leaves my lungs in a rush, and her words strike my chest like an iron fist. My entire body falls still and for a moment, I think my heart forgets how to beat.
The rug is ripped right out from under my feet.
My mind twists. I didn’t know Lucy was seeing anyone. Or talking to anyone, for that matter.
“It was a drunken mistake.” She shakes her head quickly, her bloodshot eyes opening. “He wants nothing to do with me or the baby.”
My heart remembers how to beat, and it shifts into overdrive, pounding away in its enclosure. My stomach knots. “What do you mean? What happened?”
I don’t want to hear the details, but I need to know what exactly happened here.
She swipes at the lingering tears beneath her eyes.
“It was a one-night stand kind of thing.” She cringes.
“It’s not something I really do, but that’s beside the point,” she quickly adds, her eyes unreadable as they search mine.
“My period’s normally irregular, so I didn’t think much of it last month. And then it didn’t come this month.”
She pauses, her lips pursing, shame washing over her expression. I can’t form a coherent thought or opinion on the situation, but I want to wash her negative feelings away.
“I took a test earlier this week and Elena helped me track him down on the internet. I spoke to him earlier today and told him.” She sucks in her cheeks, her chest rising and falling. “He said a baby would complicate his life, denied the fact that it’s his and told me to never contact him again.”
My heart stalls. A boiling rage builds inside and my veins are hot. “Who is he?”
She shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Who is he, Luce?” I ask again, my voice deadly quiet. I will find this motherfucker and rearrange his fucking vertebrae.
“I don’t want him involved if he doesn’t want to be,” she says in a rush, her eyes wide. “It doesn’t matter who he is because he’s not fucking important.”
The muscle in my jaw tightens. “Even if he isn’t involved, he needs to know there are consequences.”
Lucy stares at me for a moment, her eyes like ice. “No, he doesn’t.” She scoffs, the space between her eyebrows creasing. “He doesn’t matter, Theo. I want to forget he exists and you tracking him down and beating his ass does nothing.”
“I didn’t say that’s what I’d do,” I say slowly. It’s not a lie… I never spoke those words out loud.
She narrows her eyes. “I know you better than you know yourself.”
She’s got me there.
“Touché.” I chuckle, an attempt to lighten the mood. I stare at Lucy for a moment, my eyes tracing the constellations of freckles scattered across her cheeks and over the bridge of her nose. “Have you told your parents yet?”
Lucy lets out a ragged breath. “God, no. Can you imagine? They’re going to think I’m a complete failure.”
“No, they won’t,” I argue. Lucy can never do wrong in her parents’ eyes. She has great parents, honestly, and I refuse to believe they would be anything less than supportive. “We all make mistakes, they’ll understand. They have to.”
“They don’t have to do anything.” Lucy stares at me for a moment, her gaze growing distant.
“They’re your parents, Luce. They love you and care about you. Sure, there will probably be some shock on their end, but they won’t let you do this alone.” I pause and swallow hard, my stomach doing a somersault. “And neither will I.”
Her eyes flick to mine, her lips parting with a shallow breath. “Theo…”
My heart hammers harder in my chest and with the way she’s staring at me, I know I need to get out from under her before I end up doing something we’ll both regret. “Let’s get you comfortable.” I slide her off my lap and quickly get up from the couch. “I’ll make you something to eat.”
Her chest falls with a heavy sigh and a slow smile pulls on her lips. “You always know exactly what I need.”
“I know you better than yourself,” I say quietly, repeating the same words back to her before I slip out of the room and head into the kitchen.
As soon as I’m out of her line of vision, I let out a ragged breath, raking my hand through my hair. I don’t know how to solve her problem this time. I don’t have a perfect solution, but I do know I won’t let her go through any of this alone.
Whatever Lucy needs, I will do.
And if it’s something I can’t do, you know damn well I’ll find someone who can.