Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
Theo
Present Day
W hen I got back to my place, I headed straight to the bathroom to check on Willow. She was still there, sleeping in the tub, covered in crumbs. I moved in closer to find her snoring very lightly.
I tapped her arm. “Willow, you should go to bed.”
No response, just more snoring.
She couldn’t stay in the tub all night long, so with a short sigh, I bent down and lifted her into my arms. I carried her out of the bathroom to her bedroom, shaking off as many crumbs as I could. She still didn’t wake. She simply snuggled in deeper against my chest, giving me nothing more than her inhales and exhales.
With finesse, I used my foot to pull back the blanket on her bed, then laid her down. She instantly rolled on her side, grabbed a pillow, and hugged it against her chest, growing even more comfortable. I covered her up and tucked her in.
I tucked her in .
What the hell, Theo?
Never in my life had I tucked another human into bed.
As I turned to leave, I flipped off the light, only to hear her voice.
“Theodore?”
I didn’t look back to face her. “Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
I didn’t reply. I went back out on my boat. It was a hassle and a pain in the ass to take it back out on the water, but I was too awake to stay in the house. Plus, if I stayed in the house, I might’ve found the urge to check in on Willow more than once.
Instead, I went out on the water and thought about the fairy who got too high on Matt Turner’s brownies.