Chapter Six #3
He grinned crookedly at her, wide and luminous. Grinned, which was made so much better now that she could actually see his mouth, especially when two long, sweeping dimples appeared, carved deep into his cheeks alongside it.
God, he had dimples.
“My secret. I’m not telling you.”
“Oh, come on.”
He shook his head. “Nope. Gotta keep some things close to the chest.”
“You’ve kept almost everything close to your chest.”
He snorted and tapped at the other bowl he’d brought over for her and set on the coffee table. “And I brought you a salad too.”
She glared at him. “What, are you trying to make sure I’m healthy or something?”
A wicked gleam glinted in his eye. The novelty of actually seeing him smirk would never go away now. “Eat your greens, Miss Adams.”
Audrey punched his shoulder playfully, and he gave her an indignant look. But she was already reaching for the remote to get her revenge before he could stop her.
“Fine, I will. But I need some sort of trash with my dinner and you owe me an episode of Love Is Blind. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.”
He groaned dramatically but didn’t protest when she fired up Netflix on the little TV across from them.
Audrey couldn’t believe how happy she was in that moment, tucked next to him on the couch, nestled into his warmth on the outside while the incredible pasta he’d brought her warmed her from within.
Having Theo here in her space alone with her was so much nicer than she’d expected.
Given how he was when she’d first met him, she’d half wondered if it might have been extremely awkward with no buffer and nothing between them.
But she was shocked at how utterly right everything felt.
Even the fact that he’d actually taken the hoodie off to reveal a dark green Henley underneath, the low, unbuttoned collar displaying far more of the length of the scar than she’d seen before, showed how much he trusted her.
Theo really did seem to feel safe with her now, and that was enormous.
Things had shifted.
There was no going back.
Not for her, anyway.
They made it through the first episode and got up from the couch to wash dishes together.
“They can’t really be serious about expecting people to go on these weird dates and get fully engaged without seeing each other’s faces, can they?
” Theo asked while he scrubbed one of the bowls. “That’s crazy.”
Audrey slowly reached over and turned off the water to stare pointedly at him, the bowl she was drying abandoned in her hands. She blinked and said nothing, only continuing to stare.
Even when his face went beet red, still she said nothing.
“Well, I wasn’t going to, uh…I-I-mean, I—” he finally sputtered. “It’s not like I was—”
“Uh-huh. Tell me more about your exact plans in regard to that mask.” She raised an eyebrow. “I’d dearly love to know.”
The red crept up to the tips of his ears and slunk down along his neck, and he rubbed the back of it awkwardly. “Okay, so I wasn’t really planning on anything, much less keeping it on for this long. I didn’t really know what I was going to do, I only knew I—”
She snorted and turned the water back on, rinsing the bowl he’d left in the sink and plucking it away to dry and stack next to the other one. “I’m just giving you a hard time.” She grinned impishly up at him.
He buried his face in a wide palm. “I’m never going to live this down, am I?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Never.”
“Guess I shouldn’t pull that tiramisu out of the bag, then?”
“Tiramisu?!” she cried. “You brought dessert too?”
After dessert (and only a slight protest from Theo, who insisted that he should probably leave so she could do some of her homework before Audrey shut him down), she shoved him back onto the couch and played another episode, situating herself comfortably beneath his arm.
They talked through the contestants and agreed on which ones were the biggest assholes, and she laughed when Theo got riled up about how much he hated the star fuckboy on the show while they watched him gaslight multiple women.
As the show went on, they moved closer and closer, until eventually Theo was sprawled out along the small loveseat with Audrey tugged tightly against his chest, her head tucked under his chin and his warm, strong arms firmly wrapped around her, as if he never wanted to let her go.
But two episodes were apparently all he had in him, and sometime around the beginning of the third, he fell deeply asleep.
His breathing slowed, and Audrey lowered the volume and snuggled up to his chest. His lips were slightly parted, his face completely soft and lax, and he was so far gone, he didn’t even move when she brushed some of his long, shaggy hair away from his eyes so she could see them properly again.
She didn’t think she’d ever tire of looking at him now.
She was just about to close her eyes and nap with him when her phone buzzed in her leggings pocket. She pulled it out and lowered the brightness so it wouldn’t wake Theo while she read the message.
Violet | Hey, is your cryptid still there, or has he run away yet?
Audrey suppressed a snort. Her roommate was probably wanting to know if she could come back or not.
Audrey | He’s still here
Audrey | He fell asleep on the couch, actually
Audrey | Want me to wake him up and kick him out?
Violet | NO
Violet | OH MY GOD DON’T MOVE
Violet | I want to see him
Violet | Think I can sneak in?
She bit her lip.
Audrey | He might freak if he hears you
Audrey | His mask is off
Violet | YOU GOT HIM TO TAKE THE MASK OFF?!?1
Violet | STAY THERE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, I’M ALMOST HOME
Violet | I’LL BE SO FUCKING QUIET I SWEAR
Audrey shook her head and reached for the black KN95 that had been lying forgotten for the last few hours on the coffee table. Violet might be insanely curious, but she wasn’t going to betray Theo’s trust or let them go backward. Not after today.
As soon as her roommate’s keys quietly clicked and turned painfully slowly in the lock, Audrey spread the mask over Theo’s face and slid the loops over his big ears, arranging his hair back over his right eye the way he always wore it out in public.
His face twitched slightly at the change, but he didn’t wake.
He must have been really used to having the mask on—or he really was that exhausted.
Violet finally opened the door just enough to slide inside, her cheeks flushed red with alcohol as she closed it silently behind her.
She carried her shoes in her hand and padded carefully over to peer at Theo over the back of the sofa, her mouth dropping open as she followed the length of his body.
One of his long legs was draped over the arm of the loveseat and the other spilled down the side of it.
He’s HUGE, she mouthed silently. Then she pointed indignantly at the mask. You put that back, didn’t you?
Audrey nodded smugly at her.
Bitch, Violet mouthed, rolling her eyes and slinking over to the bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind her.
Audrey suppressed a laugh and waited until she could hear the shower on in full force before finally turning back to Theo.
She cupped his cheeks, tilting his head slightly before gently running her hands through his hair again.
“Theo?”
His eyes snapped open and his head jerked toward the bathroom in alarm when he realized it wasn’t Audrey in the shower. He touched the mask on his face before looking back at her quizzically.
She pressed her forehead to his. “Violet’s home,” she whispered. “I put it on for you before she got here. Didn’t think you’d want a stranger to see.”
He wasn’t something to be gawked at.
Theo blew out a deep breath and plucked at the strands of hair around her face. “Thank you, sweetheart,” he murmured, carefully tucking some of them behind her ear. “Sorry I fell asleep. I guess I was more tired than I thought.”
Audrey shook her head. “It was really nice. Don’t apologize.”
He grunted as he pushed himself up off the couch, rubbing his eyes while he straightened and yawned beneath the mask.
His eye widened when he glanced at his watch.
“Oh shit, no, I should. You have to open tomorrow and it’s already after ten.
I meant to leave a lot sooner than this.
” His satchel was near the couch, and he stood and slung it over his shoulder.
She scrambled to her feet and grabbed one of his hands. “I’m glad you didn’t,” she whispered, standing on her tiptoes and putting her other hand on his cheek. “I don’t want you to go.”
Theo eyed the bathroom door over his shoulder before lifting a hand to rip off his mask, so quickly and so easily this time.
“I don’t want to go either. I’m going to head home anyway, but…” He leaned down and slid a hand along the back of her neck. “I’m not making the same mistake twice.” His thumb softly stroked her cheek before he bent down and pressed his mouth to hers.
The second good-night kiss he gave her was every bit as good as the first. His hands left fire in their wake everywhere his fingertips grazed against her bare skin, and together they lingered there in front of her door, quietly exploring each other’s cadence and the planes of their faces now that they could.
Her heart attempted to pound through her chest, and Audrey desperately tried to sear the way he looked and felt into her mind.
Theo hadn’t even left yet, and she already missed him.
When the shower shut off, he finally pulled away from her with a sigh and slipped his mask back over his mouth, his lips swollen and red, his cheeks flushed, and his breath heavy.
After one more hug, he turned and let himself out of her apartment, only glancing once over his shoulder to make sure she’d locked the door behind him.
With him gone, her apartment suddenly felt so very strange and empty.
Too quiet.
And too cold.