Chapter Thirteen
Thirteen
Theo | Mountains or beach?
Audrey stared at Theo’s message. There was no context, and they hadn’t been discussing either beaches or mountains. He’d just sent it out of the blue.
She zipped up his hoodie and started to type.
He never gave her panties back, so she’d stolen his favorite hoodie in retaliation.
He didn’t seem too sad about it when she walked out of the house wearing it, and she loved the way it wrapped her in warmth and smelled like him, all woodsy pine and bergamot and spice.
Audrey | Are you thinking of going somewhere? I like both
Audrey | I’ve never been to the mountains, but the beach is great
Audrey | Some of them in Florida are really pretty
Theo | No, no, it’s the This or That game.
Theo | Don’t think, just choose.
Theo | First impulse.
Huh. This was new.
Audrey | Ok
Audrey | Mountains, because I’d like to go someday
Audrey | What do you even do there?
Audrey | And which would you pick?
Theo | We can talk about that this weekend.
Theo | Chocolate or vanilla?
Audrey | Hey, wait! You didn’t answer!
Audrey | What would you choose?
Theo | Not the point of this game, and the asker doesn’t have to answer.
Theo | Chocolate or vanilla?
Audrey | Both, and stop making up rules
Theo | You can’t pick both, and I’m not making up the rules.
Theo | Chocolate or vanilla?
She wrinkled her nose at the screen. He was definitely making up these rules.
Audrey | Chocolate
Theo | Noted.
She only saw Theo at the coffee shop for the rest of the week.
As he’d promised her on Monday, he kept well away from her both physically and digitally during her study hours while she prepped for her Thursday midterm, aside from checking in during the day and visiting over her breaks at work like he did every day.
But he still continued this new game at random moments, and just when she was least expecting it, another of his questions would light up her phone.
Theo | Cake or pie?
Audrey | GOD THEO, YOU’RE MAKING ME CHOOSE?!
Audrey | NO
Theo | Cake or pie?
Audrey |…pie
Audrey | Fuck you.
Theo | Patience, sweetheart. We’re working you up to that.
She gasped and fully inhaled the cheese puff she’d just popped in her mouth.
“Auds? What’s—” Violet was in the kitchen making a snack, and she paled when she turned. “AUDREY!”
Luckily, Audrey managed to cough it up, red-faced and teary-eyed, before Violet actually had to perform the Heimlich maneuver on her. But they—and half of their couch—ended up covered in bright orange cheese powder from the debacle.
Theo, meanwhile, didn’t miss a beat.
Theo | Pumpkin pie or apple?
It took her a few minutes of wheezing to recover long enough to type her answer.
She didn’t tell him what he’d just done to her.
Only once that week did Theo break his rule and send her some questions later than dinnertime. He must have been thinking about her before bed.
Theo | Coke or Pepsi?
Audrey | Coke
Theo | Fancy hotel in the city or Airbnb remote getaway?
Audrey | Ohhhhh I want both!
Audrey | I never get to travel
Theo | Pick.
Audrey | Airbnb, you ass
Theo | Showers or baths?
Audrey | Baths
Three dots, but they were quick.
Theo | Wait, really?
Audrey | Yeah
Audrey | We didn’t have bathtubs in a lot of my foster homes, and we don’t have one in my apartment now
Audrey | Soaking in a tub is the height of luxury
Theo | Good to know.
Theo | Back massage or foot rub?
Audrey | Yes
Audrey | And don’t you dare ask again, I want all the massages, so fuck off
Theo | Alright, fine.
Theo | I’ll allow it.
Only one more question came through that night.
Theo | Cozy night in or date night out?
Audrey | Cozy night in, every time
The hesitancy did reappear for a bit with that one.
Theo |…thank god.
Every once in a while, she got him to answer a question of her own.
Theo | I don’t understand vanilla being equated with “plain.”
Theo | There’s nothing plain about vanilla.
Theo | It’s the world’s most expensive spice after saffron and the flavor complexities depend on the provenance, just like coffee beans or cacao.
Audrey | Uh-huh
Audrey | Sure, Theo
Audrey | Exactly what a boring vanilla person would say
Theo | BORING??
Audrey | Yeah
Audrey | Chocolate people are more fun
Theo | Audrey, have you ever had REAL vanilla ice cream before?
Theo | Not made with that artificial vanillin shit, I’m talking the real thing straight from the goddamn orchid.
Audrey | I don’t know that I have, honestly
Audrey | Still counts as plain, though
Audrey | It’s basic
Theo | IT IS NOT BASIC
Theo | THEY CURE THE FUCKING PODS FOR MONTHS, WHICH COME FROM A FLOWER
Theo | AND THAT FLOWER ONLY BLOOMS FOR 24 HOURS BEFORE IT HAS TO BE HAND-POLLINATED WITH A WOODEN NEEDLE
Theo | THE ENTIRE PROCESS SCREAMS COMPLEX
Theo | BASIC???
Theo | ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Audrey laughed so hard, she could barely breathe.
Wednesday night rolled around. She and Violet were lounging around, and she was listening to her roommate rant about her workday while just beginning to wonder what can of soup she should heat up for dinner.
“Can you believe that, Auds? That Hackett would actually say something like that during a client presentation?” There was a thunk that reverberated through the apartment’s walls from Violet’s top bunk. “What a dickwad, throwing me under the bus like that, questioning my sales projections!”
Another thunk.
She must have slapped the wall again.
“Yeah, yeah,” Audrey hummed in response. “I definitely know what that means.”
“It means he embarrassed me in front of a potential client! And my manager!” A pillow flew out from between the curtains and skidded across their floor. “I hate that stupid, tall ginger with his stupid freckles and his stupid accent and—”
A text pinged through on Audrey’s phone from Theo.
Theo | I ordered you food.
Theo | Should be there in a minute.
Theo | Hope you like it, and good luck studying.
Theo | Don’t stay up too late.
A heart emoji? That was a first. She barely had time to stare at the message before her buzzer rang.
He’d sent her Indian food.
Good lord, it was exactly what she needed.
Violet poked her head out between her curtains when Audrey opened the bag. Their apartment was immediately flooded with the heavenly aroma of spices and garlic.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second, hold up—” Her roommate slid down and bounded over to peer into the bounty. “Holy shit, did Theo get you Atithi?!”
“Looks like it.” Audrey tore into a piece of garlic naan and sobbed. It melted in her mouth. “Violet. Violet. How did he know?!” she wailed as she took another bite.
“Oh my god, how much did he order?! Give me one of those!” Violet snatched a samosa straight out of Audrey’s hand, but she didn’t mind.
There was a whole carton of them, plus chicken tikka masala, saag paneer, butternut squash soup, lamb kebabs, basmati rice, daal, mango lassi, and two servings each of kheer, gulab jamun, and rasmalai.
Looked like he’d deliberately sent enough for Violet too.
It was so good, Audrey cried real tears into her lassi.
Audrey | THEODORE HENRY SULLIVAN
Audrey | Keep giving me food like this and I’ll be in grave danger of falling in love with you forever
Audrey | Are you going to make me marry you just so we can share your Postmates account?
Theo | Great, so the plan is working?
Audrey | You might get more than you bargained for, though
Audrey | Violet just informed me that she and I are a package deal and she’s moving in with us
Theo | Great, so the plan is working.
The dots appeared again, disappeared, and then nothing.
Audrey waited.
It took another solid minute for his last text to come through.
Theo | Now go enjoy your food and study for your test.
Theo | Goodnight, sweetheart.
Huh.
That last text had taken him an awfully long time to type.
Theo didn’t just walk her to the subway after work the day of her exams. When Audrey stopped at the top of the stairs where they usually kissed goodbye, he shot her a mischievous look and tightened his fingers between her own.
“Come on—what are you waiting for?” he said with a slight tug. “Don’t want to be late, do you?”
“Are you coming with me?”
“Yeah.”
“Seriously?”
He nodded, the mask shifting up on his face from the grin he surely wore beneath it. “You’re mine for the whole long weekend after your exam today. Mine. Did you think I was going to let any second of it go to waste?”
They’d made these plans after he’d shown her his studio since she’d taken the rare shift off on Friday knowing she’d probably be wiped after her tests, and even though she’d been lamenting the loss of tomorrow’s income, she hadn’t known Theo would be making up for it quite this much.
He went with her all the way to the lecture hall, and when she turned to look at him with wide eyes and a sick feeling in her stomach before going in, he lowered his mask and gave her a reassuring nod.
“I’ll work out here while I wait for you,” he whispered, bending in close to her ear and running his hands along her arms. “Just breathe and take your time, okay? You’ve got this. Imagine passing with flying colors and walking the stage in a few weeks.”
Audrey nodded nervously, and he cupped her face with his hands, curling his fingers beneath her ears and running his thumbs softly along her cheeks.
When he stooped to kiss her, his scent washed over her, fresh and clean and warm, and she melted into him.
But not for long. He pulled away and wrapped her in his arms, tugging her tightly against his chest for an enormous hug.
“Okay, get in there. No more stalling,” he muttered when she didn’t try at all to escape. And then to drive the point home, he lowered a hand, ran it down her back—
And very firmly grabbed her ass.
She gasped and jumped back in surprise, and he grinned at her while he lifted his mask back over his face, his expression positively wicked. He’d never done anything like that in public before.