Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
THEO
Needing a little pick-me-up after the therapy session with Mike, I decide to mess with Blake again.
I mean, I’m no saint, and I’ve gotta get my kicks from somewhere.
I don’t want to message the guys again. James has been blowing up my phone, worried about me, and after the breakdown with Caleb, I’m a little reluctant to go to him because of shame and embarrassment.
He’d probably tell me I’m being stupid and that’s what he’s there for, but there’s still that voice that says I’m a burden to my friends, and they’ll only accept my needy ways for so long before they get bored and boot me out of the group.
Now logically, I know that’s a bunch of bull crap because they’ve stuck around for the past twenty years, but unfortunately, my irrational brain is in charge right now, and that’s what it’s telling me.
I find Blake in her usual spot, sitting in the library with books strewn across the table and a pencil in her hand.
I want to trust her. I want to ask her the question I’ve been dying to ask since the night I had my epiphany with Mike, but like the coward I am, I can’t bring myself to open that can of worms yet.
“Blake,” I bark. She jumps in her seat, clutching her chest, and I have to stifle the laugh that wants to break free. “Where are those files I asked for?”
Her face is a picture—scared yet confused.
“What files?” she asks once she’s composed herself.
I take a moment to look at her. Her hourglass figure still makes my hands clench with the need to trace her curves like I used to do.
Her hair flows down past her shoulders, glistening under the low lighting of the room.
But it’s her eyes that draw me in—brown eyes that feel like home every time I look into them.
She’s always had a maternal instinct about her.
I think that’s one of the many reasons why I was so drawn to her.
She’s soft and patient but has the fight of a lioness protecting her cubs.
There’s always been an inexplicable need to be around her, like it's instinct.
“The files I asked you for last week,” I bark, continuing with the charade.
Blake stands up, crosses the room, and places a book on the shelf before turning back to me. She folds her arms over her chest, head tilted and eyes assessing. “There’s no file, Theo.”
“Isn’t there?” I challenge back, my eyebrow raised.
“Fool me once,” she says, a grin tugging at the corners of her lips. “Your pranks are getting lackluster, big guy. If you think I’m falling for that one, then you seriously need to up your game…” She stops before adding, “Actually, please don’t.”
“You ruin all my fun.” I pout, throwing my hands into the air in defeat.
Maybe she’s right… am I losing my ability to prank people? Oh dear god, no!
She smirks. “If you say so.”
I stroll into the room, the tension palpable the closer I get to her. My chest tightens with each step, and her breathing picks up. Her eyes dart to mine, and I’m enraptured, just like I was all those years ago.
I hear her sharp inhale as I lean down, murmuring, “I still hate you.”
“Good, cause I hate you too,” she replies.
I chuckle, the breath fanning across her bottom lip. “You know how to talk dirty to me, don’t you?”
“If I recall, it was always you who knew how to talk dirty,” she retorts with a smirk.
The banging of a door breaks the moment, and both of us jump back.
My chest heaves up and down, her scent still clinging to me, and my dick is harder than granite.
I watch as Blake combs a hand through her hair before shoving a few items into her bag and walking out of the library without a backward glance.
Well, shit. Looks like I don’t hate her half as much as I thought.