13. Theo
Theo
Damn it. It wasn’t that I was against her being in the group chat with the guys.
Fuck. I wanted her in every way, in every part of my life, as crazy as that sounded.
However, my friends could be a lot and they were adamant we add her to our group texts. They said our group was in need of ‘feminine energy’ and apparently because I liked her, she was the perfect candidate.
I didn’t want to scare her away. I’d managed very little time with her one on one so far.
I felt like I needed more time to win her over before exposing her to their chaos.
I wasn’t expecting them to change how they talked in it just because she was on it.
They were all so stuck on it, I knew the next time one of them saw her she would be added.
“Seriously?” she asked with a laugh at Asher. At the sound, some of the tension in my chest lessened. I would do just about anything to hear that sound again rather than the shock and fear in her eyes from earlier.
When did I become so wrapped up in her? Fuck if I knew. But I did know not seeing her or hearing from her in days had messed with my head.
I’d been sulking up here in my office when Noah finally pulled me out, it was past ten and I had lost hope that she was coming.
When I made it outside, I had to push away the women that Noah had brought up and counted the minutes until I could leave.
Then I’d looked down and found her standing there with a man holding both her arms.
I saw red.
Not because I could tell that something was wrong at the time, but because she was letting someone else fucking touch her.
The jealousy I felt was completely foreign and I wasn’t sure what to do about it.
I’d gritted my teeth for a minute before he started pulling her, I then saw the panic on her face.
I sprinted to the stairs without another thought.
Noah must have seen the look on my face since he followed me without question. I told him I would get the guy off Quinn, and he held her to keep her out of trouble. He didn’t need to say he understood or ask questions, we’d had each other’s backs since we were teenagers. No questions asked.
We would cover up a murder if we needed to and I’d briefly considered it tonight.
Punching him had felt good, but seeing the marks on her arms made me murderous. It wasn’t enough. I had his name since everyone coming into the club had their licence scanned and I planned on finding a way to ruin him.
But first I needed to get my girl out of here.
Wait.
My girl.
I’d never thought of a woman that way before. I’d never cared about someone this way before, not even in my longest relationship of seven months. We hadn’t been serious and sometimes I forgot we were even dating.
Whatever.
Fuck it, I’m just going to lean into it.
“Theo?”
I looked up to see Quinn watching me and Asher patting me on the shoulder as he walked out of the office.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here.” I reached out and put my hand on her lower back to guide her out. I loved that she leaned into me when I touched her, her shoulders relaxing a fraction.
“You swear a lot,” she commented. I nodded at Wade as I maneuvered us through the throng of people.
I could tell her comment was meant to lighten the mood, not sure if it was for her sake or for mine. I let her get away with it because I still had red hot rage burning through me and I needed to be distracted.
I was glad she had covered the red marks on her arms in the sleeves of my jacket because each time I caught sight of them, I knew the punch I’d landed hadn’t been enough.
“I’m British,” I said as a way of explanation. I heard her scoff as we stepped outside the club.
She let out a breath of relief but it was still shaky. “Is Arthur coming to get me?” she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest, trying to hide her shivers despite the warm spring night.
“No, I drove here.” I moved her toward my truck. “I didn’t drink tonight.” She hadn’t asked but I felt compelled to clarify.
I’d had Shelly buy my truck over the phone with the dealership and it had been waiting for me at the private airstrip when we landed in Calgary.
It was a black four-door truck with four-wheel drive, it was the best money could buy.
Although the summers were warm here and I had a sports car parked in the garage at my house ready for the roads to be cleared of gravel, the truck was needed for the harsh winters that hit.
“I wasn’t worried about you drinking, Theo, I trust you.” Her soft admission had my chest puffing up.
“Good.” I nodded, trying to keep my cool.
“So you can drive?” she asked as I opened her door and helped her in.
I chuckled as I shut the door and walked around.
I climbed in, turned it on and immediately jacked up the heat, including the seat warmers for her.
It seemed like her adrenaline had crashed, I was surprised she’d still been able to walk out of the club.
She looked tired as she sagged against the seat and rested her head back on the headrest.
“Yes, I can drive,” I answered dryly as I put the car in reverse. “Didn’t you just say that you trusted me?” She shrugged as she bit her lip to hide her smile.
“You have a driver, it’s a fair question. You know we drive on the right side of the road, right?”
I shot her a look as we pulled up to a red light. “Thank god you told me, we might’ve crashed.” She let out a small chuckle, and I felt proud that the sound was more relaxed. I needed to make sure she was okay and the more she sat there talking, the more her shaking slowed.
“Giving Arthur the night off?”
“After you stopped responding to my texts and didn’t say you were coming tonight, I decided to drive myself here.
Honestly, I was about ten minutes away from driving to your apartment and demanding you talk to me.
” I saw her eyes widen a little at my confession.
“I hated not hearing from you,” I admitted to the silence as I drove through the now familiar city streets that lead us out of downtown.
“Sorry.” She bit her lip, mulling over what she wanted to say next. I waited patiently as she collected her thoughts. I saw her mouth open and close a few times before she cleared her throat. “I was overthinking things and got a little in my head, so I retreated. I just needed some space.”
“The next time you get in your head, can you talk to me first?”
“We don’t know each other that well, Theo.”
“I want to work on that, but we can’t do that if you shut me out.
Don’t do it again,” I demanded. I was used to telling people to do things, not asking.
Which I could tell she found funny since I got a little smirk and a quirk of her eyebrow.
Her phone buzzing in her lap pulled her attention away from me. She looked down and chuckled.
“Noah texted. He said thanks to Asher we now have Quinn in the group chat,” she read from her phone. “He instructed everyone to reply with their names so I know who is who.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe they created a group chat for me to be in.”
“They didn’t create one.” I rested my elbow on the glove box between us as we pulled up to another red light. “They added you to the only group chat we have.”
“I can leave if you’re uncomfortable with me being—”
I cut her off by reaching out and grabbing her hand, threading my fingers through hers. “I wanted you to be a part of it. I just don’t want them to scare you away. They can be a lot, it’s why I didn’t add you myself after the vote.”
She smiled over at me like I was being silly, but I wasn’t kidding. There had been an actual vote, everyone was in favor.
“I don’t scare easily,” she said as her phone pinged again. “Noah is complaining that he wasn’t the one to convince me to join because Asher won rock, paper, scissors.” I saw her look up at me. “Is he serious?”
I nodded. “Noah has a knack for making life more fun for all of us, so once in a while he will do something dumb like making grown men play rock, paper, scissors because it gets Asher to crack a slight smirk.”
“That’s really sweet.” I shot her a look for complimenting Noah, but she smiled and looked down at her phone. “Will is telling Noah he isn’t as charming as he thinks he is.”
“Another thing about Noah, he will find any reason to argue or bicker. He loves being right more than anything else in the world.” Her phone kept buzzing with new messages. “I have to silence that thing when I want peace.”
“I like that they included me,” she said softly with a vulnerable smile.
I gave her hand a squeeze, happy she hadn’t pulled away.
I was thrilled she not only liked being included but wanted to be with my crazy group.
I wasn’t born with a big family but I had found one, and the idea of her folding herself in with them didn’t bother me like I thought it would. When I took the next turn, she sat up.
“This isn’t the way to my place.” She turned to look at me.
“I know. We’re going to my house.”
We turned into the community. Everyone had green manicured lawns, front porch lights were on everywhere. It felt homey and inviting and for the first time, I didn’t feel dread growing in my stomach. I wanted her to see it, to be with me in the space.
“Wow,” she muttered as we pulled up the driveway on the left side of the house. The renovations had restored the house to be just like my mum dreamed of.
She got out before I even turned the car off.
“You’re supposed to let me open the damn door,” I grumbled as she walked to the middle of the front lawn, evaluating the house.