Chapter 18 Theo
Chapter eighteen
Theo
My phone buzzes in my pocket right as I’m finishing up with a vital screw in the shower wall. It startles me, and I almost drop my tools, but I grit my teeth and steady myself. I twist the screw a few more times, taking a step back to admire my handiwork. I reach out to test the showerhead.
Yeah, that should do it.
A satisfied smile spreads across my face as I reach into my back pocket for my phone. On the screen is a text from Mom.
Mom: We loved having you and Cora over last night. Tell her we love her, alright? We’re so happy you’re finally together, honey.
It sends a mixture of something warm yet tight rushing through my chest. Of course Mom and Dad love Cora.
Who wouldn’t? I love Cora. I just hope to God that this …
thing we’re doing right now actually turns into something.
It sure feels like something, but I don’t know.
It feels fragile, like any wrong move could break it.
But it’s also been so perfect. We still joke around with each other, talk about anything and everything under the sun—only now, we flirt too. And have sex.
Like, really fucking good sex.
But it’s not even the sex that I care about—it’s just her. The way she falls asleep in my arms, the way she smiles when I hand her coffee in the morning.
All I have to do is just not fuck this thing up.
“Theo?” Cora’s voice has me scrambling out of the shower. She’d gone out with some friends from the ranch this morning for brunch.
“Theo, are you upstairs?” I hear her footsteps, and I cross the room, stepping out into the hallway.
Her gaze meets mine, and she smiles. “Hey. What’ve you been up to?”
I hold out a hand, beckoning her. “Something you might be interested in, actually.”
She cocks her head but follows me into the bathroom. I swish the curtains back and, with a dramatic flourish, gesture to the brand-new shower head. It’s fancy—the nicest one I could find. And the key is that it’s adjustable.
Cora and I are vastly different heights—something she loves to complain about after almost every shower, having to stand on her tippy toes or at the very end of the shower to get the water to hit her right.
It takes her a moment to figure out what I’m showing her, and when she does, her eyes widen slightly. “You got a new showerhead?” she asks, smiling softly.
I nod.
“Just because I complained?” She’s laughing now.
I reach for her head, gently holding her still while I plant a kiss on her cheek. “Your complaint is my command.”
She giggles and then says, “That’s very … permanent.” The word hangs in the air between us, suddenly carrying a bit more weight than anything we’ve discussed this past week. Since everything between us changed.
And I suppose she is right. It’s a permanent change. A change I’m making because I hope … that she’ll stay here.
Something like hesitation flickers across her face, and for a second, I worry I’ve made a terrible mistake. That I’ve unintentionally stepped over a line, gone too far, pushed for something. But then the look is gone, and she’s back to smiling.
“Thank you, Theo,” she says, wrapping her arms around my neck and pressing her lips to mine. I smile into the kiss, inhaling her scent, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her against me. I cup my hands under her ass, prompting her to jump into my arms, her legs wrapped around my waist.
She giggles.
“How grateful are you?” I ask with a smirk, leaning in to gently nibble at her ear.
She laughs at this, pretending to smack my shoulder, but she ends up kissing me again.
And here I go, falling for her even harder.