Five
Once I’m dressed in the first brunch-appropriate dress I can find—a pink floral number I got on sale—I realize everything I need to do my hair and makeup is in the bathroom. All my products are inside the mirror cabinet above the sink, and my curling iron is on the marble countertop. The sound of water rushing from Theo’s shower is muffled from behind the bathroom door. I glance down at my phone for the time. Shit. We’re already late without me having to wait until Theo’s out of the shower.
I knock on the door, opening it a smidge in case he can’t hear it through the spray of water. “Theo?” I call out, shielding my eyes with a raised hand.
“What’s up?” he calls back, voice echoey.
“I need to come in and grab some stuff to do my hair and makeup,” I tell him. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all. You can get ready in here, if you want. It’s your place.”
I only agree because my full-size mirror shattered last weekend, which is turning out to be a bad omen indeed. Another near-decade of bad luck, here I come. I pull my hair back into a half-up, half-down style and plug in my curling iron to re-curl the tendrils that went flat overnight. A thin layer of condensation begins to fog the mirror, blurring my vision. So maybe sharing a bathroom isn’t the wisest idea after all. The fog becomes too thick to see through in a matter of seconds. I wipe it away with my palm, revealing my frizzy bedhead. I could’ve sworn my hair wasn’t this poofy before I walked in. It must be the heat from Theo’s shower making it act up.
I let out a sigh as I retrieve a light pink scrunchie from the top drawer. Low bun it is.
“You okay?” I startle at the sound of Theo’s voice. I nearly forgot he was in here, despite the ever-present sound of running water.
“Fine,” I say, unplugging the curling iron as I rifle through the cabinets for my makeup bag. “Just having some hair trouble.”
Sharing a bathroom with Theo is an oddly intimate experience, though that may be because none of my relationships have ever lasted long enough for such a domestic act. I wonder if he’s done this before with previous women he’s dated. Or, if Ben’s stories are to be believed, the mornings after his copious one-night stands. The logistics line up. Now though, as the water abruptly shuts off, I let out an involuntary squeak in my rush out the door. It shuts behind me with a loud boom that makes me flinch. As if I wasn’t the one who shut it in the first place.
Yikes. Get a grip, girl.
The sight of his suit from last night laid out on my bedspread does nothing to help the sudden anxiety creeping in my veins. There’s a man in my bathroom. A naked man. He’s probably drying off his body with one of my towels this very second. His naked body, because all the clothes he came with are lying on my bed.
Oh my god.
I just shared a bathroom with a naked man I know little to nothing about. I can count on one hand the things I know about Theo Young.
Index: He plays (played?) for the Dallas Cowboys. A fact I barely know about him, so should it even count?
Middle: He has some sort of feud going on with his brother. Another fact I don’t know the details of.
Ring: He’s in love with Alice Cho, his brother’s fiancée.
Pinkie: He… actually is sweet. I’ve never once met a man willing to put a woman’s goals before his own desire for her. Angela was right about him.
Thumb: Like me, he can’t say no to food.
Theo meets me in the living room once he’s dressed in last night’s clothes, suit jacket tucked awkwardly under one arm and hair slightly damp. Wordlessly, he follows me out to my tiny car. Trapped in the confined space together, I note the smell of my rose-and-amber body wash on him. I’m not sure how to feel about that.
Once we arrive in the parking lot of the restaurant, I send Angela a quick text to check in on how she’s feeling. Theo shifts in his seat, eyes roaming the lot as if he can already sense trouble. His head turns right and left so fast he’s making me dizzy. When Angela doesn’t reply right away, I assume she must be sleeping off the stomach bug. Though I’ve given Theo a moment to prepare himself for what’s to come inside, he looks more anxious than ever.
“Are you ready?” I ask him, already knowing the answer.
“No.” His shoulders deflate with a sigh. “Not that it even matters.”
The table is full except for two seats by the time we reach our party. Ben sits at the head of the table, Alice by his side. Alice’s parents are seated beside her, but Ben’s parents are separated by the two empty chairs placed next to each other. A quick reminder of their not-so-amicable divorce. I take the seat next to Mrs. Young, because it’s the farthest away from Ben and Alice. With one look at Theo’s face, however, I immediately regret the decision. He hesitates as he steps forward, reluctantly taking the seat beside his father, diagonally across from Alice.
His eyes lock on her face, even when she glances away from us. She’s the only one who does, though. At every turn, all eyes are directly on me. Christine in particular is staring daggers in my direction, brown eyes narrowed to slits. A chill of unease runs down my spine as I realize something. No, it’s not me they’re all staring at. They’re staring at us. At me and Theo.
Weird.
“Nice of you to finally show up, boy,” Theo’s father says, clapping him on the back. “And with a pretty girl on your arm to boot. Is she the reason you ducked out of the party early?” Then his eyes widen as he leans across the table and pins them on me. “Oh, Marcela! What a surprise!”
“Hi, Mr. Young.” I give him a shy wave, not quite making eye contact.
“Oh, no, we’re not—” Theo is in the middle of correcting his father when Mr. Young cuts him off.
“It’s not like my oldest to spend his time with quality women,” he says, chuckling hard at his own comment. Next to me, his ex-wife rolls her eyes the way I wish I could. Instead, I glance up at Theo, brows furrowing as I imagine what criteria his father thinks these women have to meet to be considered “quality.” I’m sure I’d rather not know. Then he points a pink finger at Theo and says, “Don’t blow it with this one, son.”
Maybe I should be flattered that Mr. Young thinks so much of me, but the sentiment only makes me uneasy. I’ve met him a handful of times at family brunches and always considered him decent enough, but never actually knew what he thought of me until now. In fact, we’ve never spoken more than a few words to each other, so I have no idea how he’s basing his opinion of me.
“Noted.” Theo’s tone is clipped, as if he wishes he could evaporate into the air and be done with this conversation. I know I am, and I’m not even the one being spoken to.
“Are you still at the library, Marcela?” Mrs. Young asks me.
“Yup.” I nod. “We’re starting up a YA book club,” I say, mostly to turn the conversation away from me and Theo, as if there will ever actually be a me and Theo. But I’m afraid to contradict what they think, for fear of making a scene out of an already awkward situation. How will it look if we deny anything happened between us? We can’t exactly tell them the truth.
Oh no, your son and I didn’t hook up. I just stopped him from sabotaging your younger son’s engagement party by pulling him into an Uber and letting him sleep (no euphemisms here!) off his heartache at my place. No, it wouldn’t be wise to contradict the assumption.
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch sight of Ben’s expression. His eyes are trained on me. His cool expression sends chills down my back, the question in his face crystal clear. He’s looking at me like he has no idea who I am. Then his eyes flick to his brother and he just shakes his head. My skin heats at the implication, heart racing double speed for no good reason. I’ve upset him somehow, coming here with Theo.
I sneak a glance at Alice and find the exact opposite in her expression. She seems unfazed, cutting into her spinach-and-egg-white omelet with a sly smile. When she looks up at Theo, her eyes fill with warmth. Her smile is nothing but friendly, but the same can’t be said for Theo. His eyes soften as he meets hers across the table. I recognize the look for what it is. Longing.
His hand shakes slightly as he passes her the pepper shaker, his thumb brushing the edge of her fingers as he hands it off. She doesn’t seem to feel his touch, just peppers her eggs and takes another bite as if nothing happened. But Theo clears his throat, as if clearing the emotion building there.
How am I the only one who can see it? Is it that everyone around us is genuinely oblivious, or that this new knowledge has changed how I perceive Theo’s interactions with her?
My skin feels overheated. I wonder if I’m as obvious as he is.
As soon as I’m finished eating, I excuse myself to use the restroom. I make myself take deep breaths on the way, but it isn’t until I lock myself inside a stall that I’m able to steady my breathing. Why did I think forcing Theo to brunch was a good idea? What if he tries to blow up his brother’s relationship again? It’ll be my fault for not stopping him sooner. The door swings open, momentarily distracting me from my mini freak-out and back into the present moment. I do my business before washing my hands at the sink, where Christine is reapplying her lipstick in front of a mirror.
She’s staring at me in the mirror, and for a moment I can’t understand why until I remember her plans to jump Theo last night. Good lord, the trouble Mr. Young’s loud mouth is putting me through right now.
“So, how’d you do it?”
Her eyes pierce through me in the same way Alice’s do, only she has the wrong idea. I’m not sure how I should answer her. Come up with a lie to keep up the assumption? Deflect? When I settle for a dumb look and a shrug, she rolls her eyes and says, “Forget it. I figured you wouldn’t tell me of all people.”
She raises the strap of her purse higher on her shoulder before exiting, the door swinging on its hinges behind her.
We left the party together, and Theo never returned to Ben and Alice’s place. There were so many eyes on us, anyone could’ve seen us leave together. Anyone could’ve misconstrued the truth…
Which might work in our favor.
When I leave the bathroom, I spot Theo waiting to use the men’s restroom. Except, when he spots me walking out of the women’s, he bounces off the wall he was leaning against and grabs my wrist. He pulls me into a hidden alcove, eyes wide as saucers.
“You’ve got to help me,” he says, the panic clear in his voice. “Ben keeps looking at me like he knows something’s up. We have to leave.”
“What, now?” I know why Ben keeps looking at him, and it has nothing to do with the truth. He sees us hooking up as a betrayal because of whatever feud he and Theo have going on. A lot of shit went down before I left for college. I regret not asking him to bore me with the details now. I’ve never gotten the full story out of Ben, only hard-won bits and pieces. The blow-out fight they got into before Theo left for college, the regret Ben had over not being able to make things right before he left, the silence on the other line every time he tried to reach out.
“We haven’t even done the champagne toast. We can’t just—”
“Right now, Marcela.” He rakes his hair back with a shaky hand. “This was a bad idea. I feel like I’m gonna be sick if we don’t get out of here soon.” His skin does have a greenish tinge to it. And if the way he’s been looking at Alice all afternoon has anything to do with this freak-out, I need to save him. Angela would do the same for me, and I don’t really want to stay for much longer anyway.
“Okay, okay, on it. Follow my lead.” I drag him away by the hand as patrons turn in their seats to shoot us odd looks. When we return to the table, I announce that unfortunately we have to duck out early. “I don’t think that eggs Benedict agreed with me.” I make a show of scrunching my face and put a hand to my stomach.
“Oh no! I’m sorry, sweetie,” Mrs. Young says, getting up from her seat and walking around the table. “Theo, honey, get her home safe.”
“I—I will,” Theo stumbles, giving a jerky nod.
“Congratulations, again,” I tell Ben and Alice, and though I can’t see it, I’m sure the pained expression on my face is realer than my feigned stomachache. Alice stands from her seat to hug me and Theo goodbye. Ben raises himself to do the same. His arms come around my shoulders, mine patting him on the back chastely. Before I can pull away, his hand gently grips my arm to keep me in place.
“Be careful,” he whispers in my ear. For a moment I’m startled, but when I look back at his face, his expression is neutral. I try to do the same, but I sense the mask slipping. My mouth turns up into a shaky smile, and then Theo’s arm wraps around my waist as he pulls me out of Ben’s reach, and out of the restaurant.
“Nice one,” he says once we’re back in the car. “I think they bought it. They didn’t suspect anything weird, did they?”
Just that we hooked up, but I don’t bother telling him as much. I don’t understand how he didn’t see it, but maybe it’s because he was too wrapped up in Alice to notice anyone else at the table.
“No, I think we’re in the clear,” I say as I start the car. “Do you want me to drop you off at Ben and Alice’s?”
“Yeah.” He heaves a long sigh.
I nod as I pull out of the parking space. The drive is mostly silent, giving me time to think. For the time being, it seems I’ve convinced Theo not to confess his feelings for Alice. But if that were really true, why is something not sitting right with me? I sneak a few covert glances at Theo, but there’s nothing I can read on his expression. His eyes stay trained out the windshield, lips pursed in thought. I dart my eyes away before he can catch me staring at him.
When we arrive outside Ben and Alice’s apartment building, Theo thanks me for everything. I wave away his apology and reply that it’s nothing.
“It’s far from nothing.” He meets my eyes seriously. “Believe me. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”
Ruin your chances with the girl of your dreams and your already-screwy relationship with your brother. Instead of any of that, I say, “Anytime. I’ve got your back.”
He leaves the car, and I watch as he retreats into the corridor. I let out a breath of relief before starting my car. At least it doesn’t look like he has any more plans to break them up. But if he changes his mind, I’ll be able to say it’s not my fault. Theo Young is no longer my problem.
Except…
Be careful.
I shake my head to rid myself of thoughts of Ben. Tomorrow, I’ll clear up the misunderstanding and assure him nothing happened between me and his brother. But when I try to think of a logical reason for why he slept over at my place that isn’t the truth, I come up blank. The spark of an idea goes off in my brain just as I reach a red light. That has to be a sign, right? A universal sign to stop the incredibly bad ideas circling my head. Especially when the burning gaze of Ben’s eyes on us is my main source of motivation. The closest thing to jealousy I’ve ever gotten out of him.
Be careful.
It doesn’t matter what he thinks. Whatever anyone thinks happened last night, actually. Who am I to correct them when doing so could put Theo’s secret in danger of getting out? I made him a promise, and it’s one I intend to keep.
And if the consequence of keeping it is that his family and friends think we’re hooking up, then that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.