Chapter 20 A Rush of Reality
A Rush of Reality
They leave for London the next day. Sage doesn’t even want to think about the change fee from changing her flight again. Theo, ever the gentlemen, insisted he handle their flight to London, though.
Heathrow is crowded and loud and jarring after the peace of Skye, but Theo navigates it all with ease.
He’s got his hood tugged up and sunglasses on, a disguise they don’t discuss but know is necessary, and it’s sort of ridiculous, but it works.
They make it to the car Theo hired undisturbed, and then they’re driving the hour into the city while Theo holds her hand and rattles off the spots he wants to show her the week she’s here: the Indian spot in Shoreditch and Saint Dunstan in the East and Spitalfields Market.
She’d moved her flight home to the third. It still doesn’t feel like enough time. She’ll go back to LA, and she’ll get back to work on the draft she’s been trying to fix since Marie’s email, and Theo …
Well. They’ll figure it out as it comes.
The rain holds off until they arrive at his flat in Hackney, and then the skies open up just as they’re getting out of the car. A rude sort of Welcome Back to Reality from the universe.
It doesn’t matter.
They rush inside in a tangle of suitcases and jackets, laughing so hard they can see the evidence of it on the air that clouds in front of them as they tumble into the lobby.
“I’m shocked you handle your own luggage,” Sage teases as they crowd into the elevator. She pushes her rain-soaked hair from where it’s plastered to her cheeks.
Theo rolls his eyes. “Yes, I’ll know I’ve really made it when I never have to pick up a bag myself.”
His flat is on the top floor, all the way at the end of a long hall. He looks a bit shy as he goes to unlock the door, and Sage wonders how many people he lets see this. She feels touched and sad all at once.
“Right,” Theo says as he pushes the door open and gestures her inside. “This is me.”
The space is large and open, warm, with worn wooden floors and tall windows.
There’s a bookshelf stacked with more movies than Sage has books, and photos on the walls, and an old signed poster of one of the English football players, and a basket full of fuzzy throw blankets that sits in the living room next to a leather sectional.
“I love it,” Sage says as she steps farther into the space. There’s a large kitchen with a massive granite island on the left. A small eating area sits behind the living room, and behind that is a hall that she imagines leads to the bedrooms.
She turns slowly on the spot, her attention snagging on the gallery wall behind his TV. She steps closer to it, her brow furrowing as she takes in all of the photos.
“Who’s this?” she asks, pointing to a photo of Theo and a man who looks to be about their age. They’re standing in front of what looks like a cathedral.
Theo steps up behind her, close enough that she can feel the heat of him at her back.
“Ah, that’s my mate James,” he says. “We met at Cambridge.”
“Was he one of the friends who witnessed your Britney Spears club nights?”
He lets out a long sigh. “Yes.”
Sage tips her head back to grin at him. “Can I meet him? Like, right now?”
“Well, he’s in Dubai, so no. He’s a consultant. He’s always traveling for work.”
“Maybe I’ll start a group chat with him.”
Theo’s nose scrunches as he winds his arms around her waist. “God, I loathe to think what would come of that.”
She opens her mouth to retort, even as she leans back into him, wet clothes and all, but something brushes against her legs. She startles, but Theo just grins and follows her gaze down to the small black cat peering up at her.
“Toothless!” She immediately untangles herself from Theo’s hold and scoops up the cat. Toothless lets out a surprised meow, but he nuzzles against her immediately, as if he doesn’t even care her shirt is soaked through.
Sage is instantly obsessed.
“Theo,” she coos, shifting to cradle Toothless like a baby. The cat starts to purr. “I love him.”
Theo lifts an amused brow. “He’s quite cuddly, isn’t he?”
Sage nuzzles her cheek against his soft fur in wordless agreement. “You know, I never asked why you named him after How to Train Your Dragon.”
Theo’s smile is fond, even as that distance she’s come to associate with his grief clouds his eyes like a film.
“Oliver and I were obsessed with the books,” he explains.
“Mum used to read them to us. And when the movie came out, we made a whole big deal of it.” He blinks, and some of that haze clears.
“I couldn’t watch the film for years after he died, but then I met this hellion, and the name came to me instantly.
I brought him home and rewatched the movie with him. ”
He scratches the top of Toothless’s head. “It fits him,” he finishes with an easy shrug.
Sage smiles, her fingers brushing Theo’s arm as she steps past him.
“I can’t wait for him to sleep with us tonight,” she says as she wanders into the kitchen, Toothless’s purr like the low hum of an engine.
“That won’t be happening.”
“What? How could you deny this?” She cuddles Toothless closer, so their faces are squished together, and pivots to face Theo.
“He has a bed.”
“Okay, and? So do you. He’s probably desperate to try it out.”
Theo rolls his eyes. “I’m sure he slept there the entire time I was away.”
“See! He’s used to it. He has to sleep with us.”
He shakes his head as he grabs their suitcases and starts down the hall. If she didn’t know any better, she’d swear he mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like cock-blocked by my own fucking cat.
Theo comes back in sweats and a T-shirt with a towel for Sage, and Sage relinquishes Toothless so she can wrap her arms around him instead, because he looks so soft, so Theo, and she didn’t know why she expected everything to be drastically different here, but she did.
She’s glad to find it isn’t.
He tips up her chin and kisses her soundly, and Sage thinks that she might be content to do nothing but this the entire time. Screw the sights. She can see them another time.
“Maybe you’re right,” she breathes when Theo pulls away. “Maybe Toothless should sleep in his own bed.”
“Speaking of beds,” he murmurs as he presses a kiss to the hinge of her jaw. Heat zips down her spine, and she tilts her head back to give him more room to work. “You still haven’t seen mine. Shall I show it to you?”
“That was a horrible line.” She means to sound more admonishing, but Theo nips at that spot between her neck and shoulder and then soothes the bite with his tongue, and she can’t stop the breathy sound that leaves her when he does.
“It was,” he agrees against her skin. He takes a step backward toward the hallway, his hands tugging her with him. “But did it work?”
He takes another step.
“No,” Sage breathes.
It’s a complete and utter lie.
She follows him.
Of course she follows him.
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sagecollinsauthor So long, Skye. You were everything.
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Readandcoffee Okay but like Nights sequel WHEN?!?!
Yourmomsucks09 anyone feel like she’s tryin to be an influencer now? First celeb parties and now a fancy winter holiday?
bookslyn99 @yourmomsucks09 it’s giving “I have a celeb sugar daddy” for sure.
endlesstbr @bookslyn99 your misogyny is showing
Dec 27
Sage wakes up alone.
Well, not alone. Toothless is curled up in Theo’s spot next to her. She slides a hand across the sheets to scratch his head as she blinks the heaviness of sleep from her eyes. A glance at her phone tells her it’s just after 9 am, so she sighs and shucks off the covers.
Theo is always up so early.
She stumbles slightly as she jostles into a pair of pajama pants and tugs on a sweatshirt to ward off the chill. Then she’s out of the room, the wood floors cold against her bare feet as she pads down the hallway toward the kitchen.
She hears Theo before she sees him. He’s murmuring, quick and urgent, and she doesn’t realize he isn’t on the phone until she’s out of the hallway and it’s too late. Theo’s back is to her, his arms crossed as he stares at the man who stands just inside the door.
Sage lurches to a stop, and the man’s gaze moves past Theo to her.
“You have company,” he remarks, his voice clipped as his eyes rake over her.
Blue, like Theo’s.
Theo’s eyes.
Ollie’s hair.
Theo’s jaw.
“Sage,” Theo breathes as he twists around to meet her. His throat bobs. Sage wraps her arms around her chest, and the man’s gaze darts to the lettering on her sweatshirt.
Theo’s sweatshirt.
“Sage,” Theo says again. He sucks in a breath, as if he’s rallying his strength. “Meet my father, Archie Sharpe.”
Archie may have Theo’s eyes, but he’s mastered the art of keeping them unreadable in a way Theo hasn’t. Because as he stares at Sage, she can honestly say she has no idea what that look on his face means.
“Dad, this is Sage Collins. She’s—”
“The author,” Archie fills in. He raises a brow at his son. “Bloody hell, Theo, when you said you were bringing a date for New Year’s Eve I wasn’t expecting this.”
Before Sage can even unpack what that’s supposed to mean, he adds, “If I recall correctly, you were quite adamant that you two weren’t together?” He looks back to Sage. “You both were.”
“Dad,” Theo warns.
“What?” He slides his hands into the pockets of his gray slacks. “I’m just trying to stay apprised of what’s going on. If there’s something we need to get ahead of in the press—”
“Dad.”
Sage takes a step back. “I should leave you two to—”
“No,” Theo interrupts, his hand grasping for her. She’s too far away for him to reach, but she stills anyway, especially as desperation twists his words into something clipped and tight as he pleads, “Just … wait.”
He inhales deeply through his nose as he turns back to his father. “You should have called before just coming over here.”