Chapter 22 Here. Now. Always. #3
And when they’ve both shed all of their clothes, and Theo slips a hand to the small of her back and presses her up against him as he slides inside, she tells him again.
“I want you.”
“You have me,” he breathes against her lips, his voice tight with desire. He pushes deeper, and Sage’s breath catches in her lungs. “You have always had me.”
He proves it by taking her apart with painstaking accuracy, as if he’s the only one who can chart the map of her body like this. Maybe he is. Because it’s deep and slow and overwhelming, and she’s never felt anything like it, ever.
Theo’s teeth scrape against her neck, his hips grinding just right, and she’s not sure how much more she can stand.
“Theo,” she pants. She’s got one hand tangled in his hair, the other clenching the sheets like it’s enough to keep her tethered to the here and now. “I—I can’t …”
“So don’t,” he murmurs against her throat as he kisses his way to her ear. His cock drags against that spot inside of her, and she swears her vision goes white. “I’ve got you. Let go.”
He does have her. Because when Sage shatters, Theo is right there, holding her through it, even as he shakes apart.
After they come down from it, they curl up together, tangled in the sheets and each other, and it’s quiet and calm until Theo scrunches his nose and says, “Were you watching The Matrix?”
Sage can’t help the laugh that bursts out of her.
God, she loves him.
“Well observed,” she mocks.
“Ugh, I haven’t missed that accent.”
She lifts her head from his chest and shoots him a playful glare. “You’ve missed every part of me, don’t lie.”
Theo’s smile goes soft as he runs a knuckle down the arm she’s propping herself up with.
“I have. As I’ve told you before, Collins, you’re entirely missable.” She smiles as she drags her fingers through his hair, brushing it back from his brow. There’s more for them to talk about. But for once, she isn’t worried.
“I didn’t finish it. The Matrix,” she says, watching the way his blond strands slip between her fingers. “Watch it with me?”
He reaches for the hand she has in his hair and draws it down to his lips, pressing a kiss to the center of her palm. “Sure, my love,” he mutters against her skin. “Tomorrow?”
There’s something beautiful about the certainty that they’ll have tomorrow. And the next day. And the next.
Sage lies back down, her head pillowed on his chest.
“Tomorrow,” she agrees.
They agree they actually will watch The Matrix, but first they prioritize a lazy morning in bed and a long conversation over coffee and tea and chocolate chip pancakes that Sage makes on her tiny stove.
“I would have gotten your letter earlier,” Theo admits once their plates are long-since empty. “But I was in Skye until a few days ago with Dad. He has some projects he wants to work on for the house.”
Sage sets her mug on the table. “To get it ready to sell?”
His shoulders lift with his deep breath, and when they drop back down, he looks lighter.
Happier.
“No,” he says with a little grin. “He’s in a DIY phase. A new hobby in between managing clients.”
“I am … so happy for you, Theo,” Sage breathes, something warm and full pressing against her chest.
“And you,” he retorts as he leans back in his chair. His fingers drum lightly on the table. “A film deal, eh? No small feat.” He chuckles at her inquisitive stare. “When will you accept that I am not above Internet stalking you? Though this tidbit was actually Emerson,” he adds sheepishly.
Ah, yes. Emerson.
Emerson, who had called at the ripe hour of 7 AM to say, “I’m assuming, given Theo did not come back here to get his suitcase, you two made up. And by made up I mean—”
Sage had clicked her off speakerphone immediately.
“I’ll bring his stuff by, shall I?”
“You do that,” Sage had mumbled while Theo laughed.
Apparently, the Theo & the Chickmonks group chat hadn’t disbanded after Sage had left it in January.
“It was Iris,” Sage says to him now. “The director I met at Vibe.”
He leans across the table, eyes wide. “Tequila-shot Iris?! No way.”
“Yes way.”
“Wow. Who would’ve thought a few shots of tequila would be the basis for such a strong working relationship?”
“I don’t know,” Sage muses. “This guy bought me whiskey on a plane once and I sort of fell in love with him, and like, what are the odds of that?”
Theo wets his lips. “Rumor has it that bloke didn’t even actually pay for it.”
Sage laughs, the sound light and radiant and free. She stands, intent on clearing the table, but he catches her wrist as she reaches for his plate.
“I love you too, Collins.”
She lets him pull her around the table and into his lap. Lets him kiss her until she’s breathless.
“Can I show you something?” she asks when she finally, finally pulls away. Theo arches a brow, and she smacks him lightly on the chest. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”
“But it’s so lovely there,” he teases, pressing a kiss to her neck.
Sage giggles as she pushes his head away and disentangles herself from his lap.
Her heartbeat ticks up as she pads across her apartment to her writing desk, where a FedEx printing box sits.
She pops it open and grabs the bound stack of papers.
“This is actually the unedited version,” she explains as she brings the manuscript back to Theo. “But, um, there’s something I wanted you to see in it.”
He runs a reverent hand over the title page before flicking his gaze to her in question. She nods, and he flips the page.
For Theo—for showing me I’m more than what my mind achieves.
Theo sucks in a deep breath. When he looks up at her, his eyes are bright, and there’s something so soft about the way his lips tilt up in the corner.
“I have something to show you, too.” He tugs his phone out of his pocket and opens his email before handing it to her.
It takes Sage a moment to realize what she’s looking at, to parse through the jargon, but then—
“You … you’ve signed on to a new project?”
“Production starts next month.” Theo grins. “It’s indie, too, which is enough of a draw itself, but I was particularly pleased about the location.”
Sage scans the email again, and there it is, clear as day.
“You’re going to be in LA,” she breathes.
Theo slides a hand behind her thigh and tugs her down into his lap once more. “There was no reality in which I didn’t show up at your door,” he admits softly. “Your letter just sped up my timeline.”
Either way. He was coming either way, letter or no.
Sage blinks against the burning in her eyes as she winds her arms around his neck. “Do you know what this means?”
“Hmm?”
“Margot’s going to make you join our spin studio.”
Theo tilts his head back and laughs, and Sage thinks it might be the most beautiful sound she’s ever heard.
“If you’re there, Collins, I’m there.”
“You must really like me.”
“Despite being the bane of my existence, I do, in fact,” Theo says with an exasperated grin that turns soft and real as he cups her chin. His smile lingers as he presses his mouth against hers, his lips warm and gentle. “I cherish you.”