Page 22 of The Hookup Mix-up

The flirting didn’t go unnoticed, and Jack is hot, but sleeping with someone who’s close to Theo would be weird. I should consider getting on an app, and there was also a woman here flirting with me earlier…maybe she’s interested.

“Hey, Perry.” Gwen steps up beside us, playing with the ring in her nose. “You wanna go on your break?”

“Sure.” I toss the towel at Ty, refuse to allow myself to look at Theo, then head through the bar, to the kitchen, and then down the hallway that leads to the back door to go outside for my break. I smell the saltwater, inhaling a deep breath into my lungs. Fuck, I love the ocean. There’s something both beautiful and terrifying about it.

The air is still warm despite it being almost midnight. That’s one of my favorite things about Southern California. I didn’t love the cold weather back in Mass. It’s like a fucking paradise here and—

“Hey,” Theo says, snapping me out of my thoughts.

He sneaks around the corner from the front of the building. Waves crash against the sand in the distance, mixing with the thump, thump, thump from the music inside.

“What are you doing out here?”

“I saw you leave, and I hoped I’d find you here…” He shrugs.

“You followed me?”

“When you put it that way, it sounds weird. I just wanted to say hi.”

“Hi.” I lean against the wall.

“So…not sure if you noticed, but Jack wants to sleep with you.”

I chuckle. “Yes, I noticed.”

He joins me against the building, his arm touching mine. “Are you gonna?”

“Nah, he’s hot, but I’m not interested.”

“You think he’s hot?”

I wink. “Simmer down, Puppy. He’s not a nine.”

“I wasn’t… I don’t… It doesn’t matter to me if you think he’s a nine.”

I don’t believe him, and besides, I’m trying to figure out why he cares. Is it just because it makes him feel good? And for whatever reason, I don’t think he’s let enough things make him feel good in his life. I don’t think a lot of people have told him he’s sexy, and if they have, he didn’t believe them. He seems to believe me, though.

“What about you and Autumn?”

He does that adorable thing where he wrinkles his nose and forehead, all confused. “What about her?”

“Oh my God! Theo! Please tell me you realize she’s been flirting with you! I could see it from across the room.”

He hesitates for a moment, then slowly says, “No, um…I noticed.”

“No, you totally didn’t, you dumbass,” I say teasingly. “But now I guess I don’t have to feel bad about my flirting skills. I’d been thinking I suddenly sucked at it since you couldn’t tell what I was doing. Now I know it’s not me—it’s you.”

“I knew she was flirting with me!” He crosses his arms, and for the first time, I see him pout. His bottom lip pushes out a little and everything.

Chuckling, I wrap an arm around his shoulders. “Don’t feel bad. It’s adorable.”

“That I’m an idiot?”

I frown. “You’re not an idiot. I don’t ever want to make you feel that way. You’re just…humble. Not full of yourself. I don’t think you see how irresistible you are.”

“What the fuck ever. I’m totally not irresistible.” He tries to walk away, but I grab ahold of him and tug him back. It puts Theo in front of me, boxing me in against the building, and close…so close I can smell the slight hint of sweat mixed with his cologne.

“You don’t see yourself clearly. Nine. You’re a nine, Theo.”

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