Page 50 of Cross the Line

Theo pushes his glasses up his nose and looks down at his threadbare sweater. He’s never thought of himself as anyone’s fantasy. Sure, in high school a lot of girls, and a fair few guys who didn’t wanna admit it, were into him, but that had more to do with the jersey and the letterman jacket, and the popularity that came with being a varsity football player. He’d been their fantasy because of a role he played, not who he was.

Once the football thing ended, so did most of the attention, which suited Theo fine. In high school he’d hidden behind his image or Jason, and after he hadn’t needed to hide at all. He’d quickly realized that despite his bulk, something about his appearance—the plain tortoise shell frames, neutral sweaters and just this side of overgrown hair—lent itself to hiding in plain sight.

When Theo needs to hook up he changes things, dresses in a way to attract people with jeans and tight shirts, club clothes that are as much of a uniform as his football jersey had been. There’s a safety in knowing that what he gives to people is a version of his choosing. The idea that someone finds Theo handsome in his most authentic state is unexpected.

“Why do you have so much LaCroix?” Alec yells from the kitchen. “Six kinds, Theodore. There are six kinds.”

“I like it,” Theo yells back, following him in.

There in front of the open fridge is Alec, hands on his trim waist as he eyes the contents of Theo’s refrigerator. “What the fuck is ‘pamplemousse’ anyway?”

“Grapefruit.”

“Disgusting,” Alec grumbles, picking up another can. “Limoncello? Really? Fancy-ass water. Why don’t you have Coke?”

“I don’t drink Coke. Besides, didn't you say your nutritionist told you to cut back?”

Alec makes a derisive noise, ending up grabbing one of the tangerine LaCroix before shutting the fridge door with his hip. “She did and she can pry my Coke addiction from my cold, dead hands. I’ve already had to restrict my carbs and drink fourteen protein shakes a week. I am not giving up my Coke.”

He cracks the top on the LaCroix, gulping it down with a frown before moaning pitifully. “This taste like Alka-Seltzer, fuck that. Take me to get a Coke.”

“I’m in my pajamas.”

“Then we’ll go through a drive-thru. Take me to Sonic. I want some of that good cubed ice.”

“You’re going to crack your teeth eating ice.”

“I’m sorry, I missed the part where you went to dentistry school.” Alec snorts. “Besides, I need to cut back on chewing gum. It's giving me jaw problems. I tried switching to sunflower seeds, but the team nutritionist complained about my sodium intake. Watch your sodium, watch your sugar, your body is a temple. Blah, blah, blah.”

As a kid, Alec had forever been eating lollipops or blowing bubbles with his gum. Apparently he never did outgrow it.

“You seem kind of stressed out, Alec. Are you okay?”

Alec’s expression flickers but before he can reply, Rio loudly makes her presence known again. Alec bends down to pick up a very irritated and noisy Rio, who is clearly displeased at not being the center of Alec's attention.

With Rio held close to his chest, Alec fixes his honey brown eyes on Theo. “Come on, old man, we want Coke.”

It doesn’t escape Theo’s notice that Alec didn’t answer his actual question, but if he’s not comfortable telling Theo what’s going on, he won’t push. He’s too afraid of messing up this tenuous thing between them. He hasn’t earned that part of Alec. Not yet.

“‘We,’ huh?”

“Can’t you hear Rio whining?” She’s not. The second Alec picked her up she quieted down. Theo’s spent the last three days with her meowing her tiny head off night and day, and turns out all she needs is Alec around and she’s happy as a clam. Theo’s not sure if that makes him want to laugh or cry. Poetic justice indeed, since he’s also been moping about wishing Alec would come over, too chicken-shit to go visit him first. “She clearly understands my duress and thinks I deserve one.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re ridiculous?”

“Not in the last six hours,” Alec replies, moving past Theo towards the front door. “Are you coming?”

“Apparently,” Theo says with a shake of his head. “Are you sure I shouldn’t change?”

“It’s a drive-thru. No one gives a fuck what you’re wearing.” Alec stops at the door, turning to wait for him. “If you do need to get out of the car, I give you permission to tell people you were kidnapped.”

“Why is every scenario with you the most extreme possible?”

“Because I have a gifted imagination.” Alec purses his lips. “Fuck, I forgot my wallet.”

“Pretty sure I can manage treating you to a Coke. You’re a cheap date.”

The tip of Alec’s button nose turns pink, his big eyes wide and focused on Theo. For a second Theo forgets how to breathe, frozen in place under Alec’s watchful gaze. Embarrassed by his own reaction, he tries to recover and ends up fumbling. “Not that it’s a date. Because we would never.”

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