Page 38 of Under Their Watch

“Soft?” I ask.

“Yeah,” he laughs. “It takes a lot to make him anything more than soft. Max is much easier get to. Just be a brat, challenge him, and run.”

“Literally?” I ask.

“Yeah,” Jace says. “That might get Rowan too. They are a lot like me and Quinn and help each other with that stuff.”

“I’ll give it a shot after I talk to Anika,” I yawn.

“Let’s go to sleep,” Quinn says.

“Please,” I sigh. Theo takes my hand and pulls me up to my knees so he can hug me. “Thank you for getting me to talk. I’ve never said any of that before.”

“You’re welcome, sweetie,” he says, kissing the top of my head. “I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

When Theo goes upstairs, I lay with Quinn and Jace. I am facing Quinn and Jace is behind me and I’m quiet for a while. “What’s on your mind?” Quinn asks.

“I have a problem,” I admit with a whisper, sniffing back tears.

“What’s that?” he asks.

“I think I like Theo… a lot,” I say, still almost whispering. Quinn cups my cheek and smiles.

“Want to know something?” he asks.

“What?”

“He really likes you too,” Quinn tells me. “Anika pointed it out first and is stoked about it.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Well… Theo was married when they met through Emma. They were in a polygamous relationship as well, but Annie got pregnant by her boyfriend. Theo and Annie had grown apart anyhow, but when Anika came into the picture, he pulled away from her completely. They decided to be friends because Annie wanted to be in a monogamous relationship with Andrew. As soon as the divorce was finalized and she got half of everything, Annie and Andrew disappeared. She was apparentlynot pregnant after all. I’m not sure what her motivation was for lying, but I think that she just didn’t want to admit that she just didn’t want to say that she didn’t want to be with him.”

“He’s a psychiatrist with his own practice. She wanted his money,” I say. “I bet they had a bunch of savings too, huh?”

“That bitch,” Jace gasps.

“So, Theo is extremely cautious about who he gets close to. He would never admit it, but Annie hurt him. A lot. That doesn’t even include the guilt from when Anika was shot by her ex,” Quinn says.

“She told me about that yesterday,” I say. “He’s a psychiatrist. He should know that it isn’t his fault that she got shot.”

“It’s the whole 'do as I say, not as I do' business,” Quinn explains. “He cares about you so much, but he is being cautious.”

“That makes sense. Here I thought you all were mentally stable,” I laugh.

“God, no,” Jace laughs. “Everyone has had their fair share of trauma.”

“At least I’m with familiar company here,” I yawn.

I feel hands gentlyshaking me. I gasp and snap my eyes open. “Shit, you scared me,” I sigh when I realize it’s Theo.

“Sorry. Casey is here,” he says. “Come on.”

“Oh, God,” I complain. “What now?”

“I don’t know. She said she wanted to tell everyone together,” he says, handing me a pair of shorts.

“What time is it?” I ask. “Where are Quinn and Jace?”

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