Page 30 of Botched

“Baking,” I answer. “I’d want to bake. I worked at a local bakery to make ends meet when I was on the indies. I actually like it.”

“I can’t imagine you baking,” Theo snorts. “Were you any good?”

“I like to think so. No one’s ever complained when I’ve baked them something.”

His fingers still idly run down my arm, leaving goosebumps in their wake. “Bake me something sometime,” Theo commands.

“Maybe.” I leave it at that before turning the question on him. “What about you? What would you be doing?”

His fingers leave my arm. They go up to my hair, letting the strands slip through his fingers. Why am I letting him? Why aren’t I stopping him?

He sighs. “Probably…I don’t know, work with animals? Maybe run an animal rescue or something? Is that a viable option?” Theo pauses before answering his own question. “Probably not, but that’s what I’d want to do.”

His answer takes me by surprise. I was expecting ‘strip club DJ’or ‘porn star’ not rescuing animals. “Really?” I can’t help but sound a little skeptical.

“I like cats. My parents wanted me to be a vet, but I dropped out of college after two years to pursue wrestling full-time.” His brown eyes are so much softer when he says that, the genuineness coming through. For a moment, I think I catch a glimpse of the man underneath all the bravado.

Or is the bravado all Theo is?

“I bet they’re really happy about that one.”

Theo chuckles. “Eh. Give or take it. They like the fact that I’m successful.” There’s a bitterness in his voice. “Mom wouldn’t talk to me for a few years. Only really started to come around when I won the title. It makes me look successful, and my merch sells better, which means more money.”

Oh.

I want to press a little bit more about that.

Theo doesn’t give me the chance. He’s very good at avoiding things he doesn’t want to linger on. “What about you? Your folks supportive?”

“My dad’s always been,” I tell him. “My mom died when I was six, but I like to imagine that she would’ve been supportive too. That could just be me being hopeful. My stepmom was supportive.”

It’s hard for me to imagine what it would be like to have parents who aren’t supportive of your dreams. When I told my dad I wanted to wrestle, he immediately gave me the money for wrestling school and told me to chase my dreams. Showed up to every shitty indie show that he could.

“Janet?” Theo pushes. “See, I knew you had a stepmom.”

“Janet is not my stepmom. Ruby was my stepmom. She’s also dead.”

He pauses and then laughs. The humor on his gorgeous face as the storm rages outside the hotel is surprisingly beautiful. “Fuck, your dad has theshittiestluck with women.”

So unabashedly. So pointed. It makes me laugh too, even if it’s morbid. Dark humor is how I’ve survived my life up until this point. “I’m pretty sure my dad made the same joke a time or two.”

“Good man. At least he can laugh about it.”

Could. I want to correct him, but I don’t. Trauma dumping on Theo doesn’t feel like the right call. We’re getting along for the first time. Knowing him, that could change at any moment.

Sometimes, though, I can’t help myself and I ruin moments. Curiosity gets the best of me. What Jules said about Veronica not being the greatest partner has me curious. Maybe I’ve gotten Theo wrong the entire time.

After swallowing, I force the words past my lips as another flash of lightning makes me tense. It feels like an omen for what’s going to be the ultimate mood shift. “Why did you cheat on your ex? So publicly. You had to know that you were going to get caught.”

I feel it—Theo shutting down on me. The laughter is over. The joy vanishes and his brown eyes go dark. “Dunno what to tell you, baby doll. I’m just a selfish piece of shit.”

“Or is that what you want people to think?”

“No. I’m genuinely a piece of shit, Aurora. I get it. You want me to have some tragic backstory and some reason behind being the way I am. Oh, he was bullied in school. Oh, his ex was evil and manipulative and he couldn’t escape. No, I’m not a good guy. Never have been. Never will be. It’s not in my nature. At least I can be honest about it, unlike everyone else in the fucking world.”

I chew on my bottom lip. Looking into his eyes, I can see that Theo is telling the truth, or at least his version of it. It’s in the way he’s looking back at me. What’s better? The monster you know or the pretty lies that most people present?

“You still didn’t answer my question.”

---