Page 77 of Weak Side

“Um, yeah,” I answered, rolling my lips together. This was something Theo and I had planned to go to weeks prior when we were still in our era of fake dating. I wasn’t sure what we were now, but it wasn’t fake. “I haven’t talked with him much, but he should be here. He’s been on the ice almost all weekend.” I sighed. “Which was my fault.”

“How so?” Taytum asked, opening the door to her room. The noise from the foyer floated up the stairs, and butterflies overtook my belly at the thought of Theo seeing me dressed up.

“He’s getting punished for being late to the game on Friday.”

“Oh, right.” Taytum darted her eyes away, and the blush on her cheeks looked a little darker than before.

“What?” I asked, eyeing her suspiciously. It wasn’t like her to hide something from me, but the telling look in her eyes was even more obvious with a mask on.

Rose and her friend left Taytum and me alone, and the very second they were down the stairs, she pulled me in close. “Has Chad texted you?”

I shrugged. “I don’t think so. I haven’t really had my phone. The doctor told me I needed to stay away from electronics for a couple of days. Why?”

“He showed up at the hospital.”

That was a swift blow to my mood. “The nerve,” I gritted, crossing my arms over my chest. “He’s the reason I fell. He was glaring at me from the back, just behind Theo and the rest of the guys.” Tom Gardini was there too, but I kept that to myself.

“I know. I saw him as we were leaving, and then he showed up at the hospital, and I thought Theo was going to go to jail by the mere look on his face.”

Panic rushed to my heart. “What? Did he say something to him?”

“Not in so many words, but…” Taytum sighed. “You need to tell Theo what’s really going on if you two are more than what you say you are.”

We are. We are more than what we say we are. Right?

“I don’t know what to say.” I peered down the length of the black shimmery dress. “I don’t know what to do, Tay. Chad has me in a chokehold—and not in a good way.”

“You need to tell him to fuck off.”

“My mom does not have the money to pay his parents back all that she owes, and not to mention, my mom’s entire income is held by a string that his parents can untie in a single second. Then what? She’ll be homeless because she can’t afford her rent? I will have to drop out of school before my senior year and pay—”

Taytum’s hands wrapped around my upper arms. “No, Claire.” Her blonde waves bounced as she shook her head. “Your mother’s financial situation is not your burden. What do you think she’d say if she knew that Chad had cheated on you and then pretty much blackmailed you into staying in some sort of fucked-up relationship with him just to save her job? That’s ridiculous, and if your mother is deserving of all that you’ve given her, she’d never ever stand for that kind of disrespect. Are you willing to give up what you feel for Theo for her?”

“She’d feel betrayed by me if she knew that I blatantly picked Theo over her. Because that’s what I would be doing. That’s why I’m trying so hard to—”

“To what? Have your cake and eat it too? Because no matter how I see it, Chad is going to try to destroy you and your mother if you don’t do what he says. He’s a narcissist, and he’s using your selflessness to trap you in a future that you will regret for the rest of your life, and to be honest, Theo deserves to know what’s going on because that hunky jock has fallen hard for you.”

The door opened downstairs, and my gaze drifted over the banister and into the foyer. Several broad-shouldered guys walked in, each of them wearing black suits and black masks, stealing everyone’s breath. I knew which one was Theo just by the air that surrounded him. My stomach dipped the moment he peered up the steps. Our eyes snagged right away, and I burned when his soft lips parted and curled on one side.

“See?” Taytum whispered. “And don’t you dare tell me that you haven’t fallen for him. I hardly recognize you when you look at him—and that isn’t a bad thing.”

I let out a soft breath and smiled down at him.

I’d ruin the world for Theo Brooks, and it was about time I told him.

38

Theo

She was devastating.

I was stuck in the entryway with an entire party occurring around me as I watched her descend down the stairs after her best friend. The only thing I could see was her toned leg slipping out from behind her dress and those icy eyes set on me like I was the only guy in the room.

The universe was aligned when she entered the world, and I would be a damn fool if I ever let her out of my grasp. I’d already proven to myself that I’d fallen for her, but I still felt like I needed to prove it to her. The only thing stopping me was a recent truth that was spitting fire in the back of my head every time I thought of her.

After learning what Tom had told me, I could hardly look Claire in the face without spilling every last detail, but I knew that a few hours after getting a concussion wasn’t the best time, so instead, I held onto the truth and avoided her.

And now, here I was, holding my hand out to her in the middle of a fucking sorority party, wanting to do nothing but live in the moment and see her smile instead of watch her world get flipped on its side by a man who had the power to grant me my future but potentially break all of the trust Claire and I had formed together.

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