Page 119 of Stop and Seek
And then Theo climbed into his lap—just,plantedhimself there like it was his fucking seat—and demanded Noahsqueeze the everloving life out of him.
Noah couldn’t hug him fast enough.
Jesus, Theo waswarm. A fevered, frantic heat dripping onto Noah’s skin and top.
“Take off the damn hoodie, Theo.”
“Shut up,” Theo grumbled into his neck. “Squeeze harder.”
“I’m gonna end up snapping you like a twig.”
“Just do it.”
Noah would do literally anything he asked right now.
At least Theo had stopped crying.
“The ER is my least favorite place on the planet,” Noah said automatically. He was trying to focus on anything but the aching strain in his arms. “Does this make you hard?”
“My insides are vibrating in the worst fucking way. Don’t be an asshole. This helps.”
Noah gritted his teeth, muscles burning. His arms were going to fall off. Or straight up pop. But Theo was calmer. He wasn’t doing that scary hiccup-sob anymore. His heartbeat against Noah’s chesthad lost that terrible flutter. Feeling himsinkinginto Noah’s hold—like he needed it tofunction—
Noah had never been more sure of his place in the world.
Right here. Right now. With Theo in his lap, trusting him to be strong enough to carry whatever he couldn’t.
His shoulder had gone numb. No big deal. It could rot off for all he cared.
Theo cleared his throat. “Talk. I don’t give a shit about what.”
“What’s your absolute favorite movie?” Noah asked. It was the first thing he could think of. “One everyone has to watch before they die.”
“High Tension.”
“You wanna watch it together?”
“Do you mind subtitles?”
“I can read pretty fast.”
Theo went quiet again, cheek still squished against Noah’s neck. The soft rub of skin-on-skin made his whole body hyperaware. Every breath Theo took ghosted along his collarbone. Noah didn’t even know if he was still breathing himself.
“Are you leaving tomorrow too?” Theo asked. “Or tonight? Benji told me he had, uh, prior commitments.” That gritty laugh—smoky, like it had barely survived the fire—left a trail of heat right down Noah’s spine.
“Friday evening, I think. Either that or Saturday morning.”
“Is it a work thing?”
“Not this time,” Noah muttered.
Thankfully.
Every trip lately had felt like an excuse to run away from shit he didn’t wanna deal with. But now? The only thing he wanted to runtowardwas right here in his lap.
The travel used to be thrilling. Exotic. Addictive. But it got gross. Got weird real fucking quick. Tracking down people, just to watch them get sold off as appetizers or entrees—he used to be good at detaching. Now, he wasn’t so sure. That much blooddidsomething to a person after a while.
“Do you have to?” Theo’s voice barely cut through the engine of a passing car.
