Page 34 of Stop and Seek
A new text from Rachel. He barely registered the words, just grinned at the blurry picture of Brownie wearing a sweater. It almost grounded him.
Then the floor lurched sideways.
Theo snapped his head up.
One of Noah’s hands were on his chair, and Theo wasmuchcloser to the table than he had been.
“Do you remember me?” Noah asked.
Theo narrowed his eyes. “From school?Yeah. Everyone knows you—get your fucking hands off my chair. Did youmoveme?”
“Kinda. Next time, I’ll let them flatten you if it makes you feel better.”
Noah jerked his chin toward the back door.
Theo turned to see Marty—or Marvin—struggling to haul a crate of boxes up the incline, directly in the path of where his chair had been.
“Just say something,” Theo muttered, crushing the embarrassment the best he could, but his entire neck was on fire.
“I tried. Not my fault you didn’t hear me the first time. Get up.”
“What? Why?”
“Because, if you haven’t noticed, our friends are with Kyran.”
No, they weren’t.
They were—
They werenotat the table.
Shit.
“You’re messed up, Theo,” Noah continued. “Everyone can see it. It’s why Goth Dolly asked me to take you home.”
Oh look, Noah could make jokes.
If Theo didn’t want to keel over, he would have laughed.
“I can, uh, I can catch a rideshare or something,” Theo said, barely audible. He cleared his throat. “I’m good.”
No, he wasn’t good. He was spiraling into a bottomless pit made of bad decisions and secondhand vodka breath.
“Or you can get in my car and stop arguing. Look, I’m sorry, okay? We got off on the wrong foot. Give me another chance.”
Another chance for what?
This was such a bad idea.
Noah didn’t seem to be taking no for an answer.
But if Theo askedAlyssafor a ride home? She’d never let him live it down.
What if the rideshares weren’t running because of road conditions?
Fuck.
Well, at least in Noah’s car, no one would watch him fall apart like this.
