Page 74 of Stop and Seek
What was worse?
Near-blacking out and beating someone?
Or coming home and not recognizing the place that’s supposed to be your safe haven?
Theo couldn’t figure that out.
Sitting in the parking lot didn’t count as stalking if you were worried about someone, right? The way Theo ran inside like a bat out of hell? Kinda odd.
This was just what good friends did for each other. Friends who might also want to pin the other friend to the mattress and feed him PB&J sandwiches. And knock out anyone who looked at him wrong.
Friends wasn’t the right word.
Obviously.
His busted lip and messed-up cheek—which he’d checked in the rear-view mirror three times—was the least of his concerns.
Did it hurt? Kinda.
Did he want to wear it like a badge of honor for the next ten years? A little.
Max was going to have questions, though. She always did. He could say it happened during the game—but that excuse only worked so many times. Noah couldn’t keep blaming Stop and Seek for every little thing that came up with Theo.
Whatever.
Didn’t matter.
He’d drive around until the swelling looked less murder-y and come up with a better one.
Explanations had never been his strong suit.
Noah slammed his hands on the wheel, then groaned and let his head fall back.
God, he’d fucked itallsideways. Watched the whole thing crash in slow motion, couldn’t even tell when the wreck started. Theo was upset—then pissed—then evenmoreupset, and then—boom.Chaos.
He scrolled through his phone, ignoring the pings and updates from Max, Kyran, his mom. The usual noise.
Then one from Benji.
Noah tapped it open. Something long. Whiny. Dramatic. Blah blah blah. If Benji didn’t want to get hit, he should have been paying better attention in the dark.
And maybe talked to Theo less.
Grabbing Theo’s number from the group chat, he opened a new message. The blinking white screen stared back like it was waiting for him to screw up again.
Noah
I just want to know if you’re okay.
Basic conversation.
The typing dots showed up. Disappeared. Showed up again. Then nothing.
Noah watched it for five full minutes before locking his screen witha huff.
Fine.
He could wait. Even if all he wanted to do was crawl through Theo’s window and get answers face to face.
