Page 80 of Stop and Seek
Which meant… everything else? Everything else was okay.
Progress.
“Double noted,” he said. “Any other requests, my liege?”
Theo coughed. “You’re… you’re a piece of work, man.”
“Get some sleep, Theo.”
The call ended with a soft click. Not a disconnect. A hang-up. Voluntary.
Noah laid there for a minute, phone pressed into his face. The silence felt worse now. Too cold. Too still. But his grin wouldn’t go away.
Theo calledhim. Didn’t have to. Didn’t have a reason. But he reached out. He needed someone. And he choseNoah.
It didn’t matter that Theo was probably drunk or high—or both.
It didn’t matter that he sounded like he was calling from a floor.
What mattered was that Theo let him in, even just a little.
That meant the whole goddamn world.
There wasno chanceNoah was falling back asleep. He tried. Really. Got comfy, closed his eyes—even tucked his hands under the pillow like that would make a difference.
It didn’t.
Within five minutes, he was grinning at his phone, rereading every weird-ass message Theo had sent him. One literally just said “eye time.” What the hell waseye time? He’d have to ask. Eventually.
The protein bar and banana didn’t help—he couldn’t taste it. Wasn’t hungry.
Neither did hitting the hotel gym until he was sweating through his shirt.
Shower didn’t help either.
By the time he’d paced every inch of the fifth floor—like a fucking lunatic—he was about to give up on staying here.
He waswired.
Shaky, even.
It felt like his whole body was begging him to move.
Todosomething.
Preferably someone.
Specifically: Theo.
He was this close—this close—to getting in his car and showing up at Theo’s place. To see him. Make sure he was okay.
Consequences could suck it.
Then Max showed up, muttering curses and stabbing her card key into the slot.
“Did you have fun?” Noah asked, sliding his own card.
The front desk guy had fixed his key earlier, looking two seconds from tears when Noah explained the issue. Poor dude probably thought the Sterlings would come after him personally.
