Page 90 of Stop and Seek
He was still watching Theo. Trying to figure out what that look meant.
And who he needed to beat the shit out of for making him look like that.
The next rounds were fine, if fine meant dull as hell.
The adrenaline from earlier had fizzled out, replaced with a slow simmer of boredom.
Noah kept his eyes moving between Theo, Alyssa, and Benji, only reallycaringabout Theo, if he was honest. When Alyssa and Benji were out—and Kyran called for a break—every nerve in Noah’s body bundled into his stomach.
Three more rounds left, and Theo hadn’t let off the gas.
But with only three Seekers and four Hiders—
Jesus, he hated this.
Not to mention the Seekers were playingtoogood. And he had thisitchin his brain that told him if he grabbed Max’s phone, he’d catch her doing something shady—again.Charitable, his ass. She popped her gumeverytime someone got caught.
And it only made things worse for Theo.HisTheo.
By the time Noah got back, slamming his car door harder than necessary, arms overloaded with Max’s food and drinks and whatever extras Kyran guilt-tripped him into grabbing, he was pissed. Not at Theo—never at Theo—but at everything else.
The heat.
The long-ass lines at 5:00p.m. on a fuckingSunday.
Max.
The way his whole body had been twisted in knots the whole damn time.
Benji’s voice caught him off guard as he went up the first step.
“Please tell me something in there is for me.”
“You can thank Kyran for reminding me you existed,” Noah said, digging for the right order. “If you ask if I got it wrong, I’m eating it myself. Kyran sent me a novel.”
Benji tilted his head, clearly amused, then shrugged. “I’ll tell him thanks.” He stamped out his cigarette and motioned behind him. “I found company while I was dying of heat exposure.”
Noah’s gaze flicked up—and oh.
Her.
He hadn’t even seen Rachel standing there. His brain must’ve tuned her out. She gave him a small wave.
“Have you two been outside chain smoking the entire time?” he asked, voice flat.
Why the hell was she looking at him like that?
She was Theo’s friend.Theo’s friend.
“For an hour, maybe,” Rachel said. “I was killing time waiting for Teddy, and we’ve been shooting the shit. I’m Rachel, by the by.”
“I know who you are. Theo’s talked about you. Theater kid, right?”
“And you’re a fellow Will Wood fan.” She tapped the ash off with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I figured the jocks had something buried beneath hair gel and letterman jackets. Fun little secrets, right?”
Benji laughed.
If it was a joke, it didn’t land. Something about the way she said it, all soft and knowing, made his skin crawl. Like she wasdaringhim to admit it. Like she alreadyknew something.
