Page 48 of Stop and Seek
“You have the singular most relaxed life,” a guy said, somewhere above and behind Theo’s head. “Some of us have real jobs.”
“It’s a real job!” Decker whined. “I get paid real money. Wall Street sucks.”
“Who works atWall Street?”
“It’s a big building. Same diff. Same vibe.”
“It’s not…” The guy sighed. “Forget I started this conversation.”
Someone moved away—thankfully—and Theo could concentrate on circling the parts of the map that looked best.
The pool was an option. Isolated. No one in their right mind would go down there in the dark—but it was also a death trap. Four flights of stairsandon the other side of the building? Hell, he wasn’t that fast.
Chewing on his lip, he moved the image around.
Hecouldlet himself get caught. Once.
The new “freeze” rule benefited the hiders more than the seekers, and it was one of the reasons he didn’t change roles. He had to remain still for thirty seconds, and then he got another thirty seconds to run like hell.
It was a fuckingscarybet on his speed, but it wasted an entire minute. When the longest round lasted fifteen? It ate up a huge chunk of the seeker’s time.
Someone flicked the back of his head, and he already knew who it was.
Won’t bat an eyelash, huh?
“Feel any better? I was nervous leaving you alone last night,” Noah said, that damn cheerful voice grating.
Theo’s eyelid twitched.
If he turned around, he was going to punch Noah. There was no doubt about it.
No.
He was going to fuckingwailon Noah until Alyssa or Decker had to pull him off.
Theohadto ignore him. It was the adult thing to do. Beating the shit out of people would get him jail time—didn’t matter if they deserved it or not.
Twenty-five thousand dollars.
He kept repeating it in his head until he could relax his grip on the phone and he didn’t feel like he’d break his jaw.
When the old, metal bleachers groaned with the weight of someone coming down, Theo clicked the screen off.
If it’s Noah, god can’t even help him.
Instead, it was some dude in a T-shirt and the thinnest pair of glasses Theo had ever seen.
“They’re exhausting,” the guy muttered, unlit cigarette hanging from the side of his mouth as he plopped down.
It was the same person talking to Decker. Or at least, it sounded like him.
“They’re loud,” Theo said. “Not my cup of tea.”
“Cup of tea.” The guy chuckled. “Shot of whiskey.”
“Shot of vodka.”
See, Alyssa? I can socialize.
