Page 24

“What is that film about?” Annoth asks curiously, looking over at me. “Theo, your face is quite red. Are you having another panic attack?”

“I’m fine!” I snap, and stand up to look around for something else I could use as a trash bag.

“Father Benjamin, perhaps you could suggest a good film, since Theo is not feeling well.”

Ben cringes. “Ok, I’m setting another ground rule for this little shitshow. Can you, for the love of God,notcall me ‘Father Benjamin’?”

“I shall call you Ben because it is easier to say, and not for the reason you have requested,” Annoth says, then continues scrolling through movies.

“Great,” Ben quips. “Lemme get dressed and I’ll find you something good to watch,Annie.”

She turns to stare at him, her mouth set in a furious line and her black eyes blazing with fury. “Do notevercall me that,” she hisses, and he holds his hands up, laughing.

“Lord, everyone’s so touchy.” He goes to the office to change. When he comes back out, he’s wearing jeans and another black band t-shirt, this one featuring several holes and bleach stains which may or may not be intentional.

I raise an eyebrow. “Fall Out Boy? What is it, 2009?”

“Gimme your phone and let’s see who has better taste in music, then,vaquero,” Ben taunts. “I bet yours is all hillbilly bullshit.”

I’m silent and his grin widens.

“Called it.” He walks past me to the fridge and opens it. “What the fuck? What’ve you been eating for two months?”

“Pizza,” Annoth and I say at the same time. She laughs and keeps scrolling.

“Hey, I had Thai the other night!” I say loudly.

“I know what both of you need,” says Ben, throwing himself onto the couch beside Annoth, who gives him some side-eye that could burn a hole straight through anyone with a bit more shame. He holds his hand out for the remote, and she reluctantly passes it over.

“Nothing that’s gonna give her ideas, please,” I tell him, then open my phone to see what food we could get delivered. More texts and calls from my family and Mak. Still nothing from Ros.

“Now,thisis a cinematic masterpiece of the highest order,” Ben tells Annoth, and I look up just in time to see him selectGuardians of the Galaxy.

“How can you like that and notStar Wars?” I demand to know.

“BecauseStar Warstakes itself too fucking seriously!” Ben groans. “It’s sci-fi! It’s not that deep!”

“Oh, come on! What about the–”

“Be silent, both of you!” Annoth growls, tucking her knees under her chin, eyes fixed on the screen. Ben starts the movie for her, thencomes over to where I’m scrolling through delivery options in the kitchen.

“Pizza, Thai, or Chinese are the only options tonight,” I say, showing him my phone screen.

“Got enough unread messages and missed calls?” he remarks.

I sigh. “My family and friends have been…worried about me. I’ve been trying to keep up, but…it’s just hard, when you’re not in the right space for it. My mom is a bit overbearing, Dad doesn’t understand mental health. My friends are great, but…”

Something shifts in Ben’s face, then immediately vanishes.

“I could help you out with that while I’m here anyway, if you want,” he offers. He’s standing so close that his scent fills my nose–classic Old Spice, I think. It makes me a little lightheaded, and not in a bad way.

“Uh…with texting people? Is that one of your many services?”

His voice becomes even more gentle as he says, “It’s just something I’ve got experience with, and I know how hard this shit can be.” The offer seems earnest, and I can’t help but smile.

“Yeah, I might take you up on that. Now, dinner?”

“Moving a little fast there, aren’t you?” Ben says with a wink. “You’re supposed to buy a guy dinnerbeforeyou and your demon girlfriend kidnap and blackmail him.”