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Chapter Thirty-Seven

AURORA

W hen I wake up from my nap, Theo’s ordered food. I’m starving, and he makes me come out to the couch to eat it. From there, we watch home renovation shows and eat take-out, sitting in silence because there’s not a whole lot to talk about. At least not a lot on my mind right now.

It’s late when he takes my hand and leads me to bed, tucking me back underneath my yellow duvet. Theo takes the spot next to me with Rumour at our feet. I drift off with him stroking my hair again, the last thought on my mind being a concern with how used to this I’m getting.

“Alright, time to get up.”

Sunlight floods my bedroom suddenly and I groan, turning to bury my face in the pillow. Waking up is the last thing I want to do. Sleeping is a pleasure. It’s an escape from the feelings that I don’t want to face when I’m awake. I turn and roll into the blankets in an attempt to burrito myself in them. “When the fuck did you become a morning person, Abrams?”

My precious duvet is being tugged away from me. I open my eyes to see Theo standing at the foot of the bed, pulling on the blanket. “We have plans today, baby doll.”

There’s entirely too much cheer in his voice for me to be comfortable with. He’s already dressed, wearing a pair of jeans and a grey t-shirt. Did he go out and buy clothes? How fucking late did I sleep? How hard did I sleep? I doubt I’ll ever get used to seeing him dressed down. I’m used to wrestling trunks, slacks, and button-ups. Everything else feels like someone that I don’t know.

“What do we possibly have to do, Theo?” I’m raking through my thoughts, trying to remember if we were booked for media or something today. Maybe I forgot, with everything else going on. It wouldn’t surprise me. But I can’t remember anything. No interviews, no conventions. That would explain why he came yesterday. Not because Jules asked him to, but because we have an obligation that we need to fulfill together.

He huffs as he finishes pulling the blanket off the bed, and I curl into myself, missing the warmth. At least Rumour looks as offended as I do. The kitten was sleeping by my feet, and Theo so rudely ripped the blanket away. She starts to fuss at him, angry meows filling the bedroom.

“Women are so damn bitchy in the morning,” he grumbles. Ah, that’s closer to the Theo I know. I was beginning to worry he’d changed completely. “You’ll see, all right? It’s a surprise. You have to get your ass out of bed, though.”

Sitting all the way up on the side of the bed, my feet meet tan carpet. “Okay, I’m up.” Forcing myself to stand, I stretch with my arms over my head. I pause, looking back at Theo. “How long have you been awake? Did you go shopping?”

“Long enough to get a workout in, run to the store to get clothes and food for Rumour.” Theo turns toward the door. “Get ready. I’m going to feed the other cranky one. I got you something too.” He holds out a finger. “Don’t argue with me. I already have to deal with one sassing me.” He starts out the door and Rumour follows him, knowing breakfast awaits her.

As she trails after him, she’s still telling him off for waking her up and taking away the warm blanket. Before I step into the bathroom, I can hear Theo talking to Rumour. “You can go back to sleep after breakfast, all right? Will you stop bitching at me?”

Rumour meows in response.

It doesn’t take long for me to get ready. I put my hair in two sloppily done braided pigtails, wash my face, and change into a t-shirt and some leggings. I head into the kitchen, joining Theo and Rumour just as the latter is finishing up her breakfast. Her green eyes look up at me as Theo leans back against my kitchen counter, sliding a plastic cup and a brown paper bag over to me.

My usual coffee, with all the unnecessary extras that Theo has always deemed as ‘gag-worthy.’ Opening the paper bag, I pull out a muffin.

“Cinnamon crunch. Wasn’t sure what kind of muffin you liked, but you like cinnamon, so…” he trails off with a grin.

“Thank you.” I break off a piece of the muffin and pop it into my mouth. It’s like a delicious cinnamon explosion. Sweet, but not overly so. Buttery and soft. “This is the best damn muffin I’ve ever had,” I say with my mouth still full. Did I eat anything at all yesterday? I don’t think so.

Theo chuckles. “I can tell.”

“Was there actually a reason I needed to jump out of bed?” I ask, bringing the coffee cup to my lips. Going back to bed still feels like an amazing idea. Hiding under my covers, safe from the rest of the world.

“Yes.” He makes a sweeping gesture toward the front door. “If you come on.”

“I hate being rushed. ”

“Then start moving, baby doll.”

I make sure Theo sees me roll my eyes before I walk toward the front door. Theo follows, his hand coming to rest on my lower back as we walk, guiding me down the stairs. I’m comfortable with him touching me. It’s second nature at work. It’s becoming comfortable out of work too.

Once we’re settled into Theo’s Porsche, he pulls out of the parking space and starts driving. Resting my elbow on the car door and supporting my chin in my palm, I watch my small-town turn into the highway which turns into the nearest cityscape. “Once again, I’m going to ask, where are we going?”

Theo sighs. “You are the worst person to surprise, aren’t you?” When I don’t answer, he continues. “We’re going to the zoo.”

I turn to look at Theo as he taps his fingers against the steering wheel. “The zoo?”

“That’s what I said.”

“Yeah, I heard you. It’s—” Theo taking me to the zoo is very weird. It’s not expected. Sure, I should probably expect the unexpected when he’s involved, but the zoo came out of the blue. “Why the zoo?”

“Do you not want to go?”

“Not what I said, Theodore.”

A smirk tugs at his lips. “God, I’ve missed you saying my name like that.” He shakes his head and gets back on track. “Anyway. The zoo. Because you’re sad and having a shit time right now. The zoo’s a good distraction.”

“I—okay, that’s good reasoning.”

“Yeah, I know.”

I’m beginning to feel normal again. If I can keep riding this wave of normal, it’ll all be okay. Unfortunately, that’s not how moods work. It’ll ebb and flow, especially when something cuts as deeply as what happened to me. I’m not sure how I’ll face work next week or the week after that, if I even have a job when it’s all said and done.

When we arrive at the zoo, Theo pulls into a parking spot. As we walk to the ticketing gate, his hand goes back to my back. I try to pay for my ticket, but he doesn’t let me. He glares at me, snatches my wallet, and holds it away from me until he can tap his card and pay.

Once we're inside, there’s a fork. Left to the flamingos or right toward the elephants.

Obviously, I go for the elephants.

Theo follows along behind me as I lead the way toward the elephant exhibit. The zoo isn’t insanely crowded today. There are still families with small children and groups of tourists, but I guide us around them to an open spot along the fence.

I hop up on the curb, lifting my chin over the black metal so I can peer inside with ease. “Oh my god ,” I gush. “Look at the baby!”

There’s a baby elephant following right by its mother. It hides by her legs, occasionally peering around, but mostly focusing on its mother.

Theo’s larger body is right behind me. His chest is pressed against my back, locking me in. It’s comfortable and I try not to think about that. If I let those thoughts linger, then I’m right back to looking eye to eye with the truth of my feelings for him. I can’t do that right now. Not when everything that happened with Austin is so fresh.

“Adorable,” Theo drawls, resting his chin on my shoulder. I get the feeling that the baby elephant isn’t melting his heart the same way it is mine, but he doesn’t complain. We stay there, watching as long as I want.

I could look at the sweet baby all day, but I don’t want to bore Theo to death. So, with one last look at the baby, I slip away. He stays by my side, hand on my back as we walk to the next exhibit.

Until I get sidetracked .

I notice the directional sign pointing to important exhibits. The big cats, the monkeys, the bears, and the petting zoo.

“Theo, do they have pigs?”

“What?”

“The petting zoo. Do they have pigs?”

Caramel eyes look down at me, an eyebrow raised as he shrugs a shoulder. “I think so, yeah. Why?”

Not giving him an answer, my hand reaches for his. With ease, I intertwine our fingers and tug him in the direction of the petting zoo.