Page 27 of Meet Me at the Metro (Gildenhill #1)

27

TRUST

T H E O

M y ears are pounding with my erratic heartbeat, there’s a lump in my throat that wasn’t there moments ago, and the chaotic chatter and loud music all around me is about to make me lose my fucking mind. My whole body is tense with frustration, my jaw so tight that I find myself grinding my teeth. I can’t even find the ability to speak right now. Not after the words I just heard leave Evie’s mouth.

I look back and forth between her and Nora in downright disbelief, finding myself completely speechless.

I’m a fucking idiot, aren’t I? A damn, naive fool for believing that things with Nora could be as easy as they’ve seemed to be these past few weeks. Here I was, assuming that this thing she and I have is exclusive, but now, I’m not so sure.

The uncertainty is tearing me apart.

Vulnerability is a fickle thing—powerful enough to heal you and potent enough to ravage every shred of courage you put toward opening up to someone in the first place.

I’m afraid that this time, it has decided to show me its ugly side.

Evie jumps up from her seat and insists, “Mate, it’s not at all what it sounds like.”

There’s a furious tremble in my hands— I refuse to let either of them see —as I shove their J?gerbombs across the counter and grumble, “Enjoy.”

Nora reaches for me as I walk back toward the other end of the bar. “Theo, wait!”

If there weren’t the physical barrier of the bartop between me and the backdoor, I’d probably find myself storming out of this place.

Deep down, I know I should allow her to explain herself, but right now, I’m too caught up in the familiar sting of infidelity to possibly listen. So quickly, I find old feelings bubbling up inside of me, and I can’t figure out how to subside them—how to get the unsettling twinge in my chest to disappear.

“ Theo .” That sweet voice calls out for me again.

I’m too damn overwhelmed right now to give her a nice or proper response, so I do the smart thing— the self-controlled thing —and ignore her arse.

It’s for the best.

My two fellow bartenders’ concerned eyes follow me as I move to serve another waiting customer. “What do you want?”

“Two pints of Foster.”

“You got it,” I bite back.

I try to ignore the girl standing in my periphery as I snatch two glasses off a shelf behind me. They clank against one another harder than I intend for them to and slip from my fingertips. I wince as the glasses shatter against the sticky, beer-covered floor and scatter everywhere.

“ Dammit .”

“Messy boy,” Daniel teases as he walks past carrying a bottle of gin, but I’m not in the mood for jokes tonight.

“That guy wants two Fosters,” I huff, bending down to clean up my mess.

My nerves must be so shot that I’m incapable of possessing common sense because I reach down to pick up the shards of glass with my bare hands, immediately regretting it when one of the pieces sears my skin.

Blood is dripping onto the floor before I can even take my next breath. “Shit,” I shakily exhale. There’s so much red. “ Shit, shit, shit . ”

I scramble to my feet, stealing a flannel from the counter beside me and quickly wrapping my hand until my eyes don’t see crimson anymore.

“I’ll b-be back,” I mumble to my coworkers, heading straight for the backdoor.

The musty air around me turns thick— too thick . It’s so heavy that it feels like it’s closing in on me.

It feels like I’m suffocating.

I push out of the backdoor with such force that it slams against the alley wall outside. I don’t have time to care about the commotion. I just need to get my head right and calm myself the fuck down.

I force myself to breathe in the cold, night air—force myself to fill my lungs with much-needed oxygen. My ears ring as I fall back against the cool brick, my eyes clenching shut as I fight to steer my thoughts to anything but that day.

I squeeze the cloth tightly against my hand, not giving a damn how badly the pressure stings so long as it stops the bleeding.

A gentle palm rests on my unscathed hand—so warm and needed—and immediately quells my shaking limbs. I don’t even need to open my eyes to know who’s standing before me.

“Can I see it?” Nora asks, so soft I find my racing heart calming.

“I–it’s fine. I’m fine. Just a little bit of blood. Just a little. I–I’m okay. I’m—”

“Teddy, let me see.” I open my eyes as she pulls my hand toward her, bundled in cloth, but she quickly redirects my gaze. “It’s a full moon tonight. Look. ”

I do as she says, look up toward the vast, nearly black sky, and find the moon. I count the stars surrounding it as I try to calm my ragged breathing. It’s not until I feel the breeze against my fingertips that I notice Nora has unwrapped my hand and how thoughtfully she was distracting me.

I keep my eyes on the moon despite how badly I want to look at her.

“This is going to be cold,” she warns right before the rush of water rushes past my fingertips. A beat of silence passes between us as she inspects my wound. She draws back a breath. “You got yourself good.”

“Am I still bleeding?”

She presses the cloth back down and holds it there. “A little bit.”

A shiver courses through my body, and I feel fucking pathetic. I hate how badly my brain tortures me sometimes—how damn paralyzing my thoughts can be.

I can’t help but look down at Nora, but she tilts my chin back up. “Don’t look yet. Let me get you cleaned up first. Keep staring at the moon, Teddy.”

I defiantly glance back to her eyes, sparkling with the sky’s reflection, and the muscles in my shoulders relax. “I can see it just fine.”

Out of my periphery, I watch her expose my fingers and feel the splash of cold water again. Just like before, she wraps my hand tightly and holds it. The sensation stings, but it’s nothing compared to the burn of Evie’s mindless confession. I try to blink back the flicker of hurt that comes with that reminder—try to smother the flare of anger heating my veins.

“Will you let me explain?” Nora asks as though she can hear my every thought.

I have a bittersweet, love-hate relationship with how transparent this girl makes me feel.

“You don’t have to explain.” I pull out of her hold and clutch my hand tightly. “You’re free to kiss whoever you want, but I’d rather not have to fucking hear about it.”

She instantly rolls her eyes. “It isn’t like that. You’re not even letting me explain myself before you start jumping to conclusions.”

“ Jumping to conclusions? I heard Evie clearly, or did she just say it for shits and giggles?”

She grits her teeth. “Like I said, it isn’t what you’re thinking it is.”

“How else should I think of it, Nora? You kissed him— your friend. ”

I don’t think I’ve ever felt this level of jealousy before—one that consumes my thoughts and stiffens every muscle in my body. I want every bit of this girl for myself, and I don’t know if that makes me a jealous bastard or just a sane one.

Nora’s shoulders straighten defiantly, her cheeks growing all red and hot. “I didn’t kiss him! Would you please listen to me?”

“I don’t have time to talk right now. I gotta get back to work.”

I push off the wall and take a step toward the backdoor.

That’s as far as I get—one step before her hands push me back against the brick. The force behind it lacks any true aggression, but it’s hard enough to stifle my breath.

It’s a challenge.

My pulse quickens, but this time, it’s not anger fueling my erratic heartbeat; it’s pure adrenaline.

“You’re not going back in there until you listen to me.”

Nora’s standing on the tips of her toes, chest puffed. I watch how it rises and falls, in perfect sync with mine. She tilts her head up and pins me with a dangerous glare.

“Move, Nora.”

Her jaw tenses. “Make me.”

Like that would even mean anything—she knows I’m not going to lay a fucking finger on her without her permission. The tension between us grows heavier with each passing second of silence.

“Now.”

“No. Not until you let me explain. Please, Teddy. ”

That name. That damn name .

She has to know how much power it holds. I’ve been in denial about how much I enjoyed hearing her call me that since the moment it fell from her lips, but there’s no denying it anymore.

I love it.

I can’t get enough of the way it makes me feel like I truly mean something to someone again.

“Please.” Her plea is so gentle that I’m certain I couldn’t deny her the opportunity to speak even if I truly wanted to.

Besides, I know she’s too damn stubborn to move, so I grumble, “Fine.”

“There’s only you.”

The confession makes me grip my cloth-wrapped hand a little tighter.

This girl has such a way with words that it’s dangerous. She knows exactly what to say to make my body go lax and defenseless—she knows exactly how to put a stop to my restless thoughts and quiet my mind.

“I didn’t kiss him, okay? He kissed me, and it’s just not fair of you to be mad at me for that—something out of my control.”

“But you’re still hanging around him. Hell, you brought him here with you tonight. What the hell am I supposed to think of that?”

“He’s my friend… one of the only ones I’ve made at school. When he kissed me, it was a heat of the moment kind of thing. He just misread things between us.”

I wince. “ Misread things? Is that supposed to make me feel any better?”

Just the thought of her having a flicker of the chemistry we have with someone else makes my stomach coil.

“I was hoping that it would,” she sighs. “We’re just friends, Theo. I swear. We sorted things out. I told him about you. About us. He’s apologized. It won’t happen again. I promise you.”

I give myself a moment to let that sink in and process everything that’s been said. It’s never been and never will be my place to tell Nora who and who she can’t hang out with, despite how much the thought of that guy’s lips on hers makes my skin crawl.

“I would never put you through what John put me through. Ever.”

My damn heart drops into my stomach. Deep down, I know Nora’s too good of a person to ever hurt someone the way he made her hurt.

I draw her toward me and embrace her tightly, appreciating how she allows her head to rest against my chest like it’s second nature.

I rest my chin against the crown of her head and confess, “I trust you, Nora.”

“You promise me? I need you to believe me on this— trust me .”

“I promise.”

The cool wind blows past us, whipping Nora’s honey-brown hair off her shoulders. I smooth the dark, tousled strands down, and she looks up at me with a content smile. “You’re not mad at me?”

I shake my head. “No, but… your friend can go fuck himself. ”

Her laugh steals every ounce of heaviness still lingering between us away.

“And I swear, if I find out he tries to kiss you aga—”

“Would you stop, you jealous ass? It’s not going to happen!”

“It better not.”

“It’s not. You know, I actually think you two would get along well.”

“The fuck we would!”

She chuckles and nods toward my hand. “We need to get you bandaged up, bartender.”

Nora doesn’t wait for me as she opens the back door and makes her way back inside Gullie’s .

I know she’s heading straight for a first-aid kit.

Thoughtful little thing.

I go to follow her, but the noisy commotion waiting for me inside stops me in my tracks. I hang back for a moment to soak in the calming sounds of passing cars and footsteps beyond the alley while I work on repressing any remaining nerves.

I don’t dare move until they settle, but when I finally will my feet toward the door, I only have one thought…

For her friend’s sake, I sure as hell hope I don’t meet him anytime soon.