Page 53 of Never To Suffer (The Hollywoodland #4)
I CAN’T ESCAPE MYSELF
THE DARE
I watch Xander’s beautiful, long eyelashes flutter open while I’m dabbing his face with a cool, wet cloth. The smell of cinnamon, sugar, and coffee heavy in the air. “Oh, there you are, my sweet boy.”
“Hey,” the hoarse word falls out like he’s drunk.
“Guess who went and got their dick pierced? Skylar!” I giggle and kiss his forehead before leaning back to hand a steaming mug to Skylar, who’s sitting against the headboard.
Xander watches me, trying to make sense of movement again and realizing he’s lying in Skylar’s lap.
He stares up at them with a dopey grin. “Oh, hi! You got your dick pierced!”
“I noticed,” Skylar teases, then brushes the hair out of his face.
“Okay, black for my dark moth. And extra sweet for my honeybee.” I wink as Xander sits up to take his mug in shaky hands. That’s why I didn’t fill it. “Okay, before we talk about Sky’s dick railing so hard you blacked out…how do you feel?”
He opens his mouth to answer, but a knock at the front door cuts him off.
I groan and growl as I hop off the bed, complaining the whole way to the door.
“Ugh, I’ll get it. They’ve got to fix that stupid gate before I throw one of these survey people down the damn stairs.
It’s like, what, ten in the morning in Los-friggin-Angeles and they—Oh! ”
“You?”
“What are you doing here? And how did you find me?” I ask, ready to pounce.
Skylar and Xander stumble out of bed and rush into the room. Clothes be damned, apparently. Xander skids to a stop behind me on his shaky Bambi legs.
“Theo! Shit! This is—” Xander looks around the room. “It’s exactly what it looks like.”
“Dr. Clay?”
Skylar and I both look at one another and ask the same question. “You know him?”
“Oh, boy,” Theo sighs, his eyes bouncing between the three of us like a beach ball in the stands of a baseball stadium.
“Wait, you’re not here for me?” I ask, my brain trying to make sense of his appearance at my door.
The unexpected scent of melted butter hits me and I forget everything else.
I can sense the fresh baked goodness within my reach!
“Okay, well, I’m still taking your peace offering, because it smells… delicious and flaky.”
“Do things smell flaky?” Xander asks, missing the point entirely. I don’t care though, it’s good to hear his voice breaking through the shadow that’s covered him since he got home.
Moving the towel out of the way to behold a steaming pile of croissants triggers a memory. “Holy fuckballs, you’re the baking neighbor therapy guy!”
“I am the baking neighbor, yes. And uhm, I… came to see him.” Theo smiles softly, nodding to Xander. “But the pastries are for, uhm, everyone. I guess. Glad I made extra.”
“I…am so confused,” Skylar says, grabbing a pillow and covering himself.
Xander leans over me, pulling Theo to him for a deep, hot as hell kiss. “Maybe you should come in before things get any weirder.” Xander offers.
“AHH, YOU’RE HIM, TOO! You’re salt and pepper bedroom hottie and baker neighbor?!” I yell, unable to stop myself.
“Again, yes. Dr. Theo Clay, to be more exact on who I am.”
“Okay, come in now. Please?” Xander asks him.
“Yeah, come in because I have soooo many questions. Why are you here with pastries? How does everyone here know you? What bizarro world do I live in now? Can I expect pastries on the daily?” I bombard him in rapid fire interrogation, but don’t move to give him room to come inside.
Xander may be ready to welcome him into our home, but I’m not so sure I am.
Even with my mouth full of sugary, flaky goodness.
“Ah! They’re chocolate filled! My weakness! ”
Xander grabs my hips and spins me around, so I face the couch.
I cradle the food like a baby, protecting it like a hobbit protects their pantry.
Skylar sits beside me, and I come close to snarling about them being my precious snacks when he moves to take one.
I’ve got to stop watching Xander’s fantasy movies.
“I couldn’t sleep last night, worried about you.
So, I baked. I thought about leaving them here at the door for you, but I didn’t want anyone taking them.
” Theo explains to Xander before glancing over at Skylar and me.
“I didn’t realize you were the girlfriend, Dani.
He only ever called you Beetle. When Kennedy said your name, it didn’t click that she meant D-A-N-I instead of D-A-N-N-Y.
I also didn’t expect you’d have company. ”
“Yeah, guess I need a referral for a different therapist,” Skylar smirks.
Lightbulbs are going off above all our heads like some kind of cartoon, as we all connect the dots and realize everything has been an intricate web of coincidence from the start.
“Maybe I should go.”
“No!” Xander yells and grabs his arm. “No, please. I…please don’t go. I can explain! Well, some of it.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah, please? They need an explanation, too. It's—everything went sideways.”
Theo looks down at their hands, his fingers tracing over the words below Xander’s thumb. I hadn’t noticed the new ink yet with everything else going on, but the entire scene gives me butterflies and giddy feelings. Until Theo’s shoulders slump and I panic. He might leave after this.
“GET IN HERE!” I scream. “Sorry, I mean, you shouldn’t…can you come in here before Xander cries or whatever? We just got him back!”
Theo nods, brushing his knuckles over Xander’s cheek. “I told you I’d wait until you were ready and ended up barging in like this. I’m sorry, Xander.”
“It’s okay. I promise, it is. You can make breakfast to go with whatever you baked if it would help.
You know, being in the kitchen and cooking or whatever?
” Xander offers before leaning in and kissing him chastely on the cheek.
I’m melting into the couch faster than this butter melting in my mouth.
“Sure, baby.”
“Excellent!” I yell.
Xander blushes and kisses Theo again before whispering, “Good, I’m starving, and Dani can’t cook eggs without the shells getting into the pan. She also burns the bacon.”
“LIES! I can cook bacon and eggs!”
“No, you can’t,” Skylar agrees with a laugh. They grab a pastry and run off to the bedroom, pillow still covering their front, before I can smack them.
“Baby?” Theo smiles at Xander and I want to kick my feet so badly. It’s a miscommunication rom com happening in my own living room. “Put on some pants. It’s…distracting.”
I’ve kept my mouth shut for over an hour now as Xander fills us in on Theo and some of what happened in Tokyo.
Okay, that’s not true, I’ve been shoveling these croissants into my face like its popcorn and I’m watching the movie’s big reveal scene.
That’s when I notice they’re all looking at me.
They’ve gone around the room, but I haven’t told them my part of the story yet.
“We met a few years ago at one of her shows,” Theo offers as he picks up the coffee mugs and plates from the coffee table. “I judged her band, and I’ve kind of been obsessed with her voice ever since.”
“So that’s not creepy at all. Are you a stalker?” Skylar asks from their perch in the window across the room as they blow smoke out of the apartment. They’ve only said a few words here and there, since they’ve had the least amount of contact with Theo. I’m hoping they’re okay.
“What kind of terrible stalker misses all of her inner circle when they’re a part of it already? I’m sure we’re even in pictures together if you go through enough of Chase’s parties, since I’ve made an appearance or two over the years.”
“Coop’s parties?! No way!” I scream, jumping up in my seat and almost knocking over the few remaining goodies. “When, which ones!?”
“Uhm, let’s see. They were both Halloween. I went as Negan from the walking dead one year and?—”
“HOLY SHIT! I REMEMBER YOU!” I slap my hand over my mouth as they all stare at me, bursting into laughter.
Even I laugh at that, and it’s good to see Xander smiling again, even if he keeps grabbing his ribs when he does.
“Bro, Xander got so wasted that night, he kept begging me to go hit on you. There were so many baseball bat innuendos!”
“Shit, I remember that!” Xander says, leaning back on the couch and running his hands through his hair. “So, when I was, uhm, gone, did you two…you know? Did you hook up?”
“No. We came close. At a bar a few weeks ago. He definitely rubbed his dick against me a few times, but you were all he wanted. Thousands of miles away and still a cockblock, Xander!”
“I didn’t know?!” Xander yells back, hitting me with a pillow.
Theo shakes his head and disappears around the corner and into the kitchen.
I wait a few minutes before following him out there and I find him drying the dishes and stacking them up.
“You didn’t need to do all this, you know.
But I do need to thank you. For taking care of Xander when he needed someone he could trust.”
“Don’t thank me, Dani. Things are…complicated.”
“We’re…not okay, are we?” Xander asks as he joins us, his sad puppy face back. Theo’s heavy sigh speaks volumes, and I listen to Xander’s heart shatter into a million pieces as his bottom lip quivers.
“Baby,” Theo starts, but stops himself.
“I understand,” Xander says, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and backing up against Skylar. “Thanks, Theo. For, well, for everything. I’m sorry I couldn’t?—”
My heart breaks and I remember that saying, how some people are only meant to be in your life for a short time and those people make the biggest impacts. Or however it goes. I used to think that would be Skylar for us, a flash in the pan we couldn’t replicate no matter how hard we tried.
“No! You two can’t break up!” I yell, looking between the pair.