Page 10 of Stop and Seek (Our Childish Games #1)

Theo stumbled, barely catching himself against the table before Noah grabbed a handful of his soaked hoodie.

“I can walk,” Theo said, jerking away.

Noah snorted. “Yeah, but if you faceplant, and tell people I pushed you—” He tilted his head to the side. “I’m the bad guy again. It’s on the same level as I strangled you .”

“Holy shit. You’re fucking hung up on that.”

Swinging open the bar door, the downpour outside looked like a solid wall.

Just his luck.

Eunice was less than forty minutes away, but with how it was coming down, it might as well have been on the other side of the country. There were a few hotels nearby. They could stay the night, give him more time to get to know Theo better…

Max would kill him if he disappeared again before he finished the damn job.

Still, he needed to know more about Theo.

When he’d casually—totally, completely, absolutely casually—brought Theo up to Kyran, the walking encyclopedia of people? Kyran had nothing. Just that Theo hung out with Alyssa.

Flying under the radar that hard, in this day and age, was almost impossible. Everyone’s life was painted in high definition on social media. But Theo somehow managed to be a ghost in the system.

Rain slashed sideways, the few dim streetlights reflecting off the flooded pavement in blurry halos.

Theo’s shoulder slumped against Noah’s in the cramped doorway. “It’s like Waterworld .”

“We could wait for a boat. Oars would work.”

“Where’s your ark?” Theo chuckled.

Noah grinned.

Funny and a good fuck? Jackpot.

He already liked angry Theo, but this version? Dazed and off-balance, cracking jokes and smiles? Downright adorable. Not as good as listening to him moan, though. That held a special place in Noah’s heart.

Up close, Theo smelled like rain on warm grass, mixed with something sweet underneath. Subtle. Coconut, maybe.

Jesus, Noah wanted to bury his face in Theo’s neck, breathe him in until he figured it out.

“I feel bad for getting their floor wet,” Theo mumbled, his words slurring as he straightened. “Gotta bite the bullet.”

Noah dug the key fob from his pocket with a sigh. He hit the unlock button, and it beeped from behind the building. “A moment of silence for my seats, please.”

“Could be worse.”

Worse how ?

Noah almost asked.

Instead, he wrapped his hand around Theo’s elbow again—bony under his grip—and yanked him into the storm. He didn’t have time to think about the rain squelching in his shoes, or how getting blasted by a pressure washer would’ve been gentler. All that mattered was getting Theo to the car.

The white sedan loomed ahead, and Noah practically shoved Theo to the passenger side before diving in. Doors slamming shut, he collapsed into the seat. Rain pounded against the roof. Streaked the windows. Sealed them in their own private world.

Finally.

“I think you pulled my arm out of the socket,” Theo muttered, tugging off his glasses. He shook out his hair, little strands of red floating in the air before they settled on the radio knob.

“I should tell Alyssa.” Theo’s lips twitched. “File a discrimination case.”

Noah rolled his eyes. He dragged the hem of his soaked shirt over his face.

But Theo was grinning—cute, lopsided—and Noah had to remind himself not to stare.

“It was a fucking joke.”

Noah snorted as he started the engine. “My humor is balls deep in a puddle.”

The dashboard flickered to life, headlights cutting through the rain.

Yeah.

He could get used to this.

This easy pull that dragged them closer together.

How damn good Theo looked in his car, like he belonged there.

“I have to be tripping,” Theo said as he adjusted the seat belt. “It can’t be two already.”

“Didja lose track of time? Got somewhere to be?”

“Yeah… no.”

“So you wouldn’t mind if we stopped to get food, first?” Noah asked, squeezing the steering wheel to keep the excitement controlled. “I’m running on empty—”

Theo’s lips pressed into a thin line. He turned to the window, neon light of the dashboard catching the sharp edge of his jaw. “I just wanna go home, Noah.”

Twenty minutes later, and Noah still had no idea what he’d done wrong.

Not even the faintest clue.

One second, they’d been joking, laughing— connecting— and the next, Theo was sulking like a gloom had followed him inside, settling over the passenger side and poisoning the air.

Noah could figure it out later.

He would—because there was no way he was letting it go. Not when Theo looked so perfect next to him.

But right now, he was fighting for his damn life on the highway.

Rain hammered the windshield in thick sheets, drowning out the road. It felt like he was driving underwater , and even his new tires were having trouble not sliding into the next lane.

He’d turned on his playlist—familiar enough to ease the tension. Will Wood’s fun, fifties-style voice spilled out of the speakers. Gave him something to focus on.

“Theo.”

Nothing.

“ Theo ,” Noah repeated, louder this time.

Still nothing.

Theo kept staring out the window, head lolling to the song.

Noah looked back to the road, the wipers going full speed.

Fine, if words weren’t going to work—

He reached over blindly. His hand landed on Theo’s thigh, and he squeezed hard enough to snap him out of whatever fog he was in.

“I don’t know where you live, you druggie,” he mumbled. He half expected Theo to jerk away again.

Instead, Theo melted into it.

Theo’s knee drifted toward the middle console, a shift that sent Noah’s hand higher —and he had to move it back to the wheel before he did something stupid. Like crash the car.

Or pull over just to fuck him.

Focusing was not in the cards tonight.

“What’s with the whole nice guy schtick?” Theo asked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You suck, period.”

Oh, the opportunity was too perfect to pass up.

Noah smirked. “Only if you ask me nicely. I’ve got a five-star rating.”

Theo’s laugh burst out loud and obnoxious, crashing through the cabin with warmth .

It was— jesus, it was so cute it physically hurt.

“I don’t even want to know. You look like an action figure. The squeezable ones.”

Then Theo was laughing even harder, and Noah snorted.

If it was meant to be a dig, it didn’t land.

Another reason to keep him.

“I am trying to be serious,” Theo gasped, hiccuping mid-laugh. “Shut the fuck up. Shut up .”

“You’re the only one talking.”

“Oh my god. Fuck you.”

The conversation was keeping him awake—better than letting the highway lull him into a stupor.

Noah had considered pulling over earlier. Wait out the storm on the side of the road.

But now?

Now he was wired .

Theo finally calmed down, still breathless. “Your taste in music is… it’s special, Noah.”

“You were jamming along too, don’t lie.”

“It’s like, theater kid crap. I’d expect this out of Rachel.”

Who the hell is Rachel?

Noah lowered the volume until the lyrics turned into a gentle buzz. “I can’t believe you’re judging my music taste.”

“I’m not—” Theo’s yawn cut off his sentence, arms stretching over his head. The hoodie and shirt rode up, a little taste of pale skin, and Noah’s fingers itched.

Road.

Focus on the road .

“It’s a choice is all I’m saying,” Theo mumbled, softer now. “I still wanna know why you’re acting so nice.”

“Because I’m a nice dude.”

“You made my life hell junior year.”

Noah frowned. “Did I?”

Football. Boring classes. One too many drinks at the silo after a game.

No cute, nerdy, redhead at all in his memories.

“Which exit am I getting off?” he asked before Theo had a chance to respond.

“Four A. And yeah, you did. Your whole fucking… stupid… fuck, what’s the word? Your fucking… group did. Chunky asshole with glasses—what’s his name?”

“Benjamin.”

“ That ’s it! He super glued my gym locker shut and stole my shit.”

Benji was an asshole. There was no denying that. A superficial, entitled prick who cared about exactly three things in his life.

But Noah wasn’t going to waste his breath on him.

Noah flicked on the blinker and shook his head. “It’s in the past.”

“Easy for you. Your past is all rainbows and daisies.”

“Kinda.”

There it was again.

Even though Noah couldn’t see it—wouldn’t let his eyes leave the road—he could feel the heat of Theo’s glare. Piercing him, nailing him to the spot.

Jesus, Theo was something else.

“Let me help you inside,” Noah said when he made it to the building Theo called home.

He’d thought the hole-in-the-wall bar they’d been at was seedy when he’d walked in.

But this place? Took the entire cake.

The apartment looked like it hadn’t been updated since the ’70s and the chipped pink paint was an eyesore. It could have been nicer in the daylight but… damn .

“I should be good,” Theo said, but the longer he spoke, the worse he sounded—drowsy and spaced out.

Noah turned off the engine and stepped into the storm, rounding the car just in time to see Theo struggling.

Struggling was putting it lightly.

Theo had one foot out, the other trapped like he was trying to convince his body to move.

Noah’s stomach tightened. He kept his smile in place, but it was enough to make something protective open inside him.

“Do you want me to carry you?”

Theo’s head snapped up, eyes narrowing into a squint. “ What? I’m not fucking dying, give me a sec.”

The rain pounded down, warm and relentless, soaking straight through his clothes, but Noah barely noticed. His focus was entirely on Theo—the wobble when he did finally manage to move, the sluggishness, the way he had to grab the top of the car for support.

“Offer is still there. I could carry you like a princess.”

“The fu— no . I’m fine,” Theo grumbled, though he wasn’t convincing. He sloshed to the entrance, patting down his back pockets. “You don’t have to follow me. I know how to walk.”

“And if you fall and bash your head—”

“—and blame it on you, blah blah blah,” Theo shot back over his shoulder. “It was funny the first time.”

“That’s not what I was going to say.”