Page 19 of Stop and Seek (Our Childish Games #1)

Sitting in the parking lot didn’t count as stalking if you were worried about someone, right? The way Theo ran inside like a bat out of hell? Kinda odd.

This was just what good friends did for each other. Friends who might also want to pin the other friend to the mattress and feed him PB

i have to take benji to urgent care ill drop u a pin

did u tell alyssa to come here???

ugh come on, Noah. are u with him??

u better be at the hotel.

“Sleeping in the car it is,” he said, slapping his hand against the door frame. He’d already accepted the loss. There was a half-drunk protein shake in his trunk and an old hoodie to use as a blanket. It was practically glamping.

Then—

Click.

The door cracked open.

Alyssa’s messy head poked through, face flushed, eyes squinted. Without the layers of makeup and and glitter and platform boots, she looked way younger .

And tiny . Fit-in-the-overhead-bin levels of tiny.

“Did you have a nice shower, Goth Dolly?” he asked.

Alyssa opened the door further, tossing her wet hair over her shoulder.

“I did. Max did too, so,” she stuck her tongue out at him.

“That sounds fun. Sexy soap time,” Noah said, eyeing Max over her head. “Unpog? ”

“ Oh my god ,” Alyssa squeaked, hopping over to Max as Noah dropped on the bed. “You told me you hated that word!”

“Wow, you finally remembered to look at your phone,” Max mumbled dryly, her long legs hanging over the side of the chair.

Alyssa flopped into her lap, and the whole thing looked like they were about to fall off, but they didn’t.

“Don’t tell me,” Max continued, her arm around Alyssa’s waist. “Let me guess. You were with your new pet project. Judging by your face? I’d say you fucked up something.”

Why wouldn't she go there.

“Don’t call him that.” Noah plugged in the phone and scooted up to the headboard, as close to the charger as possible.

Max’s rolled her eyes, clicking her tongue. “I get he’s your flavor of the week, but couldn’t you pick something that’s not so… pistachio?”

Noah smirked. “I like how pistachio tastes, thank you. Plus, it’s really underrated.”

Alyssa gasped like she’d just learned Santa was real. “Golden Boy’s got a boy crush~” She sang. “Is he, like, totes adorbs?”

“Mega adorbs. Twelve out of ten.”

“If you enjoy looking at a tortoise,” Max mumbled.

“I didn’t know you hated wildlife that much.”

“Are you two, like, actually fighting?” Alyssa asked. “Okay, clue me in. What’s the big problem? Is he not allowed to have fun, Maxie?”

Noah looked up. “That’s a great question, Maxie . Am I not allowed to fall head over heels for a sarcastic gremlin? He’s got good cheekbones. ”

“Piss off.” The chair creaked when Max grabbed her shirt off the ground, covering her sports bra. “You want to come out with me, Alyssa? I’ve been cooped up all day long. I can still smell gym socks.”

“Um, yes? Heck yes. Sweep me off into the sunrise, princess charming.”

“You’re picking up Kyran’s speech patterns,” Max laughed. “Social distance, girl.”

Noah shook his head, returning his attention to his phone.

Nothing from Theo.

No texts.

Not to mention, the guy had zero online presence.

Kyran wasn’t lying.

Noah had found Rachel, and Evan or Elliot—whatever the hell the scruffy, mechanic’s name was.

Alyssa’s feed was the most detailed. Theo’s name came up in the posts, and from the captions? A huge amount of them originally had photos. But they were all scrubbed clean. Like Theo was trying to erase himself from existence.

Majorly fucking frustration.

At least the cameras still worked.

It wasn’t as if Noah was spying—he’d explained everything to the landlord. House sitting. Totally chill. Two little cameras: one in the bedroom, one in the living room. For peace of mind.

And yeah, maybe he’d spent a few too many hours looking at them—but watching Theo sit on the couch, eyes locked on the TV, fingers twitching against a bottle of vodka? That was the only thing keeping him from combusting .

Theo was damn cute. Even pissed off. Even when ignoring him like he didn’t mean a damn thing.

Jesus…

A text would be nice.

He yawned, resting the phone on his chest. His body was too heavy now. He could barely keep his eyes open.

The door shut.

Perfect silence.

“Noah.”

He cracked one eye open.

Max.

“You need to get your shit together,” she said. “That stupid cunt made my life hell, and if you lose it again, over someone like Callie—”

If he wasn’t so tired, he would’ve thrown something at her.

“Don’t—” Noah swallowed a yawn. “Don’t talk about him like that.”

Max hesitated. “You always think you’ve got it under control, but you don’t. We have Venice Beach next week. An actual vacation that isn’t our damn job. LouLou, Whaler…”

He didn’t care.

Theo wasn’t in California.

Theo needed him here, but wouldn’t say why.

That was the only problem worth solving.

Max kept talking. Noah tuned it out.

He’d figure it out. He always did. This wasn’t a battle he was going to lose.

Not when Theo was the first person in forever who made him feel like he’d won something just by being seen .

Noah’s phone wouldn’t stop buzzing against his chest. For a second, he wasn’t sure if it was the vibration or his own heartbeat slamming into his ribs.

He groaned. Dragged the charger free. The screen glared back at him, too bright. Rolling over, he shoved the phone between his cheek and the pillow.

“What,” he grumbled, low and scratchy. Clearing his throat didn’t help.

The silence on the other end stretched. But it wasn’t awkward. It was kind of... nice.

White noise, lulling him back to sleep.

“You suck.”

Noah jolted upright, instantly awake. His blood spiked like ice water in his veins.

“Theo,” he breathed, and holy hell, just saying his name made the hairs on his arms rise. “What time is it?”

There was a rustling sound on the other end, followed by a groggy, slurred, “Fucking… late, I dunno.”

He fumbled for the clock. 7:14a.m . The sun was already up. Morning? Seriously?

Switching the phone to his other hand, he tried to shake the feeling back into his fingers.

“How did you—ow, shit —how’d you get my number?” Theo asked .

Noah couldn’t help the dumb smile. “You called me. Are you okay?”

“No. You texted me first. Answer the question, Noah.”

Hearing Theo say his name made this wild, unexplainable fluttering fill his chest with literal sound. That was new.

“The group chat,” he murmured, sinking back into the pillows.

Theo grumbled something unintelligible and sighed into the speaker.

The silence hung between them again.

Noah knew it was his turn to speak but he couldn’t get words around the lump in his throat. He had a million questions, but all of them were landmines waiting to explode. What if he scared him off again?

Theo hadn’t ever texted him back—had he?

Switching over to the messages, Noah almost choked on air.

The little bubble read twenty-two.

Theo had texted him twenty-two times. Not a single one made sense.

“Are you drunk calling me?” Noah finally asked with a chuckle.

Theo snorted. “Who’s drunk?” Then, like music to Noah’s ears, he started laughing. “I’m—I’m fine. Just—just everyone’s fucking asleep or ignoring me. I’m so tired of it being quiet .”

“I’ll stay on. I’m up now.”

Theo paused again. When he spoke next, it was quieter, closer.

“Did I wake you up? Holy shit. You suck, but that’s kinda lame of me.”

“You keep saying I suck. Still haven’t told me why. ”

“You just… do,” Theo mumbled, and something rustled again. “I’m tired as hell, but I don’t wanna sleep.”

“You should,” Noah said, turning onto his side. “You’re still in the game, right?”

“No thanks to you. My whole body hurts, and I just… I can’t get like, comfortable.”

“You can’t blame that on me. I’m innocent.”

Even from miles away, Noah could practically feel Theo glaring through the phone.

Their conversation wasn’t going anywhere, but hearing Theo’s voice on the phone? It felt different. Like a tiny piece of the wall had chipped away.

“Next time,” Theo started, trailing off before launching into a full grumble. “Next time you wanna do something... fucking stupid, or reckless, or—I don’t even know what you were thinking, you psycho—”

“You’re rambling.”

“ Fuck you .”

Noah grinned, chest warm. “Next time I want to do something stupid…”

“Just like... I dunno. Ask me. Don’t pull that shit again.”

“Which one? We have so many to choose from.”

“Don’t be a damn perv,” Theo said, crunching on something. “I’m serious. The bar… thing with Alyssa. Don’t lie to me.”

Oh. That.

Noah exhaled, staring at the white wall.

Theo wasn’t telling him to stop everything. His rules were simple: don’t take his glasses, and don’t lie to him.

Which meant… everything else? Everything else was okay .

Progress.

“Double noted,” he said. “Any other requests, my liege?”

Theo coughed. “You’re… you’re a piece of work, man.”

“Get some sleep, Theo.”

The call ended with a soft click. Not a disconnect. A hang-up. Voluntary.

Noah laid there for a minute, phone pressed into his face. The silence felt worse now. Too cold. Too still. But his grin wouldn’t go away.

Theo called him . Didn’t have to. Didn’t have a reason. But he reached out. He needed someone. And he chose Noah .

It didn’t matter that Theo was probably drunk or high—or both.

It didn’t matter that he sounded like he was calling from a floor.

What mattered was that Theo let him in, even just a little.

That meant the whole goddamn world.