Page 29 of Stop and Seek (Our Childish Games #1)

“Hey broski!” he called, lifting the sunglasses up.

Theo turned, the instinct to bolt overriding sense, and Alyssa yanked him around so fast he almost crashed into her.

“The rich people will not eat you, I promise,” she whispered.

“Yeah, well, I don’t fucking trust that not to happen, okay?” he hissed back.

“Then why are you here?”

There was only one word Theo could think of.

One name.

And there went a child.

Wait .

What?

Theo’s brow scrunched, and Alyssa had the same expression plastered on her face.

They both looked down.

The tiny brunette child went flying by a second time, skating very close to the pool before she ripped off into the open patio doors. She looked like a miniature hurricane in a dress.

“It’s cool,” Decker said. “Don’t sweat it.”

There was a splash when Decker rolled into the water and treaded over to them.

“That’s Belle. Ben-Ben turned into a big sappy tree last night, and now we all get Capri Suns.”

Theo’s brain had packed up and left, or he was hallucinating so hard that not a word out of Decker’s mouth made sense.

“One more time,” he said slowly.

Decker grinned, folding his arms over the black edge. “Belle is Benji’s kid. She’s a maniac, and I dig that for her. He had a mini meltdown after a work call because he missed her, now she’s here. She’s got a nanny. No babysitting is involved.”

“What,” Theo cleared his throat. “What about the Capri Suns?”

“They’re in her inventory.”

God, just kill me.

That would’ve been so much simpler than trying to process the conversation.

“I am going to pretend I understood that,” Theo mumbled. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I need a drink, or like, ten. I thought there were supposed to be more people. ”

Alyssa knocked her arm into his. “We’re a smidge early. I wanted to spend more time with Max.”

Decker hopped out of the pool, water pouring from his hair and trunks.

“I have lots of alcohol, don’t you worry. We come prepared,” he said, jerking his head to the side. “Let us venture into the unknown, my fellow comrade.”

Alright. To the unknown we go.

One hour—and four drinks later—Theo was beginning to relax.

The pill had kicked in nicely, and the sinking, warm feeling inside of his head drowned out whatever anxiety he had left.

It all felt a little surreal—like the dim lights were floating towards him, when he knew they were just lanterns hanging on a string.

Not the worst experience, but not one he’d knock either.

He’d ended up with Benji and Decker at one of the covered tables closest to the open bar.

Was it where Theo wanted to be? Not necessarily.

But Decker was funny, and Benji was flat-out drunk .

“I wish I could quit work,” Benji mumbled, the side of his head resting on the glass table. “Do you know how much time I could spend with Belle? I have all these ideas for father-daughter dates…”

“How many hours do you work, man?” Theo asked. “Fifty? ”

“Probably closer to eighty. I’m in the office from six in the morning to six at night… then I work when she goes to bed… she thinks I like my job more than her. Which I don’t, for the record.”

Decker put down the energy drink. He ran his hand through Benji’s hair—sweet enough that it gave Theo second-hand goosebumps—before he grabbed a handful. Benji yelped.

“Do you know how many times I’ve offered to take Ben-Ben and Belle on vacation?” Decker asked, looking more at Theo than Benji. “I don’t. I’ve lost track. Does he listen? Nope.” He shoved Benji’s head to the side, and Benji punched his leg.

“It’s not as if this was a vacation,” Benji said as he sat up. He picked up the wine glass, drained the last few red drops. “This was an utter nightmare. Impossible on all levels. I’m still livid. And Noah—”

Benji cut the sentence off abruptly. Like someone muted him from the inside out.

“What about Noah?” Theo asked. The fucking butterflies were still there.

Decker glanced from Benji to Theo, back again. His fingers moved up to the braid laying against his shoulder.

“Noah,” he started. “Noah kinda—”

“He guilt tripped us into coming,” Benji interrupted too quickly.

That didn’t sit right with Theo. But this wasn’t his business. He barely knew them. Prying into other people’s lives should’ve came with a fucking jail sentence.

Speaking of—

Where the hell was Noah?

Theo had seen him once, and not outside. Up in one of the windows on the top floor, Noah and Max had been arguing. Theo couldn’t hear what was said, but the way Noah had been gesturing at her screamed big problem.

Now they were both MIA.

Belle flew by in a gust of wind and pink tulle, and Benji caught her. Wrestled the puff ball into a hug.

“I gotta go before the thunder demons get me,” Belle whined.

“Thunder..?” Theo asked.

Decker leaned closer and whispered, “Fireflies.”

What in the fuck is that kid on? And where can I get some?

The crash from the top of the house stopped the next thing out of Theo’s mouth.

It sounded like glass or china—some expensive thing they collected up there.

Whatever broke probably cost more than he made in a year.

He hadn’t ventured farther than the patio for drinks and to take a piss for that fear exactly.

“I think it’s bedtime,” Benji said, his eyes locked onto the third floor. “The mongoose will eat the thunder demons.”

“Bitchin’,” Belle whispered.

When Decker started laughing, Theo couldn’t stop himself, either.

The glare Benji gave them could have melted steel.

“That,” he threw Belle over his shoulder and pointed at Theo, “is your fault. You’re on my list.”

“Wha—” Theo swallowed back the lau g hter. “ How? I didn’t do shit. Does she repeat everything she hears?”

“Yes,” Decker and Benji said in unison.

After the second crash happened, Theo was positive it wasn’t an accident. But people were coming in more steadily, and he didn’t have time to dwell on it.

Decker clapped Theo on the shoulder. “I gotta get my look sorted, broski. You want me to grab you something while I’m in there?”

“No, I’m good. I was about to get up for chips anyway. Is Benji that pissed? I seriously didn’t know.”

Decker shook his head.

“Give him a couple minutes or he’ll freak. Otherwise, you’re golden.”

After Decker and Benji left, Theo spent way too long staring at the window.

When the light clicked off, it was like someone reminded him to stop spacing. He checked his phone, fired off a quick message to Alyssa. After a minute, a heart emoji popped up.

Good. She didn’t need to be rescued.

Now he could get food. And a refill.

Half an hour ago, the patio was empty. Now, men and women in crisp white shirts and dark red aprons were suddenly everywhere. Didn’t matter how much Theo side-stepped, apologized—he couldn’t have been more in the way if he tried.

Chips, chips, chips…

Pretzels!

He found them next to a bowl of wrapped chocolates and rows of premade tacos.

The mini fridge was open—

And there was Noah.

“I’ ve been looking for you,” Theo blurted out—it just catapulted from his fucking mouth.

Noah glanced over. Did a double take.

“I missed you too,” Noah said. He straightened and nudged the door closed with his knee. Cracked open the beer.

Responding should’ve been a thing. An easy thing.

The giant, nasty gash on Noah’s cheek, however, stole all Theo’s attention.

“Did—is that from me?” Theo asked. It sure as fuck wasn’t there last night, but maybe he’d missed it.

Noah stopped chugging the beer long enough to breathe. “What?”

“Your face.”

“Oh. Oh .” Noah shook his head. “No. You’re good, baby.”

Every goddamn time, that stupid word made heat crawl straight down the back of Theo’s neck.

Did he ever correct Noah?

No.

“Then what happened?” Theo snapped, harder than he meant to.

Noah grinned—slow and sexy as hell—and the inside of Theo’s mouth went dry.

“Does the cut really bother you?” Noah asked.

Stop staring at him.

“Kinda,” Theo mumbled. He swallowed, a little too loud. “Did you get in a fist fight with—what are you doing?”

Noah had put the beer on the counter, and Theo hadn’t thought anything about it until he felt Noah’s fingers on zipper of his hoodie. Theo’s heart fucking restarted, and he was having a hard time getting a breath in.

“I left my shirt at your place,” Noah said casually, like the house wasn’t packed. Like it didn’t feel as if every single person was watching them. “I’m wearing yours, and I wanted to see if you were wearing mine.” He tugged the zipper down, one tooth at a time. “Boo. You didn’t.”

“I’m not a fucking mind reader,” was all Theo could manage.

“Work on that for me,” Noah whispered, fingers trailing from the hem of Theo’s shirt up to the collar.

The heat in Theo’s face was unbearable, spreading like wildfire to the rest of his body. He shooed Noah’s hands away. Zipping the hoodie up again, his pulse settled down to an even thrum.

“How? I don’t know what you’re thinking.”

Noah leaned closer, his citrus-and-pepper cologne thick enough to taste. “You wanna know what I’m thinking right now?”

Oh no.

If they had even remotely the same thought process?

Shit.

The vivid-ass pictures Theo had come up with in the past thirty seconds alone would have made a porn star blush. It was too crowded to be that horny.

“I was thinking about,” Noah started, before a voice came out of nowhere.

“Holy shit, Theo! I knew someone sounded familiar!”

Theo’s brain stalled out long enough to kick start its way back to normalcy. He dragged his eyes away from Noah’s mouth and turned, searching faces he didn’t recognize until he saw the headband and curly hair coming toward him.

That looked exactly like Calvin’s avatar. Sounded like him, too.

Irritation mixed with the pungent tang of thank god on his tongue. A second longer and he would’ve flung himself at Noah so hard that both of them would’ve been charged with indecent exposure.

Talk about another lifesaver.

“No way,” Theo forced a laughed, jogging to meet him halfway. “Calvin? What the hell are you doing here?”

He held out his hand, unsure if he should go in for a high-five or a handshake, but Calvin pulled him into a hug instead.

Meeting online friends never stopped being awkward.

“You dumb fuck,” Calvin mumbled, arms wrapped tight around his middle. “I graduated East Bridge same year. I messaged you when I found out you did too.”

Theo snorted. “I haven’t been online. I told you I’d hunt you down and you beat me to it.”

“I get shit done. You got short energy, man. I expected you to be five foot even.”

“Ha ha,” Theo deadpanned. “Only in your dreams.”

It took Calvin way too long to let go and stop squeezing the shit out of him.

Theo glanced over his shoulder—part instinct, part curiosity. He expected Noah to have wandered off too, but he was still leaning against the counter, beer in his hand.

And the look on Noah's face; eyes narrowed, hyper focused on him— him, no one else— made Theo’s skin tingle in the best possible way .

He never thought he’d get to see what jealousy looked like on Noah, and a tiny, sick part of him liked it.

Too much.