Page 32 of Stop and Seek (Our Childish Games #1)

The word fuck kept looping in Noah’s head. Over and over. And not in the fun way.

“You want to leave?” he blurted, already halfway turning. “Let’s leave. Right now. You want food? We’ll get food. I’ll carry you to the car—”

“Answer the question , Noah,” Theo whispered.

The tone killed him. His chest went tight as Theo stepped back, jaw clenched like he was trying not to scream.

Theo shoved his glasses up, fingers digging at his eyes so hard it left red marks. “Please. I need a yes or no.”

Noah’s mouth opened, but the world was spinning. He was stuck in the same position as Sunday—unable to help. Standing in one spot, forced to watch as something else got in their way.

“No,” he finally said, too loud. “Kyran isn’t taping here. That’s already done.”

“ Thank you .”

Theo’s voice had gone far-off, like Noah wasn’t even real anymore. He stood half an inch away, staring at the space over Noah’s shoulder, hugging his arms to his chest. “Wait. I need you to say that again. The last part. The hell does that mean? ”

Stop asking questions, baby. Please.

Noah rubbed the back of his neck, heart pounding. They’d already told Benji, and if Benji took it badly… he didn’t want to think about how pissed Theo was going to be.

“At East Bridge,” he began, watching Theo’s eyes snap back to him. “Kyran had it set up to record Stop and Seek. The video’s going live tomorrow. He needs consent forms from everyone involved.”

Theo flinched like he’d been slapped.

“He wants a form… after? That’s fucked up… why—did you know? Of course you did, you’re like, best friends—”

“I didn’t.” The lie tasted awful. Theo had two rules— very simple rules . And here he was, breaking one. But Theo looked like he was drowning, and Noah would gladly sink with him if it meant keeping him close. “It’s why Max and I got into it.”

Once he started talking, it spilled out fast.

“She knew the whole time. She told me earlier tonight and I was pissed, too. It’s an invasion of everyone’s privacy. I threw things at her, she hit me. It was a shit show, honestly. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything before. I was excited to see you.”

That part wasn’t a lie. He was excited to see him. Needy and starved in a way that made him overly excited.

Theo wouldn’t stop shaking his head like a bug had crawled into his ears and was whispering every betrayal Noah had ever committed. His mouth opened, shut. No words.

“I can’t fucking deal with this right now,” Theo croaked. The rawness of it kicked Noah square in the chest .

He watched Theo pull out his phone, hands trembling so hard he almost dropped it. This jittery, soft version of Theo made Noah’s instincts scream protect.

And then the phone flew past Noah’s head. He didn’t even flinch. He was too focused on Theo—on how hurt he looked. On how fast tears glossed over his eyes.

The phone cracked against a column, loud as hell. Kyran went silent somewhere down the hall.

Their muffled conversation started back up after a minute.

“It’s alright,” Noah said, voice gentle. He reached out carefully, not touching skin yet. Just brushing Theo’s sleeve. “Let me help.”

“Is it okay? Really? I don’t fucking think so. This all feels like a sick joke.”

When Theo didn’t bat him off or jerk away, Noah wrapped Theo up in his arms and held him like that was the only thing in the world he knew how to do.

And it was. He expected Theo to lash out—snap, scratch him, throw more punches—but instead, he sagged.

Dropped like the fight had finally run out, head sinking into Noah’s neck.

The sudden warmth of tears hurt more than a bullet.

Noah tightened his grip until Theo’s back cracked, like he could press all the broken parts back together just by holding hard enough.

Those fucking silent sobs were gut wrenching. He’d never seen someone cry like this. This wasn’t about camera shyness or some dumbass tape. This was something else unraveling at the seams.

His nerdy soap bubble popped.

Wrangling Theo into the backseat of his car was way easier than Noah expected. No arguing. No kicking. No screaming at him to back off. Just—quiet. And Theo’s hand in his. Clammy, shaky, but holding tight.

And then Theo climbed into his lap—just, planted himself there like it was his fucking seat—and demanded Noah squeeze the everloving life out of him.

Noah couldn’t hug him fast enough.

Jesus, Theo was warm . A fevered, frantic heat dripping onto Noah’s skin and top.

“Take off the damn hoodie, Theo.”

“Shut up,” Theo grumbled into his neck. “Squeeze harder.”

“I’m gonna end up snapping you like a twig.”

“Just do it.”

Noah would do literally anything he asked right now.

At least Theo had stopped crying.

“The ER is my least favorite place on the planet,” Noah said automatically. He was trying to focus on anything but the aching strain in his arms. “Does this make you hard?”

“My insides are vibrating in the worst fucking way. Don’t be an asshole. This helps.”

Noah gritted his teeth, muscles burning. His arms were going to fall off. Or straight up pop. But Theo was calmer. He wasn’t doing that scary hiccup-sob anymore. His heartbeat against Noah’s chest had lost that terrible flutter. Feeling him sinking into Noah’s hold—like he needed it to function —

Noah had never been more sure of his place in the world.

Right here. Right now. With Theo in his lap, trusting him to be strong enough to carry whatever he couldn’t.

His shoulder had gone numb. No big deal. It could rot off for all he cared.

Theo cleared his throat. “Talk. I don’t give a shit about what.”

“What’s your absolute favorite movie?” Noah asked. It was the first thing he could think of. “One everyone has to watch before they die.”

“ High Tension .”

“You wanna watch it together?”

“Do you mind subtitles?”

“I can read pretty fast.”

Theo went quiet again, cheek still squished against Noah’s neck. The soft rub of skin-on-skin made his whole body hyperaware. Every breath Theo took ghosted along his collarbone. Noah didn’t even know if he was still breathing himself.

“Are you leaving tomorrow too?” Theo asked. “Or tonight? Benji told me he had, uh, prior commitments.” That gritty laugh—smoky, like it had barely survived the fire—left a trail of heat right down Noah’s spine.

“Friday evening, I think. Either that or Saturday morning.”

“Is it a work thing?”

“Not this time,” Noah muttered.

Thankfully .

Every trip lately had felt like an excuse to run away from shit he didn’t wanna deal with. But now? The only thing he wanted to run toward was right here in his lap.

The travel used to be thrilling. Exotic. Addictive. But it got gross. Got weird real fucking quick. Tracking down people, just to watch them get sold off as appetizers or entrees—he used to be good at detaching. Now, he wasn’t so sure. That much blood did something to a person after a while.

“Do you have to?” Theo’s voice barely cut through the engine of a passing car.

Noah’s throat closed up.

Did he? No, not when Theo needed him like this.

But also, yes.

Maybe?

Maybe not.

Fuck.

He couldn’t get his thoughts in order, and Theo’s words came out too fast.

“I probably sound like a freak, right? God. I’m sorry. I’m just—I’m a wreck right now. Forget it. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that.”

The second Theo started to move away, every part of Noah’s body screamed. Cold air rushed in where Theo had been, and the blood came roaring back to life in all his limbs like a thousand tiny knives stabbing him awake.

“You don’t,” Noah gritted out. “There’s nothing to apologize for, baby. I swear.”

“Are you uh… you good?” Theo as ked.

Noah winced as Theo shifted and all the pins and needles lit up at once. “Oh, parts of me I forgot existed are asleep.”

Grin through the pain.

Theo’s laugh caught him totally off guard. Sweet. Sudden. It broke through the storm cloud Noah didn’t realize was hanging overhead.