Page 39 of The Fates We Tame

“I bulldozed you, huh?” he says. “Pushed you into running?”

I think carefully about how I answer. While I am having second thoughts about our current plan, I don’t want there to be no plan. That feels even worse. “Not exactly. We need to do something. It’s just…I don’t even know your last name, Theo.”

He reaches for the bathroom door, closing it so it’s just the two of us in the small space. It’s intimate, but not intimidating. “My full name is a mouthful of former presidents. Theodore Ulysses Reavis. Dad decided a kid should be able to explain their name. Theodore because Roosevelt and…” He winces and rubs his temple. “Fucking memory. Something to do with a coal strike, maybe? And Ulysses Grant because he signed the bill to approve the Brooklyn Bridge. Random, I know. What’s your full name?”

“Sophia Chiara Viscuso. I can’t tell you why I’m named that because I don’t remember, although I’m sure Mamà must have explained when I first woke up. I hope I have a story at least half as interesting as yours.” I glance up at the closed door. “Don’t we need to go?”

Theo shakes his head. “We’re good. I’m thirty years old. How old are you?”

“My driver’s license says I’m twenty-five.”

He places a hand on my ankle and squeezes it gently. “What else do you need to know? I’ll tell you as much as I can remember.”

“That doesn’t seem fair to you when I can’t remember anything you might ask me.”

“So? Hit me.”

“If I go with you, will I be able to leave if I want to?”

Theo raises an eyebrow. “I don’t know how much the rules have changed in the clubhouse, but my memories of it don’t include holding women against their will. Oh, wait, no. I think King took Rae as a hostage. Someone told me that, I’m sure.”

“Rae. As in, ‘Property of King’?”

Theo runs a hand over his stubbled jaw. “Yeah, the very same. Fuck, can’t remember all the details. There was a reason. Something about Shakespeare’s kings. But aside from that, I don’t think we take people hostage unless they really deserve it.”

“That’s a lot to process.”

Theo winces. “Probably shouldn’t have led with those details.”

I can’t help but laugh. It’s the nervous kind. “What do you think your club will do when they find out who I am?”

“Won’t matter if you’re my wife, and I promise I’d protect you. But if you’re really worried, I can help you in other ways. I could give you a thousand bucks and a ride somewhere, and you can get a job that pays cash so you can hide from your family. I don’t want to force myself on you as a solution to this. I may want to please my mom, but not at your expense.”

I run my finger along a seam between the floor tiles. It would probably be better to take his offer of a ride and some cash. But what kind of work could I do? I remember nothing. And physically, I can’t do a job that will require me to stand all day.

But can I make myself go with him and beholden to him?

“Are you sure this is a fair deal for both of us?”

“My gut tells me this is the right thing to do. And I’m having to listen to my gut a whole lot more because I truly believe it knows better than my brain right now. Plus, I get to contribute in a small way to how Mom feels as she heads into treatment. Yesterday she was nagging my dad about building bunk beds for all the grandkids she wants.”

“I hope providing those grandkids isn’t part of this deal.”

Theo chuckles at that. “No. But we’ll need to stay married. For a year. Mom will be well again, and the club will believe it was real by then.” He’s silent for a moment and picks at a thread on the bottom of his hoodie. “And I get a chance to know you better, Sparrow.”

When he looks up, there’s a soft smile on his usually grumpy and stern face that shows me for all his gruffness, there’s a kind man beneath.

“Which do you prefer? Theo or Switch?”

“They feel like two different people right now. Guess I’m Theo working my way back to being Switch. He’s a man I don’t remember, but he achieved goals I remember making when I was younger. But the guy sitting here in your bathroom…whatever he’s called…he’s kinda waiting to hear whether getting to know him a little better would be something you’re willing to do.”

I take a steadying breath. “I’ve been hurt enough recently, Theo. Please don’t hurt me any more than you have to.”

At that, he shifts clumsily, his left arm not as strong as his right, and moves to sit next to me before tugging me onto his lap.

“One day, I’m going to be strong enough to do that a little more smoothly,” he jokes.

I place my head on his shoulder and look up at him. “I didn’t notice.”