Page 4 of Theo (Stone Brothers #6)

THREE

THEO

I stared at my phone, wishing for another text to appear, but it didn't come.

The house was filled with friends, all gathered to celebrate my regional win.

The party was more Crusoe's idea than mine.

My cousin looked for every fucking opportunity to throw a party.

I'd been in the kitchen fixing up a batch of margaritas when the text came through.

I stared at it for a long ass time trying to decide if it was real.

I hadn't heard from Lacey in years and to get a text from her left me fucking stunned.

There'd been no response since, so I convinced myself that someone was just messing with me.

The music was thrumming so loudly through the old house, it made the crusty windows bulge. A cold spring rain had fallen just hours before the party, and it had left the smell of wet gravel and grass in the air.

"There you are," Natalie said as she walked out to the porch.

Natalie and I had dated off and on, but we easily got on each other's nerves, so we'd called it quits for good.

We'd stayed friends. She was looking hot in a short plaid skirt and white top.

She sat down next to me and put her arm around my shoulders. "Why are you out here by yourself?"

"Just needed a few minutes out of the chaos." The truth was that Lacey's text had jolted me out of the party mood. It had shaken me up more than I expected.

"These margaritas are yummy, by the way." Her long red nail clinked the glass as she lifted it to her mouth. She turned to me and pursed her lips. "Want to lick off the salt?"

"I thought we were done licking salt," I said. "That was your new rule. No more fucking. You were pretty clear and to the point."

Natalie shrugged. "A girl can change her mind, you know? Especially when her ex-lover is the new face of Crankin' Energy Drinks. Cru told me you got the sponsorship. I'll bet that's good money."

I leaned away and looked at her. "Never took you as the gold-digging type, Nat. So, you only want me in your bed now cuz I got a big sponsorship? Pretty fucking flimsy reason."

Natalie smiled and batted her lashes. "Now you know, I'm shallow, and I like nice things, things that big sponsorship money can buy." Her hand rested on my leg and then moved to my crotch. "Besides, you look extra hot tonight, and I'm extra horny."

"I'm feeling kind of cheap. Like I'm being used."

She rubbed against my cock and bit her lip flirtatiously.

I shrugged. "Then again, feeling cheap has its benefits." My phone buzzed as I leaned in for a kiss. I stopped and left an angry pair of lips hanging. Normally, I would have ignored my phone, but I pulled it out of my pocket.

"Seriously?" Natalie asked.

It was a text from Lacey. I got up and walked away from the steps.

"Well, fuck off then, Theo," Natalie snapped behind me. I heard her march inside and slam shut the screen door.

I opened the text. "How did I break your heart? You cheated on me." I stared at my phone. I started a text, but some things required a phone call. I'd never gotten to defend myself. Lacey packed up and left and never said goodbye.

I couldn't believe the fucking adrenaline rush I got just from hitting the call button. I held my breath, waiting to hear her voice. She didn't answer but texted back. "Can't talk. I'm at a party."

"Well fuck." I shoved the phone into my pocket. Stella's car came up the gravel driveway. She had Jules with her. They parked and got out of the car. Stella and Jules were cousins, but they were sisters at heart. And Jules was always up on all the important social media stuff. "Jules," I called.

They both turned my way. "Aren't you the guest of honor?" Stella asked. "Why are you out here?"

"Just taking a breather. Hey, Jules, did Lacey ever get married?

" I'd heard months earlier about Lacey's engagement to some rich doctor, and it had messed with my head plenty.

I ended up getting toilet-hugging drunk more times than I liked to remember but then I pushed it out of my head and got serious about my training.

The hard workouts and competitions had helped me forget about her engagement, but now it was back front and center in my mind, thanks to Lacey.

Jules turned her brown eyes up in thought. "Hmm, you know, I think the wedding is this weekend." She looked at Stella. "It's fucking fabulous. She posted the flower arrangements online, and they built a huge tinted glass house for the reception. I can't even imagine how much money is being spent."

"Yeah, yeah, flowers, cake, all that shit," I said briskly. "But she's not actually married yet?"

Both cousins looked at me. Stella laughed first. "Hey, maybe you can still talk her into running away with you. I mean what's a million-dollar wedding to a doctor when you can have Theo Stone?"

"Thanks, LaLa, real nice," I said.

She reached over to pinch my cheek, but I batted her hand away. "Oops, someone is touchy about this subject."

"I think it's sweet that you're still holding out hope," Jules said. "It's very romantic. Delusional but romantic."

"You're both a couple of buttheads," I said.

"Oh, we're sorry, sweetie," Stella said. They both took hold of my arms and led me toward the house.

My phone rang. I paused to pull it out.

"If that's my mom," Stella started.

I shook my head. "Nope. It's Lacey." I grinned at them.

"No way," Stella said.

I shrugged and walked away to answer it. My heart was racing as I swiped my thumb across the screen.

"Hey," I said and swallowed hard, waiting for her voice to come through the phone.

"Hey," she said softly. Music and voices thrummed somewhere in the distance.

"Thought you couldn't talk." I had no idea why I started out like an asshole, but I was blaming the fucking hurricane of feelings rushing through me.

"I wandered away from the group for a second. If this is a bad time?—"

"No. It's fine." I'd been dying to talk to her, and now there were no damn words in my head. All I knew was that the woman on the other side of the call was the woman I'd loved since we were in the third grade. That had never changed for me, but it had obviously changed for her.

"I can hear music," she said. "It's way better music than what's playing at my party."

"Cru and Mac threw me a party cuz I—" I stopped there, not wanting to sound like a damn braggart.

"Because you won the regionals. I saw your picture. That's what made me think of you."

"Yeah?" The music got louder, so I walked farther from the house. "Cuz I think of you almost every day. No picture needed. I've got that face of yours, that body of yours, memorized like it's etched in my fucking mind." My emotions were getting the better of me, but I couldn't seem to stop them.

"I didn't mean to upset you with my text," she said.

I closed my eyes and pictured those incredible lips of hers—lips I'd kissed a thousand times—so close to the phone. "You didn't upset me. I hear you're getting married this weekend." It seemed there was no way for me to not act like an asshole during this conversation.

"I shouldn't have called," she said.

"Don't hang up. You never let me—I never got to tell you what happened that night."

"You didn't need to. Everly told me everything. She told me you kissed her and pushed your hand under her skirt, but she told you no because she didn't want to hurt our friendship."

A laugh shot out of my mouth.

"Right. Glad you think that's funny," she said tersely. "And here I was romanticizing about the boy I left behind. Have a good life."

"Wait. No, don't hang up. You're doing it again. You hung up on me last time, too. I never touched Everly. I couldn't stand her. She came on to me."

"Right."

"So, you believe her over me? I loved you. Everly was just using you to keep relevant in the popular group."

"That's really nice. Were all my friends using me? And here I thought people genuinely liked me. Oh my gosh, thanks for clarifying and thanks for reminding me that you can never go back in time. We were in the past, and now I have a future."

"Right, a future with Mr. Doctor. Great. Don't even know why you bothered to text."

"Well, maybe I wanted to find out how you went from being my best friend, the boy I loved more than anything, to a traitorous, callous asshole."

"That's your version of the story, Ace. And it's wrong. I never touched Everly. All I know is your dad came over that day?—"

"Wait, what day? When did my dad see you?"

"I don't know. It was like right after you told me to fuck off and then refused to let me give my side of the story."

"Wow, we're still on that gripe," she said.

"Yep, well, it had a big effect on my life. And then your dad told me to stay away from you and that I was going to ruin your life because you had a bright future ahead. He didn't say it out loud, but he was letting me know that I wasn't part of that big future because I was not heading anywhere."

Lacey didn't say anything. The only sound coming through the phone was from the distant party.

She was right. We had way better music blasting.

"I'm sorry, Theo. I had no idea he talked to you.

It was none of his business." Someone called her name.

"Look, I've got to go. I'm sorry, Theo. I'm sorry about—I don't even know.

I'm just not sure about anything anymore. Good luck with your racing career."

She hung up before I could say anything else.

I felt like I'd been run over, and at the same time, it felt like electricity was coursing through my body.

I hadn't talked to Lacey Michaels since she left Trayton.

It was good to hear her voice, even if the conversation didn't go the way I hoped.

Stupidly, I imagined us talking about how much we missed each other and about how we should have ended up together.

Still, just hearing her voice—that was going to stay with me for a long fucking time.