Page 40

Chapter Forty

Tobias

I laid out everything for Theo on his bed, then came into his ensuite bathroom to get dressed while he gets dressed in his room. He has plenty of suits to choose from, and I went with all black for him.

When I wore this green suit on Christmas eve, I had a white shirt beneath.

Today, I chose black for a darker look and so it could pair with Theo.

I take my time getting ready, wanting everything to be perfect.

I don’t normally care about other people giving me compliments, I’m comfortable enough in myself and my looks to not need them.

But something about the way Theo looks at me…

I crave it. Ever since I put this suit on, all I could think about was Theo’s reaction to seeing me in it.

There’s a soft knock on the door, followed by, “Tobias?”

“Yeah?” I call out as I finish knotting my tie.

“Are you done?”

“Almost,” I say. “Are you? ”

“Yep,” he answers, and I can hear the smile in his voice.

I take it he thinks he looks good. I bet he does because he looks good in everything and nothing.

He’s hot as hell all the time. The man would make a garbage bag look sexy.

When my tie is done, I run my fingers through my hair one last time, making sure everything is in place, before pulling open the door.

Our eyes meet, then his gaze makes a slow perusal down my body.

I keep mine on his face, wanting to see his reaction before I allow myself to take him in.

“Fuck,” he breathes out, his eyes coming back up to meet mine. My suit is a few shades darker than his eyes. He swallows hard, then shifts on his feet. “You look so fucking good.”

I smirk, taking my turn to check him out. “So do you,” I say.

The suit I chose for him fits well, as I expected it to. All his clothes are expensive and tailored.

“I’ve never worn all black before.” He looks down at himself.

“You should do it more often.”

He huffs a laugh. “Only you could pull off something this color.” His hand runs down my arm, then settles on my waist.

“Plenty of people can,” I comment, stepping closer to kiss his temple. “Are you ready?”

“If you are,” he says, his voice quiet and raspy.

“If I hadn’t made reservations, I’d fuck you first.” His eyes light up, and I’d bet his dick is getting hard. “But we can do that when we get back. ”

“I like the way you think.”

After letting Biscuit out to pee, we head to the garage. “Which car should we take?” he asks.

I look over the three of them, knowing which car I want to take but I’m not sure I can handle that. Maybe one day, but not today.

“The new Bentley,” I comment with a smirk. Maybe if I push him to drive it, he’ll realize it isn’t so bad.

"Good because the Mustang needs work." Theo grabs the keys from the hook, and he opens the door for me.

“Such a gentleman,” I say as I lean in to kiss him before getting into the car.

I can’t remember the last time I went on a date that wasn’t for work.

The very beginning of Brandon and I’s relationship, I suppose.

He wined and dined the hell out of me. He spoiled me and showed me all the things he had to offer.

I fell for it, like a naive young man who was excited about the attention and the fancy, shiny things he had to offer.

Theo isn’t Brandon.

I keep telling myself that, and each day it gets easier to believe.

They aren’t similar in any way, and I shouldn’t compare them just because Brandon fucked me up.

That’s unfair to Theo, and to everyone else in this world who is a good person.

Brandon is fucked up; he isn’t a good person.

That’s his problem, and it has nothing to do with me. I’m just a victim.

“How was your day?” Theo asks once we’re on the road. We have about forty-five minutes until we’re there .

“I had to do a tour around the facility today for the fire chief.”

“Oh?” Theo says with a raised brow. “That sounds important.”

“I suppose it was.”

“You don’t sound happy about it.”

“I wasn’t, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. It’s over now.”

I put my hand on his thigh and smile at him, hoping he forgets this conversation.

I haven’t told him that I work with my ex, and though he’s okay with my job dating people, he may not be okay with me hanging around Brandon, which is understandable and something I would have to respect, as much as I can, I guess.

I’m not around Brandon much and we don’t work directly together, but…

should I tell Theo? For the sake of transparency, I think I should.

It’s only fair to be honest with him about everything.

I’m the one who said we needed to be honest and communicate.

If I want to do this right, if I want it to be successful, I need to do this.

“Hey, so there’s something I want to tell you,” I say.

“Okay, go ahead.”

I take a breath before saying, “My ex, Brandon, the one I told you about?”

“The one you were in a long-term relationship with?”

“Yeah, that one.” I shift in my seat, growing nervous about having this conversation. I don’t want to upset him, and I don’t want to cause issues between us, but worse than that, I don’t want to hide something from him.

“What about him?” His hands tighten on the steering wheel, which creaks quietly. I just barely hear it over the rock music coming from the speakers.

“His family owns the facility I work for. They own a few in the area and are moving into Oregon as well. It’s not a big deal, and I don’t see him much, but I wanted to be honest with you about it.”

He nods, his face not changing much. “But you see him sometimes?” he asks.

“Yeah, he’s around sometimes to check in, but that’s it.”

“Does it bother you when you see him?”

I appreciate him asking about my feelings on it rather than getting upset. At least, I don’t think he’s upset.

“I mean, he’s annoying, but it’s not like my heart is broken or I’m longing for us to give it another shot. I want nothing to do with him.”

“So, you wouldn’t get back together with him?”

“Absolutely not,” I say firmly.

Theo smiles at me, clasping our hands together. “Thank you for telling me.”

And I guess that’s that. It was that simple.

“Thank you for giving me a safe space to tell you.”

His smile grows and I fiddle with the radio as we make small talk the rest of the way there. Theo pulls into the valet, and they take his car while we head inside. I give the host my name, and he leads us over to a table by the fountain.

Alejandro’s is one of the most expensive restaurants in the city, and I’m sure I was only able to get reservations because it was for a Monday. I bet Friday and Saturday nights have months-long waiting lists.

“Have you been here before?” I ask.

“Once,” he answers. “I remember liking it.”

We order a bottle of wine and look over our menus. The place is sparkling, but it’s dim enough to have a romantic feel. It’s authentic Italian, and the kind of place you bring your partner to for a special night out.

“What are you getting?” Theo asks.

“ Pollo al Mattone . And let me guess… You’re getting Cacciucco ?”

He smiles at me cockily. “Actually, I was thinking of getting Filetto di Manzo al Pepe Verde .”

“Step up from your scallop days,” I say humorously, recalling our first date when he ordered the scallops, and I couldn’t understand how a man of his size could get full on that.

“I still enjoy scallops, and other seafood.”

“Have you been to the east coast? They do seafood well.”

“Not in years.”

“Maybe we should go some day,” I comment.

His eyes soften and his smile stays. “That sounds nice. Then we can go to Egypt before boarding a rocket ship to Pluto. ”

“If there was a rocket ship to Pluto, I’d be on it.”

“I’d miss you.”

“Well, you’d be with me, so you wouldn’t have to. I’m only going because of you in the first place.”

He laughs, his eyes crinkling in the corners, and it’s absolutely adorable. But it’s the look of adoration on his face that has my chest warming.

The waiter comes to take our meal orders and pours us each a glass of wine, leaving the bottle in a chill bucket on the table. Our food comes a short time later, and though we enjoy our food, we share with each other because it’s all delicious.

“Thank you for taking me here,” he comments.

“You took me here,” I say with a smirk.

He rolls his eyes. “It was your idea.”

I shrug. “Sometimes I have good ideas.”

“Good God, and here I thought two people were tasteless enough to own that suit.”

My spine stiffens at the voice those words belong to. Across from me, Theo is frowning at the man standing beside me. Gritting my teeth, I look up at Brandon. Of all places on this planet for him to be right this very moment, he has to be here?

“Is there something I can help you with?” I ask politely, but give him a look with my eyes that says I will not hesitate to stab him with the nearest utensil.

“Not at all. I was just concerned, considering I saw you in this a few days ago. I couldn’t possibly understand why you would wear it again so soon, if at all.”

I take a slow breath, letting it out before saying, “Thanks for your concern, but I’m fine. So, you can leave.” I force a smile and he smiles back, but he turns his attention to Theo instead of leaving.

“Brandon Arnoult.” He holds his hand out, and Theo shakes it hesitantly. “I’m assuming you must be an actual date, considering Tobias told me he wasn’t working tonight.”

Theo raises a brow, looking from me and then back to Brandon. I’m sure he has put together who this is. How many assholes do I know named Brandon? Only one. I don’t see anger on Theo’s face, but there’s something there…

“Theodore Beaumont,” he responds with practiced ease.

Brandon’s eyes widen with excitement. “A Beaumont? How intriguing. Are you two a thing?” He gestures between us, that snake-like grin still firmly in place.

“Brandon, just leave,” I say, exasperated.

“All right, but only because I have a flight to catch. Enjoy your meals.”

He gives us one last look-over before walking away. I stare at my glass of wine, fighting off the annoyance over his presence and the discomfort it brought me. My cheeks are burning, and my skin is itching. No one in this world can make me feel the way he does and it enrages me.

“Are you okay?” Theo asks softly.

It takes a moment, but finally I force a smile. “Yeah, I’m good. ”

“You can tell me if you’re not, you know.” His words are soft, gentle, understanding.

I can’t thank him enough for that.

“He knows just how to get under my skin, and I hate that I let him.”

“Who was that?” he asks carefully. Though I’m sure he already knows.

“My ex,” I say, reaching for my wine.

“Your ex,” he repeats, brows knitting together as if he’s trying to figure something out. “I thought so, but… he said he saw you wearing this the other day.”

Fuck .

“Yeah, he—”

“Is this how you dress at the facility or…”

“Of course not. It’s… He just—”

I hold Theo’s stare and see the concern in his eyes. He thinks I lied about my relationship with Brandon.

“Look, Brandon is a manipulative little prick, okay? He does this stuff on purpose to hurt me. He obviously saw us together, saw me happy, and he’s trying to ruin it.”

“Were you with him the other day?” he boldly asks. I consider how to answer that, but before I can, he adds, “Are you leading him on or something?”

“What? No,” I say adamantly. “Of course not.”

“Then how did he see you?” he asks. “Was it on a date? While you were working? ”

I chew the inside of my cheek, knowing even the truth is going to sound like a lie because I should have told Theo about this sooner. When I brought up Brandon in the car, this should have been part of the conversation. Maybe even mentioned it when it happened.

“A few weeks ago, he asked me to attend an event with him.”

“And you did?” he says, shocked. But there’s hurt there too. I don’t miss that one bit.

“No,” I say firmly. “Well, yes, but I told him no when he asked.”

Theo leans back in his chair, looking like he’s on the verge of crying. His eyes get red and his body is stiff. I hate it, and I have never hated Brandon so much in my life. Leave it to him to fuck up everything in my life.

“He booked a date through Foxy’s using a false name. When I showed up and saw it was him, I threatened to leave because he breached the contract, but he told me if I did then he would ruin Foxy’s company.”

“He’s blackmailing you and you’re just letting him?” he growls.

“What am I supposed to do, Theo? He is a powerful man, and I love my job. But not only that, I respect Foxy and everyone who works there. I won’t let him ruin their lives over something so stupid. It was just one night.”

“Right, so you just let him do what he wants with you? To what end?”

I narrow my eyes on him, my heart beating a little harder. My defenses come back, that little voice in my head telling me to hurt before I get hurt.

“You have no right to be mad about this, Theo. We weren’t even together then.”

His eyes widen slightly, and his lips part.

That was a low blow, but I won’t take it back. We hold each other’s hard stare for a long time, until he speaks.

“Are you finished?” he asks, voice raspy. “Because I’d like to leave.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“I’ll meet you outside.” He gets up to leave while I settle the bill.

I take a trip to the bathroom to splash some water on my face and take a moment to breathe.

The ache I feel in my chest is a good reminder as to why I don’t do the relationship thing.

There are too many ways to get hurt. Too many things out of my control.

When I get outside, I find Theo already in the car waiting.

I guess he can’t be that angry—he didn’t leave me.