Chapter Twenty-Five

Theo

W hy, indeed. Between my games and practice, and the stupid shit-messes I was having to clean up for my cousin, I haven’t been able to keep as close of an eye on her as I normally would. But I couldn’t fucking stand the thought of not seeing her again, not being in her space, breathing her in. I had every intention of just watching from the sidelines when she came home from work today, just to make sure she was safe. But then I saw her with that fucker and I reacted without thinking. Following her inside the building, I booked it up the stairs while she was still waiting for the elevator to arrive. And by the time she reached her floor, I was at the landing, waiting. . . watching.

But then I saw her. Her goddamn beautiful face, and like a magnet, I couldn’t resist the force of her pull, drawing me in closer. I had no intention of letting her see me. Like always, my plan was to stick to the shadows. But she seemed tense, on alert, and then I had to say something, to make sure she was okay. I wasn’t expecting whatever fucking martial arts magic she used to knock my ass to the ground. Or the fucking watchdog to come bursting out of the apartment next door, gun drawn on me as he observed my humiliating encounter.

“Like I said, il mio passerotto. I came here to check on you. Security has been lax and I can’t speak too kindly on your own lack of situational awareness. Maybe I wanted to see for myself just how well you could hold your own, since what’s-his-name insisted you are able to take care of yourself.” My tone is condescending, and I hate myself for it. She is a goddamn masterpiece and if that move she pulled on me is any indication, then yeah, she has some good fucking situational awareness and clearly knows how to hold her own. Still, my girl needs to know that I am watching. She needs to be kept on her toes. With some fucking psycho on the loose out to harass her, I am not taking any fucking chances.

“I don’t need your help. And I don’t need you checking up on me like some fucking creeper.” She shoves futilely at my shoulder, trying to push me back, but I refuse to budge. I am intoxicated by her, the smell of her, the fire in her clear green eyes. For too long, I have stood on the sidelines, watched from the shadows. But now that she has been shoved in my face, I can’t let her go again. I fucking won’t.

Leaning into the hand she uses to push against me, I crowd her space, and watch as her pretty throat bobs when she forces down a choked swallow, watch her involuntarily lick her lips. Memories wash over me, that beautiful mouth working against my hard cock, watching her choke on me. Soon. I will feel her mouth on me again, soon. I feel myself stiffen, and I am close enough to her that she notices my erection, glancing quickly down at my pants before meeting my gaze once more.

Her breath hitches, and I swear I can see the pulse thrumming in her neck as her eyes widen, pupils dilated. Oh yeah, she fucking wants me. Now if I could just get her to accept it. My eyes flicker down to her lips once more, and I lean in, imperceptibly closer. I can feel her erratic breaths, see the movement of her chest from the corner of my eye. I move slowly, taking my time, letting my lips hover just over hers. Giving her the opportunity to turn her head, to pull away, to tell me to fuck off. But she doesn’t. And for one beautiful moment, time stands still.

“Theo-” Her voice is breathy, and God do I love the way my name sounds on her lips. I watch as her eyes flutter closed, feel her hands as they settle against my chest, and I know she can feel my own pounding heart. My lips brush gently against hers as I take my time, savoring the taste and the feel of her, watching every goddamn beautiful freckle on her face and lash on her fluttering eyelids, it’s like coming home. . . when there is a loud bang as the door crashes open next to us. Instinctively, I turn slightly, using my body to block her own from whatever unknown assailant has just burst into her apartment.

“You!”

A solid hand reaches up to grab my arm in a bruising grip, and at the same time, I feel Danica stiffen, as if waking up from a trance, and she is shoving against me at the same time I am being ripped away by an unknown force.

I brace myself- only to turn, fists raised in preparation to defend myself against the intruder, when I am sucker punched and my feet are suddenly ripped out from under me in one coordinated effort, the wind knocked out of me, leaving me gasping for air as I stare up into the face of fucking Jonathan. Goddamn. What is with these fucking martial arts moves?

Not a single fucking sign that his feathers were ruffled, calm and collected as he stands over me, arms crossed. He glares down at me but his words are directed to Danica.

“You okay, Ellis?”

I glance over to see that she has a hand pressed against her lips, expression dazed and eyes glassy. But she nods.

“Roberts called.” She nods again. And though he continues to glare down at me while I fight back the annoyance at being knocked on my ass twice in the last hour, I begrudgingly admit to myself that I am glad that she has someone in her corner, watching her back when I am not around. He extends a hand to me, but I shove it out of my face and climb to my feet, even as I continue to struggle with catching my breath.

“What. The. Fuck.” My words come out wheezing. Choppy. He just shrugs before making his way over to the couch and plopping down, feet propped on the table like he owns the damn place. I want to fucking kill him.

“Maybe-” Danica’s voice is soft, hesitant. She clears her throat, searching for the words, an unspoken question in her eyes.

“Theo, you should go.” She glances hesitantly between me and Jonathan. “Please.” This last word is nothing more than a whisper.

I would like nothing more than to wipe the fucking smirk off Jonathan’s pretty-boy face as he just watches us regally from his perch on her couch. But then I look back to Danica, my precious girl, and those are fucking tears in her eyes. Tears that I put there. I cringe as I feel another piece of my already battered heart rip in two. Not bothering to say anything, I turn on my heel and walk out of the room. Forcing myself to leave my girl once more.