“Hey, Theo.” I twisted my neck to smile at Miranda. “Theo and I are in a Shakespeare class together. We’re actually working with another classmate, Lachlan, on a midterm project.”
Theo let out something between a bark and a cough. Attention returned to him. “I’m speechless. I had no idea you knew Miranda.”
I dipped my chin. “Just as I had no idea Miranda was your stepmom.”
Miranda clapped her hands. “Oh my, what a small world. Well, obviously it’s small here, since you both attend Savage, but it truly never occurred to me you might share a class. This is just perfect.”
The beautiful blonde at Theo’s side stood from her seat and draped herself on his shoulder. “Hi, I’m Abby.”
Theo was stiff, but Abby took no notice. She rested her chin on his shoulder and pressed herself into his arm. My skin felt bathed in acid. He could move on, he didn’t owe me anything, but seeing it up close and personal really wasn’t fair. But that was life. Shit hurt.
I tilted my head. “We’ve met...at the T.” I looked her up and down. “Elena is my roommate too. The Prada looks great on you.”
“Thanks.” She smoothed a hand over her hip. “I remember now. You were with a little kid, weren’t you?”
“Mmhmm. That was my sister, Luciana. I would have introduced you, but you were all about The that day.” I used her stupid-ass nickname, which did not escape her, based on the way she curled her pretty pink lip at me.
Miranda pressed her hand on my back, turning me the other way. “This is my husband, Andrew.” The older man, who was unmistakably Theo’s father, got to his feet and offered me his hand.
“Helen, Miranda hasn’t stopped talking about you for a solid year. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” His handshake was warm, firm, and sincere. His smile too. His eyes didn’t twinkle as much as Theo’s did, but I saw where he got it.
“It’s nice to meet you, sir.”
He waved me off. “None of that formal stuff. Andrew is fine. Are you sitting with us tonight?”
“Yeah. I mean…yes. I think I am.”
He pulled out the empty chair beside his. “Come, sit by me. Miranda and I see each other all the time. I haven’t had the chance to get to know you.”
Miranda patted my shoulder. “You’ll sit between us so we don’t have to fight over you, darling. This way I can talk to my darling Theo too.”
My eyes flicked to Theo, who had been watching my interaction with his dad carefully.
“Lucky you.”
I took my seat beside Andrew Whitlock and tipped my head back to make eye contact with Theo one more time. He grimaced like he was vastly uncomfortable with my presence. I wasn’t having the time of my life either.
But he’d made his choice.
He’d put us here, and I had zero desire to make tonight any easier for him.
Chapter Twenty
Theo
I had no idea what Helen was doing here, but Jesus, she took my breath away. She looked like one of them, Miranda’s people, only sexier and so much more real.
I’d walked into this banquet hall knowing tonight would be nothing but suffering, but I’d been ready for it. Or so I thought. Nothing could have prepared me for this. Helen, two seats away, making nice with Andrew. She was clearly already great friends with my stepmom. And that dress, her body, red lips, sad eyes—all of it was a recipe to make me regret every decision I ever made. What really rattled around in my skull and down to my gut, though, was how completely taken with her my father was.
I couldn’t hear what Helen was saying with Abby and Miranda speaking to each other around me, but I watched. Helen was twisted in her seat to face my father, her hands moving expressively as she explained something to him. Andrew Whitlock was riveted, nodding and throwing in a word or two, but otherwise listening to all Helen had to say.
Eventually, dinner was served. Instead of eating, I stared as Helen worked her water glass between her hands, spinning it in tight circles over and over. Finally, she must have sensed my gaze. Her eyes slid to mine, one brow arching. I opened my hands. I was at a loss about everything.
Every. Fucking. Thing.
Abby poked at my arm, dragging my attention from Helen. “Isn’t this salad good?” She held up her fork like she might feed me if I wasn’t careful.
I glanced down at my untouched plate, then back to her. “Great.”
Her bottom lip poked out. “You haven’t been paying attention to me, The.”
“That’s because I don’t want to be here.”
Her mouth fell open, but only for a moment, then she composed herself in all her Abigail Fitzgerald glory. “Then we should go. Although, I’m certain your father wouldn’t appreciate you disappearing.”
I had nothing to say to that. She was right. Someone brushed by my chair, and my eyes flicked up in time to see Helen striding toward the restrooms, her round hips swaying in that sultry way that came naturally to her.
“Excuse me.” I threw my napkin down on the table, not even bothering to hide the fact that I was following her. Like a moth to a flame and all that. There was no resisting.
I waited in the empty hall outside the women’s restroom. After a minute or two, Helen emerged, her face impassive, not seeming the least bit surprised to find me there. She started to march by me. Before she could take more than a couple steps, I had my fingers wrapped around her bicep and I shoved her into a shadowed alcove.
She yanked her arm away. “No.”
“Yes.” I crowded her space, backing her into the wall. “What are you doing here?”
Her gaze was unflinching. “I was invited.”
“By my stepmom?”
“Yes.”
“Are you here because of me?”
Helen sputtered with laughter. “Holy Christ, dude. How conceited are you? I didn’t know you’d be here until Elena informed me you and your girlfriend were coming. And I found out your connection to Miranda at the same time you found out mine.”
“I’m with her as a favor to my dad.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Tell me, Theo, when did you know you’d be escorting your girlfriend to this banquet?”
I stilled as her bullet hit its target. “A few weeks.” My hole had been dug. Why not be honest now?
Her laugh was so bitter, I could taste it. “You were going to bring her here tonight and never tell me, right? I bet you would have shown up at my door ready to fuck after rubbing up against your pretty blonde girlfriend all night.”
“He didn’t give me a choice, Helen.”
“Okay.”
I slapped the wall next to her head. “Fuck, I hate when you do that. Why won’t you call me a piece of shit? Argue with me? Tell me to go to hell?”
She lifted her chin. “I don’t need to. You already know.”
Looking away from her wasn’t an option, even though it bruised all the way to the bone. She was so fucking gorgeous and defiant. And somehow, somehow, after the lie she told and truth she omitted, she had the upper hand.
I guess I’d given it to her. No, I knew I had. How could I be angry at her for keeping something from me when I hadn’t even considered telling her about escorting Abby tonight?
“You’re right. I wasn’t going to tell you.”