Page 45 of It Destroys Me
“What did he say?”
“He hung up?—”
“No, Theo.”
“Well, he wasn’t there during the conversation, so he didn’t hear it. But then he walked in and demanded to know what happened…so I fessed up.”
“Oh. My. God.” She slapped the counter with her hand before she turned back to the pizzas. “You’re both here right now, so I guess it went over alright.”
“Yeah.”
“Did he say it back?” She looked at me again.
I wasn’t sure if he would ever say it back. Didn’t seem like that kind of man.
“You don’t have to tell me,” she said quickly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. I just wasn’t expecting to hear all of this tonight.”
“You aren’t prying, Scarlett.”
“No, I am,” she said with a chuckle before she fixed the veggies on the pizza. Then she placed four in the oven, two side by side on each rack. She shut the door and set the timer on her phone. “I’ve come to care for Theo like a brother, so it’s hard not to get invested in his love life.”
“He didn’t,” I said, doing my best not to sound disappointed.
She came back to the counter, and her eyes softened in sadness. “I’m sorry, girl.”
“It’s okay. Please don’t feel bad for me.”
“I don’t feel bad for you.” She took a drink of her wine then washed her hands in the sink. “Just because he didn’t say it now doesn’t mean he won’t say it whenever he’s ready. But I know that must have hurt.”
It hurt like a motherfucker. “Watching him run away would have hurt more, but he didn’t do that.”
“Has it been…awkward?”
“No.”
“Well, that’s good. At least he didn’t give you the cold shoulder like most guys would.”
“The more I get to know him, the more I realize how different he is from other guys.” He could be so distant and detached, but he was always there when it mattered. Ever since I’d moved in under his roof, he’d made me his priority.
The timer on her phone went off. “First batch is done.” She put on her mitts and placed the pizzas on the stove before she put in the next four pizzas.
“That’s a lot of pizzas for four people.”
“Well, Axel will eat three by himself, and Theo probably will too.”
“You never have leftovers?”
She chuckled. “I wish. Would make my life so much easier. But Axel eats everything I make the second I make it.”
“It’s sweet that he loves your cooking.”
“He’s an easy man to please, honestly.” She grabbed the pizza cutter from the drawer and started to slice the pizzas into halves, then quarters, then eighths. “In all ways.” She waggled her eyebrows.
I chuckled. “You’re a lucky lady.”
“Oh, I know I am. But don’t tell him that because it’ll go straight to his head.”
“What will go straight to my head?” Axel entered the room with their daughter tucked into his arm, dead asleep.