Before December

Chapter 13: Lydia

I opened my eyes to a pounding headache and the uncomfortable realisation that I was still wearing last night’s clothes. My mouth felt like sandpaper, my body ached in places I didn’t remember hurting, and when I tried to roll onto my side, the room seemed to tilt slightly in protest. Groaning, I pulled the pillow over my face and decided that staying exactly where I was for the foreseeable future sounded like a perfectly reasonable plan.

“Morning.”

I froze beneath the pillow.

Theo?

For a second, I wondered whether whatever had happened last night was still messing with my head. Slowly, I lowered the pillow and looked towards the window. Theo was sitting in the chair beside it with one ankle resting over his knee, scrolling through his phone as though hanging around in my bedroom first thing in the morning was completely normal.

“What are you doing in my room?”

He glanced up. “Waiting for you to wake up.”

“Why?”

Theo shoved his phone into his pocket and stood. “Mum wanted someone to make sure you weren’t dead.”

I stared at him. “Comforting.”

“You asked.”

He started towards the door, which probably should have pleased me considering I’d spent most of the last week wishing Theodore Henderson would disappear, but the second he reached it, flashes from the night before came back to me. The kitchen lights. The room moving. Theo catching me. After that, nothing.

“Wait.”

He stopped and looked back.

“What happened last night?”

Theo hesitated before turning around. “You don’t remember?”

“Not after the kitchen.”

For a moment, the usual sarcasm slipped away. He walked back towards the bed, picked up the glass of water from my bedside table and handed it to me.

“Drink.”

“Bossy.”

“Drink the water, Wild.”

I took a few sips, mainly because my mouth felt too dry to argue properly, then looked at him again. Theo leaned against the desk rather than sitting anywhere near me.

“Someone put something in your drink.”

I lowered the glass. “What?”

“You heard me.”

My stomach tightened. “How? I made my own drinks, or James did.” The memory of James walking away after the kiss came back to me, followed by how strange he had acted afterwards. “It wasn’t James, was it?”

Theo straightened immediately. “No. Don’t even go there.”

“He was acting really weird after—”

“James would never do that.”

I gave him a look but didn’t argue. “Then who?”

“Jake.”

My fingers tightened around the glass. “Why?”

Theo looked away. "Because he’s an asshole."

“That isn’t an answer.”

“It’s the one you’re getting.”

“Theo, somebody messed with my drink. I think I’m allowed to know why.”

“I warned you he was bad news.”

“That still doesn’t tell me why.”

“No. It doesn’t.”

I stared at him. “And Amber?”

“She had nothing to do with it.”

“Then why were you arguing with her?”

He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, already looking fed up with the conversation. “Because she was pissed off about the kiss. Different problem.”

Unease settled heavily in my chest. “I told Amber I didn’t know she was your girlfriend. If I had, I wouldn’t have kissed you.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“She introduced herself as your girlfriend.”

“She lied.”

“But Grace said you two—”

“Wild.” His voice sharpened. “It's none of your business.”

I stopped. Theo folded his arms and looked towards the window, making it obvious that whatever tiny amount of information he had been willing to give me was already more than he wanted to.

“Fine.” I took another drink of water, although another thought had already worked its way into my head. “What about Lacey?”

His eyes came straight back to mine. “What about her?”

“Grace told me—”

“Grace needs to keep her mouth shut.”

“She said something happened between you.”

Theo pushed away from the desk. “Are you done?”

“She’s James’s ex, right? The one you—”

"Again, none of your business, Wild."

For a moment, I just stared at him. There was obviously more to the story, but the look on Theo’s face told me I could spend the rest of the morning asking questions and get absolutely nowhere.

“Fine.”

“Finally.”

“Don’t sound so pleased.”

“I was beginning to think you’d never stop talking.”

I rolled my eyes and took another drink. Unfortunately, my brain chose that exact moment to replay the kiss from the night before. I remembered stopping inches from his face, his stupid comment about written instructions, and then what happened when I finally kissed him. Heat crept into my cheeks, so I focused on the glass in my hands and hoped Theo wouldn’t notice.

I wondered whether he remembered the kiss the same way I did, then immediately wished I hadn’t thought about it.

“About last night…”

Theo looked at me. “What?”

“The kiss.”

He shrugged. “It was a dare, Wild.”

“I know.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I didn’t say there was one.”

“Good. Then don’t make it weird.”

Of course he didn’t care. Why would he? He had practically offered himself up like he was doing community service.

I took another sip of water and decided I’d embarrassed myself enough for one morning. “Just drop me at the gallery and go do whatever incredibly important thing you have to do.”

His attention snapped back to me. “With Sebastian?”

“That was the plan.”

“Right.”

I pushed the covers away. “I need a shower.”

Theo looked me up and down. “Definitely.”

“Get out.”

“Gladly.” He headed for the door.

“We’re still going into town, right?”

Theo stopped with his hand on the door. “Unfortunately.”

“You sound thrilled.”

“I had plans before you became my problem.”

“I’m not your problem.”

“Tell Mum that.”

After a shower, several glasses of water and enough concealer to make me look slightly less dead, I changed into jeans and a top and headed towards Theo’s room. I was about to knock when I heard his voice through the door.

“It’ll be fine. I’m just about to leave. Lydia has the stupid art gallery tour. I’ll meet you there. I should have about an hour.”

I stopped.

For one tiny second earlier, I’d almost thought Theo had some kind of problem with Sebastian. Apparently not. He was probably just irritated that Mrs Henderson had forced him to drive me into town.

I waited a few seconds before knocking.

Theo opened the door, then turned away almost immediately and grabbed his phone from the bed.

“Ready?”

“Yep.”

He slipped the phone into his pocket and headed for the door. I followed without mentioning the call. If Theo wanted to disappear for an hour while I was at the gallery, that was his business. Calling it a stupid art gallery tour still annoyed me more than it probably should have.

I followed him downstairs and into the garage, where my annoyance disappeared almost immediately.

“Okay, this is ridiculous.”

Theo looked at me. “What is?”

I stared at the line of cars. “How many do you actually need?”

“Not all mine.”

I walked slowly between them until I reached a Porsche 911 and ran my fingers lightly over the bonnet. Dad had worked at a dealership back home, and whenever something particularly nice came in, he would occasionally bring it home or take me for a drive after work. The memory caught me off guard, and for a second I could almost hear Dad telling me not to touch the paintwork.

“You getting in or just admiring it all day?”

I looked up. Theo stood beside the Porsche, keys in hand.

“We’re taking this?”

“Obviously.”

“To go shopping?”

“What’s the point of having one if nobody drives it?”

I opened the passenger door before he could change his mind, which made him laugh as he walked around to the driver’s side.

The engine roared to life and music filled the car as we pulled out of the garage. Once we were away from the house, I lowered the window and let the wind rush inside. Within seconds, my arm was stretched out of the window, the music was louder than before, and I was enjoying the drive far more than I intended to.

Theo glanced across at me and laughed.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“So, you do know how to laugh.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Your face is ridiculous.”

“Good one, Wild.”

“I feel like death. My insults need time to recover.”

“That explains a lot.”

Twenty minutes later, Theo pulled into a parking space in town. I flipped down the mirror and stared at what the wind had done to my hair.

Fantastic.

I looked like I had been dragged backwards through a hedge.

Theo glanced across.

“Not one word.”

His mouth curved. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You were going to.”

“Definitely.”

I shut the mirror and reached for the door, deciding that whatever damage the Porsche had done to my hair had been completely worth it.