Before December

Chapter 5

Tossing the towel onto a chair, I dived straight into the pool. The cool water was refreshing against my skin after the heat of my run, and when I surfaced, I swept both hands over my face and pushed my wet hair away from it. For a while, I simply bobbed in the water, looking around the garden and up at the house.

Movement in one of the upstairs windows caught my attention. Theodore stood behind the glass, staring straight at me.

My skin prickled beneath his gaze, but even when he realised I'd noticed him, he didn't look away. He just stood there in front of his floor-to-ceiling bedroom window, his hands buried in the pockets of his light grey joggers as though watching me swim was a completely normal way to spend his afternoon.

Okay, maybe it was a little creepy.

Annoyingly, that didn't stop my stomach from doing that stupid little flip again.

I dragged my gaze away from him and pushed off from the side of the pool, determined to concentrate on swimming instead. Even with my back to the house, though, I couldn't shake the uncomfortable awareness that he might still be standing there watching me. By the time I reached the opposite end, curiosity got the better of me and I glanced towards his window again.

He was gone. Good. At least now I could swim without feeling like I had an audience.

I pushed off for another length, but when I surfaced, my eyes drifted towards his window again anyway. The space behind the glass remained empty.

Why did I even care?

Turning my back to the house, I floated on the water and closed my eyes. For the first time all day, everything was quiet. The only sound was the gentle ripple of water around my ears, and for a few minutes I managed to think about absolutely nothing.

After swimming several more lengths, I decided I'd had enough and pulled myself out of the pool. The late-afternoon air felt cooler against my wet skin now that I was out of the water, so I grabbed the towel I'd left draped across the back of the chair and wrapped it around myself. Water trickled from the ends of my hair and down my shoulders as I squeezed some of it out, already thinking about heading upstairs for a shower.

When I turned towards the house, Theodore was standing a short distance away. I hadn't heard him come outside.

Unlike me, he was fully dressed, his hands buried casually in his pockets as he watched me. There was something irritatingly relaxed about him, like he had nowhere else to be and had decided that standing there staring at me was perfectly normal. I waited for him to say something, but he didn't.

"What?" I finally asked.

His eyebrows lifted. "What?"

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

The corner of his mouth twitched. "Does it make you uncomfortable?"

I frowned. "No, it's just weird?"

"Interesting."

I tightened the towel around myself. "What's interesting?"

"That you don't like people invading your space."

I stared at him for a second before realising what he was getting at. "Oh, here we go."

A small smile appeared on his face.

"I walked into your bedroom by accident."

"You've done it more than once."

"Once," I corrected. "And I was looking for the bathroom."

"You opened my door."

"By accident."

"And then yesterday you came marching straight back in."

"Because your music was shaking the entire house."

"My room. My music."

"Your music wasn't staying in your room."

He shrugged, clearly seeing absolutely nothing wrong with that. Then took his hands from his pockets and walked closer. "You've been here two days and you're already wandering around like you own the place."

My irritation sharpened. "I don't act like I own anything."

"You walk into people's rooms. Use whatever you want. Swim in the pool."

I stared at him in disbelief. "Am I not allowed to swim now?"

"I didn't say that."

"Then what exactly are you saying?"

He stopped a few feet away from me. "I'm saying you're a stranger."

Something about those words felt different from everything else he'd said.

My grip tightened around the towel. "So are you to me."

"Exactly. Except I'm not the one who's just moved into your house."

"I didn't ask to come here."

Theo gave a short laugh. "Could've fooled me."

Something inside me twisted. "You really are an asshole."

His expression changed slightly. "What did I say?"

"You don't know anything about me."

"And you don't know anything about me."

"I know enough."

"So do I."

"No, you don't."

He stepped closer. "I know you're in my house."

"Your family's house."

"Exactly."

That word stung.

Family.

He had one.

I folded my arms. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you've been here two days and you're already making yourself pretty comfortable."

I stared at him. "Excuse me?"

He gestured loosely towards the pool. "The bedroom. The food. This. You seem to have settled in quickly for someone who doesn't even know us."

"You think I'm enjoying this?"

"I don't know. You tell me."

A humourless laugh escaped me. "You really have no idea what you're talking about."

"Then enlighten me."

"No."

Theo shrugged. "Fine. But from where I'm standing, you've landed in a mansion, you've got people waiting on you, a chauffeur picking you up from the airport and everything you could possibly want." His eyes flicked briefly towards the pool. "Doesn't exactly look like you're suffering."

For a second, I couldn't breathe.

Everything I could possibly want?

I could have lived in a cardboard box for the rest of my life if it meant having Mom, Dad and my little sister back.

My hand moved before my brain had time to catch up.

Theo caught my wrist before it reached his face.

I froze.

So did he.

My heart hammered against my ribs, partly from anger and partly from the shock of what I'd almost done. "Let go of me."

His eyes stayed fixed on mine.

"Seriously, Theodore. Let go."

Instead of releasing me straight away, he lowered my arm between us and pulled me a step closer, forcing me to tilt my head slightly to keep glaring at him.

His voice dropped. "You invade my personal space, Wild, and I'll invade yours ten times worse."

Anger burned through me. "Get off me."

Something in my face must have changed because his grip loosened immediately. I yanked my wrist away and stepped back. For once, the smug expression disappeared from his face. He stared at me differently now, something uncertain replacing the amusement, as though he knew he'd crossed a line but couldn't work out where it had been.

"You have no idea why I'm here," I said quietly.

Theo didn't answer.

"You don't know anything."

For the first time since I'd met him, Theodore Henderson had nothing smart to say.

I turned away before the pressure behind my eyes could betray me and headed towards the house.

By the time I reached my bedroom, my anger had settled into something heavier. I dropped the towel onto the floor and sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly at the carpet.

Everything you could possibly want.

His words kept replaying in my head.

He didn't know. That was the worst part. He had no idea what had happened to my family. To him, I probably really was just some strange American girl who had appeared out of nowhere and moved into one of his bedrooms.

I lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

I should've told him.

No.

Why should I?

I didn't owe Theodore Henderson an explanation for anything. Especially not after he'd spent the last two days making it perfectly clear that he didn't want me here. Still, the look on his face when I'd walked away bothered me more than it should have.

I pushed the thought aside. He was an asshole. End of story.

My dreams that night were restless and disjointed. Theodore kept appearing in them, although apparently even my subconscious couldn't decide whether I wanted to yell at him or get as far away from him as possible. One minute he was standing in his bedroom window, watching me from behind the glass. The next we were arguing in the kitchen, except I couldn't hear what either of us was saying. Then suddenly we were back beside the pool. His hand was around my wrist. His face was close to mine. He said something I couldn't hear, and when I tried to pull away—

My eyes flew open.

I stared at the ceiling.

Three o'clock in the morning.

"Seriously?" I whispered.

Of all the people my subconscious could have chosen to torment me with, it had picked Theodore Henderson.

Fantastic.

Apparently, even my dreams had turned against me.

After another hour of tossing and turning, I gave up and went downstairs for some water. The house felt completely different at night. Without voices, footsteps or music filling it, the enormous rooms seemed even bigger, and the darkness stretching through the hallways made me wish I'd bothered turning on more lights.

I found my way to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. The bright light made me squint as I grabbed a bottle of water and twisted off the lid.

A loud bang somewhere behind me made me jump.

The bottle slipped straight out of my hand.

"Oh, for God's sake."

Water splashed across the floor.

I closed the refrigerator and looked around, trying to work out where the noise had come from, but the kitchen appeared empty. After finding a roll of paper towel in one of the cupboards, I tore several sheets off and crouched down to clean up the mess.

A pair of bare feet appeared in front of me.

I froze.

Please don't be Theodore.

"What are you doing down there?"

I looked up.

Blond hair.

Not Theodore.

Thank God.

The boy standing in front of me looked familiar, although it took my sleep-deprived brain a few seconds to work out why. Then it came flooding back.

Oh no. This was the guy I'd thrown up on when I arrived.

"I spilled some water," I said, suddenly feeling awkward. "Just cleaning it up."

He smiled. "I'm James."

"Lydia."

I stood up and dumped the wet paper towel onto the counter.

"And I'm really sorry about the whole throwing-up-on-you thing. I was nervous and I—"

"No need to apologise. It's forgotten." His expression became serious. "Even if the smell still lingers a little."

My eyes widened.

His grin broke almost immediately. "I'm kidding."

"Oh my God." I pressed a hand to my chest. "Don't do that to me."

James laughed. "Sorry. Couldn't resist."

I shook my head, although I couldn't stop the small smile threatening at the corner of my mouth.

"Can't sleep?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Jet lag, I guess."

It wasn't jet lag, but explaining that I'd spent the last hour awake because his brother had somehow invaded my dreams after spending the afternoon insulting me seemed slightly intense for four o'clock in the morning.

"You'll get used to it." He leaned against the counter. "England, I mean."

"That's what everyone keeps telling me."

"And you're not convinced?"

I glanced around the enormous kitchen. "Ask me again when I can find the bathroom without accidentally walking into somebody's bedroom."

James laughed. "Theo?"

I narrowed my eyes. "How did you know?"

"Lucky guess." He reached for a glass from one of the cupboards. "For what it's worth, Theo annoys everyone. Don't take it personally."

"Bit late for that."

James glanced at me, but thankfully didn't ask.

I suddenly became very aware that I was standing in a kitchen in the middle of the night talking to someone I'd technically met while vomiting all over him.

"Well, I'm going to go back to bed. It was, uh, nice to meet you. Properly this time."

"Yeah. Ditto."

He smiled and ran a hand through his hair.

I turned towards the door.

"Lydia?"

I glanced back.

James grinned. "Next time I walk into a room, I'll try not to scare you."

"Probably a good idea. This house looks expensive."

He laughed. "Very."

"Great. I'd rather not add property damage to my list of first impressions."

"You've still got plenty of time."

"That's reassuring."

I shook my head, smiling as I left the kitchen. I was halfway up the stairs when I realised I was still smiling. Not the fake smile I'd been giving everyone since I arrived. A real one.

I couldn't remember the last time that had happened.

The realisation should have felt good.

Instead, for some reason, it made my chest ache.