Before December

Chapter 21: You shouldn't be here

Theo POV:

“What the f**k are you doing here?”

Lydia folded her arms. Of course she did. Four days without seeing her, and somehow she’d managed to turn up in the one place I never wanted her anywhere near. I looked at Grace. She took one step backwards.

Smart girl.

“You brought her?”

“Don’t blame her,” Lydia snapped.

My attention went straight back to her. That was the problem. It always went straight back to her.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“Funny. I was about to say the same thing to you.”

“This isn’t a joke, Lydia.”

“I know.”

Something in her expression stopped me. She wasn’t smiling or winding me up. She looked pissed off, which I could deal with. Lydia being angry with me was practically normal by now. Underneath that, though, was something else.

Fear.

My stomach tightened. “You need to leave.”

“No.”

“Lydia.”

“Theo.”

I clenched my jaw. There were hundreds of people packed into the warehouse, music pounding through the speakers and voices carrying over one another, but somehow Lydia had managed to become the biggest problem in the room.

Fantastic.

“You have no idea what this place is like.”

“I have a pretty good idea.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Grace explained it.”

My eyes cut back to Grace. She winced.

“Seriously?”

“She asked.”

“And you thought bringing her here was a good idea?”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not standing right here,” Lydia snapped.

I looked back at her. “Then stop acting like you belong here.”

The second the words left my mouth, I regretted them. Her face changed. Barely. But I saw it.

Shit.

Wrong choice of words. Again.

I meant here. Now. This warehouse. Not the house. Not England. Not any of the things I’d thrown at her before.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Sounded pretty clear to me.”

“Lydia—”

Someone shouted my name from behind me. I ignored it.

“You know what I mean, Lyd.”

“No, actually, I don’t.”

Another call came from across the warehouse, louder this time. I glanced towards the center. Mason was already waiting, rolling his shoulders while people crowded closer around him. Sean stood near the edge, staring at me like he was considering coming over and physically dragging me away.

I turned back.

Lydia was still glaring.

“Why are you here?”

Her arms tightened across her chest. “Because you disappeared for four days.”

“So?”

“So?”

“Yes, so?”

Her eyes widened. “You came home looking like you’d been beaten up, nearly crashed the car, refused to tell me what happened and then vanished for four days.”

I stared at her. “So? Were you worried or something?”

“No.”

Despite myself, my mouth twitched.

Lydia noticed immediately. “You’re enjoying this way too much.”

“I’m enjoying the fact that you apparently spent four days thinking about me.”

“That is not what happened.”

“Sounds like it.”

She gave me a flat look. “You disappearing after nearly crashing the car is not the ego boost you think it is.”

That wiped the smile off my face.

Before I could answer, Sean shouted my name again and dragged my attention back towards the fight. Right. The fight. I’d somehow managed to forget the entire reason I was there. That alone should’ve concerned me.

“I’m fine,” I said.

“You keep saying that.”

“Because I am.”

“Your definition of fine is seriously questionable.”

“Go home.”

“No.”

I exhaled sharply. Why did I even bother? “You’re impossible.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“By me.”

“Frequently.”

Lydia shifted her weight, already gearing up for another argument. Usually, that made me want to keep pushing just to see what ridiculous thing she’d come back with. Not tonight. Tonight I needed my head clear. Mason wasn’t someone I could afford to underestimate, and Lydia Wild standing ten feet away was already doing a brilliant job of wrecking my concentration.

I stepped closer and lowered my voice. “If you’re staying, stay with Grace.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

“I didn’t say you did.”

“You basically did.”

“Just stay with her.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so.”

I watched the argument flare straight back to life in her face.

Wrong answer.

Obviously.

“Wow. That really convinced me.”

“Lydia.”

“What?”

I leaned closer. “For once, can you just listen to me?”

She stared at me for a second, some of the fight draining out of her.

Then she sighed. “Fine.”

Relief hit me harder than it should have. “Fine?”

“Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

“I wasn’t planning to.”

“Good.”

I looked at Grace. “Keep her here.”

Lydia scoffed. “I can hear you.”

“I know.”

Sean finally reached us. “What the hell are you doing?” he muttered.

Then he noticed Lydia.

His eyebrows lifted. “Well, this just got interesting.”

“It didn’t.”

Sean’s grin widened.

Lydia looked between us. “So Grace was right. You know about all this.”

Sean glanced at me before answering. “Yeah.”

“And you’re okay with it?”

He gave a small shrug. “Theo makes his own choices.”

“Helpful,” Lydia muttered.

“Can we save the interrogation?” I said.

Sean nodded towards the center. “You’re already late.”

I rolled my shoulders and forced myself to focus. This was what I knew. This was easy.

Or usually it was.

I looked back at Lydia one last time and immediately regretted it. She was watching me, and whatever annoyance had been there before had disappeared. Now she just looked worried. Actually worried. I didn’t like that, so I turned away before Sean could drag me back himself.

“Come on,” Sean said.

We moved back towards the center, the noise growing louder with every step. I tried to force everything else out of my head. Lydia. The gallery. The argument in the car. The fact she’d apparently spent four days wondering where I was. None of it mattered right now.

Across from me, Mason rolled his shoulders and smiled.

Cocky bastard.

I smiled back. That part, at least, I understood. The crowd tightened around us while Sean said something near my ear, but I barely heard him. My attention drifted past Mason and landed on Lydia again. She stood beside Grace with her arms folded tightly across herself, watching every move I made.

Mason followed my gaze before looking back at me, his grin widening. “Girlfriend?”

“No.”

He glanced towards Lydia again. “Could’ve fooled me.”

“She’s not.”

“Right.”

“Focus on me.”

“I am.”

Something about the way he said it irritated me. Good. Anger was useful; distraction wasn’t.

The signal came, and Mason moved first. I reacted automatically, stepping back, blocking and resetting before he could close the distance again.

I should’ve been focused by now.

I wasn’t.

Lydia kept appearing at the edge of my vision. Every time I shifted position, there she was somewhere behind Mason. Every time the crowd reacted, part of my attention went straight to her before I could stop it. I’d never had to think about who was watching before.

Apparently tonight was different. It was ridiculous. I’d fought in front of bigger crowds and against tougher opponents without caring who was watching, but Lydia had somehow picked the worst possible night to become impossible to ignore.

Mason caught me off guard and sent me stumbling backwards, drawing an immediate reaction from the crowd. Sean shouted something from the side, but I barely heard him as I forced myself to reset.

I was fine.

I looked at Lydia. Bad idea.

Her eyes were wide, one hand covering her mouth. I immediately wished I hadn’t looked because now that image was stuck in my head too, along with the uncomfortable fact that she was scared because of something I was doing.

I dragged my attention back to Mason just as he moved again.

I blocked too late.

Pain flared through my side—enough to piss me off, not enough to stop me.

“Come on, Henderson,” Mason muttered. “Thought you were supposed to be good.”

I glared at him. “Keep talking.”

He smiled.

I moved first this time, and the crowd surged louder around us. For a few moments, everything else finally disappeared.

No Lydia.

No Sean.

No noise.

Just instinct.

I moved again and Mason stepped back. For the first time all night, my head felt clear. This was where I was comfortable. There were no questions, no explanations and nobody asking where I’d been or why I did anything. It was simple enough to understand.

Then someone shouted from somewhere behind Lydia.

She turned.

So did I.

Only for a second.

That was all Mason needed.

Sean yelled my name.

Too late.

I saw Mason move.

Then everything went black.