“Why did it have to be at your place?” She sniffled softly, starting to feel stupid.
“My buddy had some guys after him and didn’t want her to be mixed in.”
“What do you mean guys after him?”
“Don’t worry about it.” He sighed, laying back down. “I’m tired.”
Aurora felt her anger spike again. She was clearly upset and he was treating it like it was nothing. That his vague explanation was enough. Not to mention that she didn’t hear from him all day, had locked her door, and found him in her bed again.
“How did you unlock my door?” She felt a chill shoot through her.
“I said don’t worry about it, Aurora.” He’s voice turning into a growl. “Go to sleep.”
“No!” She kicked her legs over the edge of the bed and got off.
“Aurora, get back here!” Theo half sat up, his eyes glaring at her.
“How did you get into my apartment!”
“I picked the lock, okay!”
“And how is it that you know how to do that? You live in an apartment like this yet drive a Viper! You knew what club I went to without me telling you! Then this morning you were gone, you didn’t say anything, and I had to watch that woman not only go into your apartment but also your car.”
Aurora felt embarrassed by how much emotion was following through her. She was sobbing by the end of it. She hadn’t truly realized how much Theo affected her until she saw that stupid woman with her stupid red hair. Theo got out of bed, his frame towering over her as he wrapped his arms around her. She flinched and weakly pushed away from him.
“Aurora, there are a lot of things you don’t understand. Just know I wasn’t with that woman and leave it at that.”
“I can’t. You need to explain everything else.” She wiped at her eyes, her hands wet with tears.
“Aurora.” He sighed, trailing off.
“Please, Theo.” She looked up at him, her eyes watery.
“I’m the leader of a gang here.”
“What.” Her voice deadpan, her brain unsure of what he just said.
“That woman is with my second in command. Right now, we’re having a turf war with another group trying to take up places in our territory.”
“You’re in a gang.”
“No, I lead a gang. That’s why I have a sports car, why I can pick locks, and why I knew where you were last night.”
“Why the hell are you in a gang?”
“Met a couple people in jail and-”
“Jail! You’ve been to jail!” Her voice climbing pitches.
“3 years, babe. Are you afraid of me now?” He raised an eyebrow, his arms tightening around her.
“Ge-Get out.” Aurora trembled, although whether it was fear or anger she wasn’t sure.
She struggled against him, his grip crushing her to his body. His heat warming her in a bitter sweet way. She wished she hadn’t brought this up now, all she wanted to do was curl up in bed with his arms around her.
“Th-Theo.” She whimpered, the adrenaline starting to drain from her body as fatigue set it.
“Fine.” He bit out.
He grabbed his clothes, hastily putting them on and leaving. Silence filled her room, her eyes ringing at the eeriness. She sighed heavily, her existing breath shaky as tears spilled over. Her numb legs carried her over to her bed where she collapsed. The rest of the night was a constant battle with her pillows and blanket as she tried to get comfortable. She felt cold, nauseous, and anxiety eating away at her. Eventually, she got up and took a shower. She finished getting ready for work an hour earlier than usual, she would actually be on time when Harper came. She sat on her couch for a while, her eyes zoning out on the wall in front of her. The wall Theo was behind.
She sucked in a large breath of air to stop herself from crying. It was her fault for over reacting, but the jail and being in a gang. Correction, leader of a gang as he has said. It was all too much for her to take in. She couldn’t be around someone with that type of reputation, it brought all sorts of unknown danger. If the red-head had to hide out because of her boyfriend being in trouble, then it could happen to her as well. A buzzing in her pocket made her jump out of her thoughts, her heart skipping a beat.
Harper: [Are you going to be on time this morning?]
Her heart sank when it wasn’t Theo. He teeth sunk into her sore lip, she needed to stop thinking about him. This was what she had always wanted, for him to leave her alone.
[Yea, up early. Couldn’t sleep.]
[What’s wrong?]
[I don’t want to talk about it.]
[Alright, I’m hear if you need me. See you in 10.]
She tucked her phone away and sat back. Her eyes zoning out again. She waited about 5 minutes before heading out. She took the stairs to take up more time, her mind in a dazed state. She walked out the front entrance, the strong smell of smoke hitting her as she did. Her nose scrunched up, her eyes meeting electric green ones. Her breath hitched, her eyes shooting away from his and searching for Harper. She pulled up as Theo crushed out his cigarette. She glanced at him, his eyes on her. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks, her legs rushing her over to Harper’s car.
“I can’t remember the last you were actually on time.” She giggled.
“Ye-Yea.” Aurora gave her a faint smile.
Work went by in a haze. Harper and Tristan kept trying to pry and figure out what was wrong. At some point, they gave up and tried getting her into a better mood, to laugh or even smile a little. When that didn’t work, they decided they were going to take her out on Wednesday. Tristan and Aurora already had the day off, Harper said she would find someone to switch with. Aurora thanked both of them, as well as apologize for being gloomy without telling them what was wrong. She wasn’t ready to talk about it, every time she thought about it her heart squeezed and her eyes burned. She wanted to kick herself for acting stupid and dramatic. Harper took her home, and the rest of the night she stared at a movie she didn’t actually watch. She finally had enough of the self-pity and went to her room where she struggled for sleep.
18
The following day went the same way except she didn’t see Theo outside that morning even though his car was parked out front. He was probably avoiding her now, she didn’t blame him. Harper took her home again, her eyes scanning for Theo’s Viper but not finding it. She said good-bye to Harper and headed up to her small, quiet space. She snuggled up on the couch and put on a random movie. She didn’t pay attention to it though, her eyes zoning in and out on the screen. A few hours and two unwatched movies later, she heard the door next to hers slam shut. She jumped slightly, part of her wanting to go check on him. Maybe she could make him cookies as an apology. She could take them over to him before she left to go down town with Tristian and Harper. She knew it was dumb but decided to do it anyway. She could always give them to her friends if she decided not to give them to Theo.
She managed to make the entire batch without eating any of the raw dough. When they were finished, she left them under a paper towel to cool. She went to bed for the second night without dinner, her stomach too upset to eat. She curled up in bed and wrestled with sleep for the next 8 hours. When her phone’s alarm went off at 8am, she pushed herself out of bed and showered. She dressed in a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, a white t-shirt, and a light weight black hoodie. She didn’t do much to her hair, letting it lay wavy down her back. In the kitchen, she stared at the cookies debating on what she should do. She grabbed a plate, wrote a quick note, and wrapped them in foil. On her way to the door, she grabbed her purse and headed to Theo’s. She knocked on the door and waited a couple of minutes. She knocked again, thinking maybe he was sleeping. The door flew open to reveal the red-head, her eyes looking down on Aurora.
“What.” She snapped, her arms crossed over her chest.
“Oh, uh. Is Theo here?”
“Why?” She narrowed her eyes.
“
I- Um. I have something for him.” She lifted the plate of cookies to show the woman.
“What is that?” She leaned against the door frame, boredom showing on her face.
“Can you please just give it to him?” Aurora was growing impatient with this woman’s rude attitude.
“Look, I get that you’re heartbroken about him fucking and dumping you but-”
“Stop!” Aurora snapped, her anger bubbling over. “Not an ex, just an old friend. Please just give him these.” She shoved the plate of cookies toward the women.
An awkward minute passed before the woman pinched the edge of the plate with two fingers to take it from her.
“Thank you.” She said mumbled, turned and left the woman standing there.
Her heart was hammering against her rib cage. She shouldn’t have gone over, she shouldn’t have made those stupid cookies. She headed down the stairs, wanting to leave as fast as possible. She called Harper as soon as she was outside and told her she was ready to be picked up when she got the chance but that she would be at the laundry mat. She didn’t explain to Harper that it was because she didn’t want to take the risk of seeing Theo come down for a cigarette.
19
Theo woke up with a pounding headache. His hand reached for his phone but couldn’t find it. He lifted his head off his pillow, his eyes barely open. He forced himself off his bed and into the bathroom to take a piss. As he stood there, he noticed how bright it was through the curtain. Sleeping in wasn’t something he usually did. He brushed his teeth, threw on a random pair of jeans and a plain t-shirt off the floor and step out of his room. Lacey was lounging on his couch, the TV on a cooking channel which was comical because the woman couldn’t cook a hot pocket. He walked over to her, his phone sitting on the table next to the couch.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” He briefly looked over the notifications on his phone.
“Figured you needed some rest.” Her eyes remaining on the TV. “Oh. I know you have it easy with the ladies but maybe you shouldn’t fuck everyone that comes to you.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Your neighbor. You’ve been here, like what, a week? You shouldn’t lead on little girls who don’t know how easy men can break them.”
Theo stared at Lacey, his headache throbbing as he tried to figure out what she was saying. He pinched the bridge of his nose and walked over to one of the cabinets in the kitchen for some Advil. His stress was going to be the death of him. He turned back to Lacey.
“I didn’t fuck any of my neighbors.”
Suddenly, Aurora flashed in his mind as he swallowed the pills in his hand.
“Shit. Was she short? Long brown hair?”
“Yep.” She popped the ‘p’, her head turning to look at him. “She brought something over but I tossed it.” She pointed a long finger at the garbage can.
“Why the fuck would you do that?” He stepped over to the garbage can, sure enough there was something covered in foil.
“I didn’t know what it was.” She shrugged and looked back at the TV. “Thought she was trying to poison you for breaking her fragile little heart.”
“I’m not the heartbreaker you think I am.” He glared at the back of her head, his hand reaching into the garbage to pull out the plate.
“That’s not what I’ve heard.” She scuffed.
Theo ignored her, his attention on the plate. Thankfully, there wasn’t much in the garbage. He pulled back an edge to find a bunch of cookies, the smell of chocolate hitting his nose. He took a deep breath, his mouth salivating. He tore off the rest of the foil and found a note in the middle. Her beautiful cursive filling the post-it note.
Aurora: [I know this isn’t the best apology but I didn’t know what else to do. I’m sorry for how I acted the other day. It’s not my business to judge the way you live your life.]
“Fuck.” He sighed.
This wasn’t her fault, and yet she was apologizing to him. He ran both hands through his hair in frustration. He left the cookies on the counter and headed for the front door.
“Hey, where are you going? You’re supposed to be protecting me.”
“I’m going next door.”
“Oh, so you’re trying to fuck her.” She acted as if she had figured out the problem to everything.
“Shut your fucking mouth, you have no idea what she is to me.” He snapped, his eyes blazing with anger as he glanced at her.
“Okay, okay!” She held her hands up in defense.
He stormed out of his apartment and to the door leading to Aurora’s. The handle wouldn’t budge. He decided to knock this time, the minutes slowly ticking by. His frustration growing, he pounded on the door and spoke her name. Again, no answer. He easily got through the lock and stepped inside. Everything looked spotless besides a blanket crumpled up on the couch. His eyes continued to scan everything, his ears listening for any sound. He headed for her room, again it was spotless. Even the bed was made. But she wasn’t there. She wasn’t in the bathroom either. He pulled out his phone, ignoring the new notifications and pulled up Aurora’s number.
[Where are you?]
Theo started pacing around her apartment, waiting for a reply he wasn’t sure he was going to get. He went over to her fridge but found it empty expect for a few condiments. The freezer was empty as well. He wondered if she had gone shopping since she had nothing to eat. He felt a vibrate in his pocket and whipped out his phone. His anger spiked when he saw Lacey’s name on his screen. He went back to his apartment, her eyes flashing to him as soon as he walked in.
“What?”
“Don’t you read your texts?”
“You’re right here, why do I have to?”
“Because Eli has been trying to get a hold of you.” She rolled her eyes.
“And?”
“The girl you have everyone watching is in Luca’s part of town.”
Theo felt his anger shoot through the roof, his hands turning into fists with white knuckles. Aurora would be recognized, there was no doubt in his mind about that. If his men were watching her, he was sure Luca’s were, too.
“Fuck!”
20
Aurora was feeling a little better as the three of them went from one shop to the next. Most of it window shopping. It had been a while since they all were able to go down town and check out all the neat shops the strip had to offer. Even the weather was nice, forcing Aurora to take off her hoodie and tie it around her waist. Shortly after noon, she felt her phone gone off. It caught her off guard, the only people who text her were already with her and her family would call if they needed her. She glanced at it, Theo’s name standing out on the screen. She swallowed hard and tucked it back into her jeans. She didn’t want to talk to him yet. He’d probably tell her how stupid it was for her to bring cookies over and think that they would magically make things better.
“Are you guys hungry?”
“Wow, Tristan asking first?” Harper giggled.
“Only because I know of a really good place around here.” He nudged Harper. “So, are you?”
“I could eat!”
“I guess I could.” Aurora placed a hand on her stomach, it had been a while since she’d eaten a good meal.
“Come on, it’s another block or two down.”
“What kind of food?” Harper chirped, her arm linking with Aurora’s to get her to walk faster.
“It’s a burger joint-”
“What? Tristan taking us to a place with greasy food?” Harper spoke sarcastically.
“Oh, shut it. They have a really good vegetarian burger there.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re going to make us eat it.” Aurora mumbled.
“You can eat whatever you two want.” Tristan sighed. “You both have been doing well with your diets and we’ve already done a lot of walking for today.”
“Yay!” Harper giggled, a snort finishing it off.
Three
blocks down and they were starting to wonder where this place was and if it was even still there. Harper complained that she was hungry while Tristan kept insisting it was one more block down. The shops started to give way to residential buildings, the side walk cracked and in some areas the grass was over grown.
“Tristan, seriously, we need to go back.” Harper’s eyes traveled over the worn buildings.
“I swear it’s on the corner of this street.”
“You said that two blocks ago.” Aurora pointed out, her arm still hooked with Harper’s. “What were you even doing this far out?”
His Favorite Toy Page 8