Lost King by Piper Lennox

Author:Piper Lennox [Lennox, Piper]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Piper Lennox
Published: 2021-02-17T16:00:00+00:00

21

Theo almost topples.

Thank God, he doesn’t actually fall or faint, but I can tell it’s dangerously close. The color in his face almost washes away altogether, the second he sees the blood on his pointer finger.

“Sit down,” I order, halfway catching him by his elbows. It’s a good thing he’s still got some muscle power left. If he actually did fall, we’d both land ourselves some nasty concussions.

Instead, though, I sink to the floor with him and grab a dishtowel from the stove, scooting around to cover his hand.

“Hey.” I snap my fingers in front of his face. “Look at me. You’re okay.”

“No, I know,” he manages, swallowing like he might get sick. I dive for an empty bowl on the counter.

No, not empty: it’s got some chopped onion in the bottom. The powerful smell would make me feel much worse, but it seems to snap Theo out of his trance. He gets himself against a cabinet and tips his head back, drawing deep breaths as he stares at the recessed lights.

“Blood still gets to you, huh?” I smile and uncover his hand. I take care to ensure only I can see the damage. “Kind of assumed you’d outgrown that, by now.”

Theo gives me a blurry stare.

“I just meant— Not like it’s a childish thing, being scared of blood. Just something you have to learn to deal with as an adult, out of necessity.”

My babbling finally ends, because his stare doesn’t ease up. Damn, where’s the Theo who can take a joke?

“How’d you know blood freaks me out?” he asks.

Oh, fuck. I didn’t offend him.

I outed myself.

Maybe I should have let the guy faint. At least then I wouldn’t have to sit here (naked as hell, let’s not forget), unfolding my own brain trying to find a good lie.

“You told me.”

Wow. Brilliant. Mail my Pulitzer Prize for Fiction via Express Mail, please.

Theo, the color coming back into his lips, wets them and shakes his head slowly. “I don’t tell anyone that. Ever. Not if they don’t witness it for themselves.”

“Well....” I wedge my hands between my knees and shrug. “You told me.”

This is true. He just has no idea the girl he told, who witnessed it for herself in this very same house seven years ago, was me.

But it still feels like a big, dirty lie. Theo didn’t tell me. He told Aria.

His eyes move incrementally over my mouth. I pretend to scratch an itch under my nose to hide it. It feels like he can see the lie dripping across my lips.

“You were drunk,” I add with another shrug. Another lie, wrapped in the packaging of truth via technicalities.

“Huh.” Theo stares at me a little longer before blinking hard and reorienting himself.

I make him stay seated while I grab the First Aid kit from upstairs. I call down to him for instructions on where to find it, which feels like yet another lie. It’s already in my hands.

While I dab peroxide on the cut, he shuts his eyes again and breathes heavily.

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