Page 102 of Fake Out Hearts

He climbs out of bed, and Milo bounds after him as I slump back against the pillows and sigh. I appreciate him worrying about me and taking care of me like this, but I really do feel mostly back to normal.

Theo comes back upstairs about fifteen minutes later carrying a plate and a steaming coffee mug, so I sit up and take the plate from him so he can sit the mug on the bedside table.

“It’s nothing special, but it’ll get you started right,” he says as I look over the scrambled eggs and toast he made for me. I’m not particularly hungry, but I eat as much of it as I can between sips of the coffee. Theo sits on the end of the bed, watching me.

“Acceptable?” he asks, looking worried.

I laugh and nod. “Yeah, it’s pretty good.”

Relief spreads across his face. “Good. Maybe I’m not such a train wreck at this whole cooking thing after all.”

“I love that you’re trying to get better at it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s so sweet.” I smile softly at him, then go back to eating.

When I’m finished, he clears everything for me, making me feel like the princess he says I am. But I feel guilty for letting him do all of this, especially when I’m not feeling all that ill. He seems to love it though, and he won’t take any of my no’s for an answer anyway, so I decide to just enjoy it.

Over the next several days, he keeps his attentiveness dialed up to a ten. More food appears in the house than either of us know what to do with, along with recipe books and printed, stained copies of recipes Theo finds online. I try everything he cooks, even the stuff that doesn’t look or smell particularly appetizing, because I appreciate what he’s doing for me and don’t want to discourage him.

Besides, this is a total about-face for him. When I first moved in, he told me he rarely, if ever, cooked. But now he’s doing it all the time—and doing it for me. It’s a simple gesture, but I find it so touching that he’s going out of his way to learn and get better on my behalf.

But I won’t lie, I’m also getting incredibly sexually frustrated. It’s been almost a week since I came home from the hospital and Theo still hasn’t touched me beyond hugging and kissing. I’ve tried, but he’s rebuffed me at every attempt. I don’t know what I need to do to convince him that I’m healthy enough for sex again, but I really need him to trust me.

And I need him.

By the end of the week, we still haven’t had sex once, and I’m starting to believe the only way I can prove to Theo that I’m back to normal is by getting out of the house and back on my feet. So when he tells me he has a home game tonight and repeatedly says I don’t have to go if I’m not feeling up to it, I jump on the chance.

“No, I’ll go,” I say brightly, sitting on the end of his bed while he gets ready. He pauses and turns to face me.

“You’re sure? I don’t want you overdoing it.”

“I’ve had a week’s worth of rest. I think I can handle sitting in the stands at a hockey game. Besides, I’m sure Margo and Callie will be there, and it’ll be good for me to spend some time with them.”

That seems to seal the deal because Theo smiles and nods. “Yeah, you know what? You’re right. And I’m sure they’d love to see you too. They’ve been worried about you.”

“Yeah, we’ve been texting a lot since the reality show fiasco. We have a group chat going,” I say and grab my phone off the nightstand to show him. “They’ve been really sweet. They don’t believe any of the shit Shawn said either.”

“No one should,” Theo says with a scowl as he yanks his pants up to his waist and fastens them. “But good for you. I’m glad to hear you’re making friends out here. I can give you a ride to the arena if you don’t mind getting there early. I’ve gotta leave soon.”

“I don’t mind,” I say and spring off the bed to hurry downstairs and change. Theo already moved most of my necessary stuff into his room, but I have too many clothes to fit in here with his, so I left those downstairs for now. I change into something warm but fashionable to keep myself from freezing in the arena and meet Theo in the kitchen a few minutes later.

“Ready to go?” he asks as he fills Milo’s food dish by the door.

“Yup.”

Theo grabs his keys from the ring on the wall and leads the way out of the condo. He offers me his hand and we walk to the car together. As usual, he opens the passenger side door for me and waits for me to get settled before he closes the door and steps around to the driver’s side.

“I’m glad you’re coming,” he says as he starts the car and links his hand with mine.

“Yeah?”

“Definitely. I always feel and play better when you’re there. And it’s been hard to stay focused, even at practice, while you’ve been recovering. You’re all I think about.”

That’s probably one of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me, so I squeeze his hand. “Thank you. I’m glad I’mcoming too. I missed this so much more than I ever thought I would.”

“With you there, we’re pretty much guaranteed to win tonight.”

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