Page 83 of Savage Grace

“Yeah, actually,” Theo huffed a laugh. “I remember that dude well.”

“In a good way or a bad way?”

“Meh, I didn't know too much about him,” he shrugged. “But he was a bit of an arrogant dick.”

I rolled my eyes. “That was 90% of the boys at our school.”

That was kind of the whole problem with going to a school full of rich kids. Everyone was a little bit arrogant, a little bit up their own ass.

The richer they were, the worse it got.

So I could only imagine just how rich William Peck must’ve been.

“Ouch,” Theo put a hand over his heart as if I’d wounded him.

“Come on,” I pushed. “You’ve gotta admit that you were probably a little insufferable. I know I was.”

He snorted a laugh. “Oh, I remembered you well. The way you used to strut around that fucking school like you owned it.”

I snapped my fingers in front of my face. “Damn right I did, Lawe.”

Theo rolled his eyes.

“In my defence, I was probably the opposite of arrogant. I was a lanky little fucker who grew a moustache far too early and was way too into collecting Yu-gi-oh cards.”

“Hot,” I nodded.

Theo shot me an incredulous look and I pressed my lips together to try and keep my laughter at bay. But the mental image of my bodyguard duelling with magic cards was far too good.

“It’s fine,” he sighed. “You can laugh.”

So I did.

“I can’t wait to drag out the old yearbooks now,” I huffed once I had collected myself.

“No,” he snapped.

My head tilted to the side and I frowned up at him. But he closed his eyes for a second, letting out a slow exhale.

“Please don’t,” he said quietly. “I really don’t like thinking about that time in my life.”

The tension was radiating off of him and filling the small space inside the car. He hadn’t spoken too much about his younger years, though he had mentioned all the problems he used to have with his family.

I wondered if maybe this was the reason he was here, doing this job for my brother. Maybe it was some strange way to overcompensate for what he used to be. Or maybe it was a way for him to distance himself from what his family probably demanded of him.

Either way, I could sympathise with the way that he withdrew at the memories.

“Okay,” I said quietly. “I won’t.”

Theo swallowed roughly and nodded, but didn’t look at me, instead keeping his eyes trained on the road.

“Thank you,” he whispered after a while.

We kept driving in silence, but Theo was still tense at the steering wheel of his car. I chewed on the inside of my lip, wondering how to make it better. I felt a little responsible for his bad mood now, and didn’t really want to leave the fella all broody and by himself.

“Do you want me to talk to Toni for you?” I offered as Theo pulled into the underground parking garage of my building.

Maybe I could lighten the load a little, back him up like he had done for me.

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