Page 90 of The Baby Dragon Bakery
Dread curdled her stomach as the possibility entered her mind: Was he unhappy withher?
Chapter 33
Theo knew it was a bad idea to see his family.
It went as badly as he had expected, but it was worse because Lavinia was there to witness it. Surely now she saw how much he didn’t deserve her.
It was over a week ago, but Theo couldn’t get his father’s voice out of his head. During the dinner, when Lavinia had gone to the bathroom, Rishi had turned to Theo, curious.
“Lavinia is such a lovely girl, so accomplished and clever, what is she doing—” Rishi started, but broke off as Amaya touched his hand. Theo already knew what Rishi would have said.
What is she doing withyou?
He had asked himself that question dozens of times during the past week, the words playing on a loop in his head. Theo didn’t deserve her, and Lavinia would realize that soon. More and more, he felt like he had tricked her into being with him, and the thought made him sick.
He needed to be a worthy partner. Lavinia wanted a perfect relationship, like the one her parents had. She looked up to them, held them as her standard, and he did, too, but could hebe that perfect? He knew that Lavinia was, already, she always had been, buthim?
He heard his father’s voice:What is she doing withyou?
Theo felt himself growing distant, not like himself, but he didn’t know how to stop. He knew he should have been over it by then, and usually his parents’ comments didn’t bother him for so long, but this was different. This had to do with Lavinia.
The insecurity was eating at him, and he couldn’t bring it up to her, as if once he brought it up to her, she, too, would ask the same question:WhatamI doing with you?
So he stayed silent.
He was with Lavinia now at his place. It was Sunday, and he had been quiet all day. He knew he should have been more attentive, but he was still in pain from meeting his parents, and he couldn’t manage it.
Lavinia suggested doing a few different things, but he didn’t want to, and so they ended up marathon-watching a television show all day. She made her usual commentary, but Theo couldn’t find the energy to respond.
He let her choose what to watch, saying he didn’t have a preference. He hoped letting her choose would make her happy, but she seemed irritated, silently stewing. He knew he should ask her what was bothering her, but he was afraid she would say:you.
For dinner, they ordered pizza, but he had no appetite.
“Don’t you want to eat?” Lavinia asked, gesturing to his untouched plate. He set it on the table.
“Maybe later,” he said.
He was so in his head that he didn’t realize until after the movie was done that Lavinia hadn’t eaten, either. Guilt gnawedat him. He wanted to tell her that she should eat. He tried to come up with something to make it up to her for being so lame all day, but she got up before he got the chance.
Taking a deep breath, she stood, and he saw she was frowning. He was just realizing now that she had been quiet for the past hour. She nibbled on her bottom lip, and he could almost hear her thinking. Then, she swallowed and turned to him.
“You’re unhappy,” she said.
She could always read him so well. He stood, sighing, and she looked up at him with big brown eyes. “Yes,” he replied, and her face flashed with pain. “I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize.” She lifted her chin, forcing a smile. “It isn’t your fault. I understand.”
He let out a breath, relieved. He knew she’d understand; she knew about his difficult relationship with his parents, after all.
“Thank you,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “I didn’t know how to bring it up—”
“You don’t want to be with me, and that’s okay,” she said. “We should go back to being friends.”
Theo’s heart stopped, his brain short-circuiting at her words. He thought for sure he had heard her wrong, but then he saw the tears in her eyes.
“What?” he asked, confused. It was taking him some time to digest what she had said, to understand what was happening. Had he fallen asleep? Was this a nightmare? He pinched his arm, but no, he was awake. He was still processing her words as she fled toward the door.
“It’s okay, really,” she said, voice breaking. She put on her shoes, her back to him. “I have to go.”
