Page 15 of Twisted Shot
Mila sighs, pressing a hand to her throbbing head. “Jesse, your sister is right. You need a better living situation. Something to keep you grounded. You can’t live in a party house.”
“What about Pavel?” Jake asks. “He’s moderately responsible.”
“He just moved into a one bedroom apartment,” Jesse mutters. “Says he hates people.”
“Okay, what about that new goalie, Tall?” Natalie asks. “He looked older.”
“I’m not some charity case!” Jesse whines. “I don’t need to live with someone. I’ll get my own place like last season.”
“You mean, like last year when you got arrested before the season even started and got benched for skipping team obligations? That last season?” Natalie challenges.
Out of the corner of her eye, Mila sees Theo open his mouth, hesitate, then close it. He scrubs a hand overthe back of his neck and opens it again. “He can…stay with me.”
Everyone goes still.
Even Jesse looks up in disbelief. “Wait, seriously?”
Theo shrugs one shoulder, possibly regretting it already. “I have room. I’m not a morning person, and I don’t like whales.”
“Plus you’re not nailing my sister,” Jesse quips, clearly into the idea.
“Rude,” Natalie breathes.
Mila raises her eyebrows, surprised. Theo is quiet, likes his space—and now he’s volunteering to host chaos incarnate?
Jake tilts his head, brows knitting together as he studies him. “You sure, man? Jesse is…a lot.”
“Right here, asshole,” Jesse grumbles.
“Don’t I know it,” Jake retorts.
Theo clears his throat. “It’s fine. I’ve got a spare room.”
“Dude.” Jesse stands and claps a hand on Theo’s shoulder. “You’re a legend.”
Theo winces under the contact but doesn’t shrug him off.
Natalie exhales like someone deflating a beach ball. “Okay. But I want check-ins. Pictures. Video proof of groceries. If you so much as think about going near a bar, I will appear like a summoned demon.”
Mila watches the whole exchange with a strange mix of amusement and admiration. Theo, awkward and reserved, just signed himself up for a human hurricane.
She wonders whether he regrets it already.
Then she wonders why it bothers her that he might.
CHAPTER 5
THEO
By the time Jesse’s beat-up Jeep rattles into the driveway, Theo’s already cleaned the entire downstairs with a level of precision reserved for playoff prep. He mowed the lawn, stacked the firewood he never uses, and spent twenty minutes rearranging the fridge so it looks like someone lives there. Someone normal.
He even vacuumed the guest room, though no one’s used it since his parents came for that awkward Thanksgiving two years ago.
Everything looks…lived-in. Normal.
That’s the goal.
Jesse parks crooked, tires nudging the edge of the grass. A duffel bag flies out, followed by a mop of messy hair and a grin that could get him out of a parking ticket.
