Page 63 of Character Flaws
I bite my lip trying not to smile, looking around to see if anyone heard his naughty remark.
I place my finger at my lip. “Shh, be quiet. You don’t want people to hear you.”
He waves a hand in the air. “I just faced a near-death experience. Life altering. I don’t care.”
Rolling my eyes, I help him up into a sitting position so he sits next to me, both our backs up against the wall. And then the exterior door opens, the outside light blasting in on us as Carla steps through and hands Theo a bag of frozen peas.
She shrugs. “It was all we could find. Went over to the bodega down the block. They didn’t have any other ice-related products. Hope that’s okay.”
I speak up on his behalf. “Thanks so much, Carla. It’ll work just fine.”
Sliding my arms out of my thin cardigan, I reach for the frozen bag and wrap it up in the material, handing it down to Theo, our hands touching, as I guide it to his face.
He sighs and smiles a painful smile.
“It smells like you,” he whispers, pulling the arm of the material to his nose and sniffing it like you see on fabric softener commercials.
“Pervert.”
He chokes out a laugh and leans his head back against the wall.
“I’d only be a pervert if it were your panties.”
Carla is still standing there and clears her throat with a squeak before she darts off down the hallway.
Well, that’s one way to keep our romance under wraps. I snap my head toward him and only see the bag covering his left side of his face.
“Ugh. I’m feeling woozy.”
“Oh no, that’s not good. Here, lay back down.” I stretch my legs out once more and when his head lands in my lap, I see the devilish grin on the side that’s visible.
“You shit. You’re not really dizzy, are you?”
He turns his head so his nose is practically buried in my crotch and I feel his body trembling with laughter.
“No, not really. I just wanted an excuse to put my face in your pussy again.”
“Oh my God,” I screech.
Bad move, though. Now everyone is looking our way and I have to pinch him in the side so he pulls his face out of my lady bits.
Marlon comes sauntering up toward us, crouching down so he’s eye level with me. His eyes scan my face with the briefest of questions and then his attention goes to Theo.
“Hey teach, you good, bro? That was quite a blow. Not something I expected to see at a community theater workshop. Maybe at my brother’s boxing gym where he trains, but not here. But you were badass, bro.”
Theo nods and huffs out a laugh. “Yeah, man. If you consider badass getting smashed in the face. But I’ll be okay. It’s just a little swelling. We’ll still go ahead and do our final rehearsals tonight.”
“Theo,” I admonish.
He waves me off. “This is lesson number two-hundred and twenty in how to be a real stage actor. The show must go on. I didn’t lose life or limb, so we’ll work through the scenes as planned. I’ll just ice it a lot tonight.”
Marlon stands up again. “Glad to know you’ll be okay. But I’m happy to step in if you need me to.”
He’s referring to Theo’s part in the play as Chester. My look of surprise darts to Marlon and then down to Theo.
I can feel Theo stiffen in my lap.
“Nah. Thanks, though. I’ll be good as new tomorrow.”
