I toyed with my water glass, avoiding his direct gaze. “I can only imagine.”
He laughed heartily, his slightly shaggy hair falling across his forehead, his dark eyes alight with mirth. Theo was a seriously good-looking guy, but he still had a boyishness about him that reminded me of my brother, officially making it impossible for me to feel anything even remotely approaching attraction. That didn’t mean the female population didn’t chase after him like they were all in heat, though. Even right then, he was getting looks from the women at other tables near our own. “So, it’s true, then. You’re fucking around with the sheriff back in Cali.”
“I’m not fucking him,” I snapped. “I didn’t let it get that far, and I won’t. Family means everything to me… Scratch that. Fuck the rest of my family. My mom means everything to me. I would sell my soul to make sure that she’s safe, that nothing touches her.”
He gave me a look that had the anger in me drying up. Damn it, he knew me so well; I couldn’t hide anything from him. Theo and I had bonded from the first time we met. We were both adopted by the women we loved more than life. Our moms meant everything to us, and we would do anything for them.
“Okay, okay. Take it easy. I know you don’t mean that. You don’t have to prove your family loyalty to me, sweetheart. You’re just pissed at your dad for taking all his frustration out on you. He loves you, Lexa. You two have never been at odds before, and the only reason he’s so off the walls right now is because your mom is sick. Once things have calmed down, he’ll lighten up.”
Guilt hit me, but I pushed it down. I’d told Theo all about Mom’s cancer, knowing he would never tell a soul. When his own mom needed a kidney transplant years ago, he’d confided in me, and that was when our bond was really solidified. I’d never told anyone anything he’d confessed to me back then, and I never would. Just as I knew anything I told him, he would take to the grave.
That wasn’t why I felt guilty, though. I’d told him, but I hadn’t mentioned a word of Mom’s illness to Ben, when I’d ached to unload it all on his shoulders. I felt like I was betraying him in some way, telling all my worries to anyone but him, which was beyond crazy.
“I’m pissed, but not so much at him as I am at myself,” I admitted. “I knew I was being reckless when this whole thing started with Ben. People from my world don’t date people from his.”
“You make it sound like you are some poor white trash from the wrong side of the tracks. Your parents are loaded, girl.”
That had me rolling my eyes. “No, they’re comfortable, but they aren’t millionaires or anything. Not like your family, Theo. We all still have to work for our paychecks.”
“As does the sheriff, I’m assuming,” Theo pointed out. “Stop putting yourself down.”
“I wasn’t,” I lied.
“Bullshit.”
“Ugh, you’re so annoying. Why are we friends again?” But a ghost of a smile teased at my lips, and he winked at me as he picked up a fork and knife, cutting into the steak the waiter had just placed in front of him.
Once the waiter was gone and I sat there glaring at the salmon on my own plate, Theo cleared his throat. “I should warn you. Everyone is determined to set the two of us up.”
“I figured as much. Aunt Flick and Mom were both hinting at it last night, encouraging me to stay a few extra days.” I’d packed enough clothes to stay for at least a week, hoping that was enough time to clear my head before I went home to help Mom once she started her cancer treatments.
“And you’re okay with that?” He sounded skeptical enough for me to lift my gaze from my food to fin
d him frowning.
“You and I both know we are only ever going to be friends. Let them have their fantasies about us becoming a couple and then getting married and having all those grandbabies my dad says he never wants but secretly craves.”
His lips twitched with humor once again. “I’d marry you in a heartbeat if my emotions weren’t already involved elsewhere.”
I snorted out a laugh. “I don’t think it would work out, Theo. I’m just not your type. This friendship would go down the drain if we had to spend more than a few days together every few years. We’re better as long-distance besties who text so we can bitch about our lives to each other.”
“I agree.” Leaning forward, he got a sly look in his dark eyes that had my own narrowing on him. “But the parents don’t need to know that, do they?”
Picking up my knife, I pointed it at him. “Stop it right there, Volkov. Don’t think one more thing, or you’ll find yourself without a tongue. I won’t play those kinds of mind games with my mom.”
Roaring with laughter, he grabbed the knife from my hand before I could even blink and turned it so it was now pointing in my direction. “Okay, okay. We won’t pretend to date to appease my own mother. I just thought maybe if your sheriff thought you were otherwise engaged, he would back off.”
I opened my mouth to tell him no again, but I quickly closed it. I didn’t like lying to anyone, especially my mom, but it wasn’t the worst idea to have as a backup plan if I got home and Ben didn’t keep his distance.
“I’ll think about it,” I told him after a moment.
“It’s an open invitation,” he vowed. “Anytime you need me to step in and help out, I’ll be the dashing fiancé who rides to the rescue.”
“Noted,” I muttered and finally took a bite of my dinner. As I chewed, I stewed it over before releasing a heavy sigh. “Theo?”
“Yeah, sweets?”
“Thanks.”