I scowl. “Oh, so you three are allowed to basically stalk me, to beat up muggers in alleys and follow me around and drive me places in the middle of the night—but I’m not allowed to know anything about you?”
The shifting light of passing streetlamps moves over his face as he grins. “Fair point. I like that you’re curious about us.” He glances at me. “Marcus isn’t the only one who owes you, you know. When you saved his life, you probably saved ours too.”
“It was an accident,” I say automatically.
The words feel more and more like a lie every time I utter them, and the look Theo shoots me lets me know he doesn’t believe it for a second. I don’t want him to push for a different answer though, so instead, I distract him with a question of my own.
“If you and Ryland both owe me like you said, how come he hates me so much and you don’t?”
Theo flicks his blinker on and makes a smooth right turn. “Ry doesn’t hate you.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
“He doesn’t.” He runs his free hand through his golden-blond hair. “He’s just… protective.”
Like Marcus fucking needs protecting from anyone.
I snort. “Yeah. Okay.”
“He’ll come around.”
I don’t answer that, because the honest truth is, I should have no reason to want Ryland to come around. It shouldn’t matter whether he likes me or not, and talking about him like this makes it seem as if he’s part of my life in a way that makes me uneasy.
As if he’s a permanent part of it.
As if our lives will always be entwined, no matter how hard I try to break the connection.
Or maybe even how hard he does.
“Why don’t you hate me then?” I ask, running my fingertips over the soft leather of the seat. “Why are you nice to me?”
Theo pulls to a stop, and I realize with a start that we’re back at my place. The drive went by faster than I realized, and I almost don’t want to get out of the cozy bubble of the car.
He leaves the engine idling and turns to face me more fully, brushing a hand through his tousled blond hair again. “Because I don’t think you deserve to be punished for doing the most selfless thing a person can do.”
“It was—”
I can’t even finish the sentence this time.
Theo watches the lie die on my lips, then nods slightly, as if he’s glad I didn’t finish. His gaze travels over my features, soaking me in. There’s something warm and open in his expression, and it makes me feel like he’s seeing all of me—or at least much more than I usually allow strangers to glimpse.
Just like Marcus, he’s slipping past all my defenses. But where Marcus blows holes in them and barges through, Theo just taps on them lightly until, unbidden, they open for him.
I don’t think I’ve ever met a person who I innately wanted to trust more.
And that scares the fuck out of me.
“Well, uh, thanks for the ride.” Dragging my gaze away from him, I unclip my seatbelt.
“Anytime.” One side of his mouth tilts up. “Bus fare is on me tonight. Oh, and hey—if you ever need a bus to take you anywhere else, just let me know. We run special routes for beautiful women with rose tattoos.”
He rattles off his number, and I nod quickly, a little surprised that he’s offering to drive me around outside of this late-night favor to his friend. I know all three of these men have been following me, but I thought Marcus was the driving force behind it all, the one whose obsession brought them crashing into my life.
But the way Theo’s talking to me, the way he’s looking at me, it doesn’t seem like he’s doing this for Marcus at all.
Does he know what happened between me and Marcus tonight? How much do I still smell like sex? Look like sex?
My hair has to be a mess, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve got bite marks and hickeys all over my chest and neck. I probably look like I just got out of a gang-bang.