“Yes, Theodore. That’s my name. Give me my skateboard back.”
He chuckled under his breath. “I’m beginning to think it’s cute when you call me that. Like a pet name.”
“It’s important to have dreams.” I hitched my backpack higher on my shoulders. “You know what? Keep my skateboard. I don’t need it.”
I walked away, but Theo easily kept up, like he was out for a Sunday stroll. Long-legged asshole.
“I’m gaining a collection of your boards, Helen.”
“It’s interesting you want to keep mementos of our time together, Theodore.”
He grabbed my arm and dragged me to the side of a building, boxing me in against the warm brick wall and dropping my board to brace his hands on either side of my head.
“Stop for two seconds,” he gritted out.
“Why? I don’t even know you.”
“You fucked my car up like you know me.”
“That was a mistake, but again, the company you keep.”
His jaw tightened, and the muscles around his mouth pinched. “You don’t know shit about me. You’ve made yourself judge and jury.”
“I don’t want to know anything about you.”
He lowered his face a fraction. “Oh yeah? Is that why I can see the pulse in your neck fluttering?”
Raising my chin, I locked on his gaze. “Maybe I’m scared of you. Maybe it doesn’t feel good to be cornered by a man who’s a lot bigger than me, and basically a stranger.”
He stilled, then he moved, grazing his nose along mine. “I don’t believe you even for a second.”
“You don’t know me, Theo. You have no idea what makes me afraid.” I braced my hands on his chest and shoved. “Back the hell off.”
He took a step away, not because I pushed him, but because he chose to. I was strong, but not strong enough to move him on my own.
“Thank you,” I mumbled.
“You’re not escaping. You can, you know. I’m not holding you prisoner.”
I let my head fall back on the wall, meeting his eyes. God, they even sparkled when he was angry. Whatwasthat?
“You obviously want to speak to me, so get on with it, then we can be done with this.”
He backed up another step and turned his head away from me. The corner of his jaw ticced like he was grinding his teeth hard.
“I have your skateboard,” he spit out.
“I know.”
He faced me again. “I could fuck you over, Helen. You know that? You chose to fuck me over. I could return the favor.”
I huffed. “Oh, please. Like Daddy’ll even notice a bit of broken glass. I don’t—”
His hand slammed on the brick beside my head. “You say I don’t know what makes you afraid—you don’t know the first thing about me either. You have no idea what my father can do.”
“Is that a threat, Theodore?”
He hit the brick again, so hard, I wondered if he drew blood.