The quick drink turned into two and then dinner, and even though he was enjoying the company of his friends, his attention kept drifting over to Chloe. When she placed her hand on Darius’s arm, Theo’s hand squeezed around his glass. When their heads leaned so close they were almost touching, Theo’s jaw clenched.
Fingers clicked in front of his face. Theo’s head jerked back. Rafael, Ariana, and Will all stared at him with confused smiles on their faces. “Whoever is sitting at the other end of the bar better watch out, because it looks like you’re going to put your fist in their face,” Will commented dryly.
“Who is it? Anyone we know?” Rafael asked, glancing over his shoulder.
“It’s no one.” Theo took a long pull of his beer.
Chloe laughed and tossed her head back, exposing her creamy neck. Was that fucker going to kiss it, trail his tongue along the beating pulse—
“There’s that murderous look again.” Will twisted in his seat. “Whoareyou staring at?”
Some lucky bastard and the woman he wanted with every fiber of his being but wasn’t allowed to have. Hopefully, Darius was the one and Theo wouldn’t have to help her find any more dates. Then, she’d be out of his life andmindand everything would get back to normal.
Theo was trying to listen to a story Will was telling him when Chloe and Darius rose from their seats, getting ready to leave.Shit!He should have been gone by now. Dammit, there was no way of getting up to leave without her spotting him. Slumping in his seat, he tried making himself appear smaller, invisible. When she walked past his table, she did a double take and stopped in her tracks. She absently waved goodbye to Darius as he continued to walk out of the bar. Theo let out a relieved breath she wasn’t following him.
“Theo? What are you still doing here?” Then her eyebrows slammed together, and she tossed her head back and gave a mirthless laugh. “Unbelievable. You stayed and watched me on my date! Are you crazy? This is so ridiculous. I am so going to kill my brother.”
“Chloe, it’s not what you think.” He glanced uncomfortably at his smiling friends.
“I am so sick of you and Ethan thinking I’m some pathetic girl who can’t live her own life. I can’t even look at you right now.” She stormed away.
Saying a quick goodbye to his friends, he hurried after her. Before she got to the door, he grabbed her wrist and spun her around.
“Let go of me.” She glared at her arm.
“Will you stay and listen to me if I do?”
She clenched her jaw and nodded. Before letting her go, he led her to a quiet corner of the bar then dropped his hand.
“I wasn’t spying,” he said.
She tossed her head back. “Oh please.”
“I’m serious. I was on my way out when I saw an old friend and his family. They asked me to stay for a drink. I haven’t seen them in two years, and I wanted to catch up,” Theo explained.
“How convenient.” She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Believe what you want. Setting you up on dates is more trouble than it’s worth.”
She shot him a look that could freeze the Hudson. “Speaking of the date you set me up with, why didn’t you tell me Darius just broke up with his girlfriend of six years? Elizabeth was all he could talk about.”
Theo shuffled his feet. He knew Darius was a rebound, and yet he’d asked him over Owen. “I was hoping he’d be over her by now.”
“Over her. Over her!” Her voice rose. A couple sitting at a nearby table stared at them. “Well, he’s not. I’ve spent the last hour listening to how he met Elizabeth in college, the many countries they traveled to together, the excitement of buying their first apartment together, and how blissful their lives were. That was until the day he proposed. She said no and broke up with him.”
“That’s rough,” Theo said. He had no idea Darius had been in such a serious relationship.
“According to Darius, it was heartbreaking and his life has never been the same since. He can’t look at another woman without thinking about Elizabeth and how in love they were.”
“Not if she turned down his proposal, they weren’t,” Theo mumbled under his breath.
“He was almost in tears, the poor guy.” That probably explained the touches of the arm, the closeness when they’d talked. She’d been comforting him, not planning on having sex with him.
“He told me he wasn’t sure about going on the date, but you convinced him it was a good idea. That it would help him get over the breakup.” She jabbed her finger at his chest. “Why would you set me up with him? You knew he was a rebound, and you let me go out with him anyway.”
Theo averted his gaze. “He didn’t need too much convincing. He could have said no if he was so heartbroken.”
Chloe huffed and pushed past him. “Unbelievable. I thought I could rely on you.”