Chapter 142: The Next Move

Theo's POV

I sat on the floor with my back against the wall. I just stared at the broken glass. Katty did not run over to help me. She just looked around the messy room, then looked at my face. She did not look worried at all. She just wanted to know what happened.

"What did Kieran do?" she asked. Her voice was sharp as she walked into the room. "Why did he look ready to kill someone when he walked out of here? Theo, look at your face."

"I told him," I said flatly. I looked down at my bloody knuckles. I did not want to look at her face. "Asher rejected me. Kieran put his nose where it did not belong."

That lie was enough. It kept Aveline's secret safe. More importantly, it kept anyone from looking into Oliver's case.

Katty narrowed her eyes. She looked from the broken lamp to the chair on the floor. "That is it? That is the whole story?"

"Yeah," I muttered. "That is it."

"Theo, I have known you for years," she said. She crossed her arms and stepped closer. "Try again. You do not break your whole room just because a guy said no."

"I do not want to talk about it, Katty," I snapped. My voice got loud. "Just drop it."

She did not care that I was angry. She just shrugged. Her mind went right back to what she actually cared about: herself.

"If Kieran trusts Asher so much, why don't I just get Kieran to sleep with me?" she said. A dark look came over her face as she started to plan. "That would ruin everything between them. If I take him, Asher won't look at him the same way again."

I let out a dry, ugly laugh. "It won't work, Katty."

"He kissed me once," she said with a wicked smirk. "He might as well sleep with me now."

She walked over and sat down on the messy floor right next to me. The smell of her expensive perfume filled the air. I ignored her smirk. My mind was completely somewhere else. I needed to know what happened to Asher before this girl took his identity.

"Katty," I said, trying to sound casual. "Do you remember where Asher lives?"

She frowned at me. "Why?"

"Just wondering. Did he ever tell you anything about his treatments? Back before you left for the States?"

"He complained about being tired a lot. You know how he always complains about it, his heart...," she said. She looked bored already. "Why are you asking all this now?"

"We got into a fight about his health before the punch," I lied. "I just want to know. Which hospital did he go to?"

I knew better than to say the school nurse. Asher never went there.

Katty stopped smirking. She turned her head and stared at me like I was crazy.

"Why the hell are you asking me that?" she snapped. "You were closer to him than I ever was. You are his best friend, Theo. Why are you asking me about his hospital? Go ask Daphne."

I froze. A cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck. "Go ask Daphne". No. The second Daphne found out I was asking questions, Aveline would know.

Katty stared at me for another second, then sighed and stood up. She wiped off her cloth. Her face looked bored again. "Whatever. I am going back downstairs. This room gives me a headache."

She walked out and left me alone in the mess.

I did not stay up there long. The walls felt like they were closing in on me. I needed to get out of my head. I needed a drink.

When I went downstairs, the party was already ending. The loud music was still playing, but the living room was mostly empty. Red cups were all over the floor. I looked around the crowd, looking for that identical face.

They were gone. Kieran and Aveline had already left together.

I stood there for a second in the middle of the room. On the kitchen counter, an empty cup sat right where Asher stood during the party. It was just a normal cup. But looking at it made a bitter weight sink into my chest.

Asher should have been standing right there. Instead, those two were together somewhere.

I walked straight to the counter, grabbed a bottle of liquor, and drank right from it. The burn in my throat did not stop the noise in my head. I took another drink. And another.

"Rough night?"

I turned my head. A guy from the lacrosse team was leaning against the wall, watching me with a quiet smile. I had seen him around campus, but I did not know his name.

Right now, it did not matter. He took a step closer. His eyes locked onto mine. He slid his hand along the counter until his fingers touched my arm. He was flirting, and he was not trying to hide it.

Normally, I would have pulled away. But my mind was completely broken. I felt left out, angry, and so empty that it hurt to breathe. I did not want to think.

I set the bottle down, grabbed his hand, and pulled him towards the hallway and toward the bathroom.

The second the door closed, I turned the lock. He did not waste any time. He pushed me back gently against the door and put his hands on my face.

The moment his skin touched mine, my cheek burned. The memory of Aveline’s slap flashed through my mind, but I forced it down. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pulled him in hard. I just wanted to forget.

Our lips hit in a fast, rough way. There was no real warmth, just a desperate need to stop thinking. He moved closer, pressing his weight against me.

His hands moved down my neck to rip at the buttons of my shirt. I let him. I needed the heat. I needed to feel something else besides the emptiness in my chest.

He pulled my shirt off my shoulders. His mouth moved down my jaw to my throat, biting hard enough to leave a mark. I let out a rough breath, my hands gripping his waist, pulling his body tight against mine. We stumbled away from the door and hit the edge of the sink.

He unbuckled my belt. His fingers were fast as he pushed my jeans down past my hips. I reached for his clothes, pulling at his shirt until it was over his head, throwing it into the corner. Every movement was fast, messy, and heavy.

He did not use any gentleness, and I did not want it. He reached down, pushing my legs apart with his knee. His hand gripped my hip hard enough to leave bruises tomorrow. When he pushed himself inside me, a sharp, raw pain shot through my lower back. I bit my lip hard.

"Theo," he breathed against my bare shoulder, his chest moving fast as he started to move. He was pushing deep, his pace rough and steady.

I closed my eyes tight. I tried to let the physical pain drown out everything else.

But it did not fix anything. The harder he pushed, the further away I felt. I kept my eyes shut, but all I felt was the memory of Aveline's hands fighting me on the rug. When he whispered against my skin, in my head, the only sound playing.

"If you keep looking for Asher... you're going to destroy every life that's still left."

I froze. A cold realization hit me like ice water.

It was not him. It would never be him. I pulled away slowly and reached for some paper towels on the counter.

"That was... wild," he muttered, wiping himself off with a lazy smile.

I did not say anything. I stood up, my legs feeling heavy and weak. My body ached, but the pain inside my chest was untouched. I pulled my boxers and jeans up, buckling my belt with shaking fingers.

"Hey, you good?" he asked. His smile went away as he saw my face.

"I can't stay," I whispered. My voice was rough and flat. I grabbed my shirt off the floor, not even bothering to button it all the way. I turned the lock on the door. "I am sorry. I have to go."

I did not look back as I walked out. I went back upstairs. The sex had not fixed anything. It had not blurred the pain or made the anger go away. It had only shown me that I could not run away from what was happening.

Nothing made sense anymore. The only thing I knew for sure was that Asher had disappeared, and I was not walking away until I found out what happened to him.