"I panicked," I explained to Theo, gripping my left arm with my right hand, hoping he wouldn't get mad at me. "I remembered what you said about her worrying about you, and just went with what she said. I'm sorry. I know I should have talked to you first, but I didn't know what to do at that moment."
Theo pushed off the car, folding his arms over his chest, and sighing again. "You don't need to apologize. I appreciate you doing what you thought was best for her. It just makes things a little more complicated. I'd planned on the date being a one-time thing. Something to show my mom I was making progress."
I glanced off toward the theater, unable to keep eye contact with Theo, my ears burning. Right. I was a one-time thing to him.
"If you don't mind, let's continue to go along with that for now. We can figure out what to do later."
"I don't mind," I told him. "I kind of put us in this situation, anyway."
"No, I put us in this situation," he corrected, his lips forming a tight line. "I should have expected this wouldn't go as planned."
"I expected this," Rowan pitched in unhelpfully.
Theo threw her a sarcastic look before looking down at his pants. He pulled out his phone, lit up with an incoming call. "Mom?" he answered. "What, again? No, don't worry about that. We can meet up another time. Just go home. Don't be upset. We can celebrate at any time. You can even choose the place." He paused, eyes darting to me. "Yes, I'll bring her, too. We'll figure it out. Text me when you and Dad get home. I love you, too."
"Your mom okay?" Rowan asked from the other side of the car, leaning over the hood.
"She's not feeling great, so we're going to reschedule."
Rowan opened the driver's side door. "Maybe that's a good thing. You two can figure out whatever story you're going to come up with."
Theo didn't answer, opening my door for me. I climbed in, careful not to leave my dress hanging as Theo shut the door behind me. Was he worried about his mother? I found it surprising that she didn't feel well—she'd seemed so energetic earlier. But I knew not all illnesses showed on the surface.
"Where are we off to, then?" Rowan asked. "I do believe I owe Maisie a drink. And we should celebrate your win, anyway, Theo."
Part of me just wanted to go home, the homebody part of me, but part of me also wanted to make Rowan uphold her end of her flippant bet. "I'm down with whatever."
"I don't mind if you want a drink, but I'd prefer not to go out. My social meter is worn out," Theo said from the back, and I glanced in the rearview mirror to see him leaning back against the headrest, eyes closed.
"Your house then?"
"...Preferably not."
Rowan's gaze switched to me for a moment after Theo's hesitant response. "Oh, right. Then we'll go to my house."
"I can just go home," I volunteered, not missing the subtleness of the fact Theo didn't want me going to his house, and trying to avoid the awkwardness of him stating that out loud. It made sense that he wouldn't want strangers over, anyway.
"Nah, I don't mind if you know where I live," Rowan said, waving me off, and then taking a sharp left that made me almost smack into the car door. "We can hang out at my place."
Her response had me reassessing my initial thought that Theo didn't want me at his house—now I believed it was more so that he didn't want me to know where he lived. The thought made me feel a little bit relieved. It wasn't a me thing. I tried to keep my mind from wandering, but I couldn't help but think of the ex that betrayed him. She'd most likely known where Theo lived. Had she given his address out? Was that the betrayal?
Rowan stopped by the liquor store to buy some alcohol before bringing us to her place in West Hollywood. I didn't know why I expected a house, considering the prices around here, but we pulled up to a condo building in Plaza Towers. After parking in the garage, we passed the security and took an elevator up to her condo. I admired how clean and brightly lit the building was. Mine wasn't quite as nice, but you got what you paid for, and I'd chosen to pay way less. I didn't want to imagine what a condo here cost Rowan.
We finally made it inside her condo and my mouth nearly fell open at the sweeping view of the cityscape her apartment had. Nearly the entire west-facing wall was made of floor-to-ceiling windows. I slipped off my shoes by the door before wandering over to it, trying to imagine what the daytime view was.
"I'm going to change," Rowan told us.
I turned around toinspect the rest of her condo. It was kind of an open concept— I could see herkitchen and living room from where I stood, a little empty, but no so much thatit didn't feel lived in. Simple furniture with some decoration here and there. Rowandisappeared into what I assumed was her bedroom, and I turned to Theo, who twistedRowan's door handle three times, as if making sure it was locked. Then he startedtaking off his suit jacket, hanging it on a coat rack by the door.
"I might have something here that would fit you if you want to change," he said, taking off his belt next. "Or Rowan might. I'm not sure if either of our clothes would fit you properly."
Theo kept clothing here? I supposed it made sense. Rowan and he seemed to hang out a lot. Yet my chest tightened. But that aside, wearing their clothes would be too weird. "That's okay," I told him. "I can wear this—"
"Here, Maisie," Rowan cut me off, throwing a bundle of clothing at my face. "Get comfortable."
I barely managed to catch it before it smacked into me. Okay. Maybe I was. I separated them to see a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants.
"You prefer hoodies, don't you?" Rowan asked, now wearing a hoodie herself with a pair of matching sweatpants.
I nodded. "Yeah, thanks. I am going to need some help getting out of the dress though. If that's okay."
Rowan and Theo exchanged looks before Rowan hooked a thumb in the direction of her bedroom. "I will."
One day I hoped I would understand the little private conversations they held within a glance, but for now, I'd just hoped they weren't judging me in any way.
Rowan's bedroom was as simple as the rest of her condo— bare minimum essentials, some tasteful art on the wall, but mostly left alone. She unzipped my dress without saying anything and exited the room once I gave her the okay that I could handle it from there. I quickly swapped the dress for the sweats, relieved to not have something skintight on. There was nothing more comfortable than a hoodie.
When I returned, Theo and Rowan were sitting on one of the couches in her living room, already deep in a conversation about something. I laid my dress on the back of one of the tall chairs in her kitchen before taking a seat on the loveseat across from them. Their conversation immediately cut out, and I tried hard not to think that they might have been talking about me.
"I still owe you a drink out, but in the meantime, I can make a mean margarita," Rowan said, standing up from the couch. "That cool with you?"
I nodded. "Sure."
"What did you and my mom talk about?" Theo asked me as Rowan made her way back into the kitchen.
I explained how our conversation went, skirting around the mention of his ex-girlfriend. "But, yeah, she seemed so excited about me being your girlfriend I just went along with it," I finished, adjusting my position on the loveseat, pulling my legs up so I could wrap my arms around my knees.
Theo's lips flattened into a straight line as he thought. "She took the word date and ran with it."
"Are you going to tell her we aren't dating?"
"I'll have to," he replied, frowning.
"Why do you have to?" Rowan asked, setting two glasses on the counter. "Your mom seemed to like Maisie. Let her believe you two are dating."
Theo craned his neck back to look at her, drawing my attention to his jawline as he did so. How could someone have such a nice jawline? When did I even start caring about jawlines? I forced myself to look away, my gaze traveling down his chest, to his forearms, where he'd rolled up his sleeves so that I could see his protruding veins that led down to his hands. Even that was attractive...
"You know how my mom is. She'd come up with all kinds of excuses to get me to bring Maisie over."
"So? Maisie owes it to you."
"How so?" I cut in, raising my eyebrows at Rowan.
She smirked at me. "For letting you even grace his presence."
I gave her a sarcastic look in return. "I have to be in his presence anyway. We're coworkers."
"Maisie doesn't owe me anything," Theo said, directing our attention back to him. "I'll just clarify that she was only my date. I just hope my mom didn't get her hopes up too high."
I thought back to our encounter and knew without a doubt that Evelynn had gotten her hopes up. She'd been so happy to meet me, so enthusiastic, and so earnest. I couldn't imagine how disappointed she'd be if Theo told her the truth. And in me. She'd accepted me so easily— for who I actually was, not who I pretended to be, not being Theo's girlfriend aside. I found myself not wanting her to feel that disappointment, even if I'd never see her again after Theo told her the truth.
"Let's give it a shot," I found myself saying.
Theo's head snapped to me. "What?"
"Dating."
His eyes widened, sitting straighter in his seat. "What?"
"Fake dating," I clarified quickly, my cheeks burning.
"Why?" he asked, apparently stunned to the point he could only give one-word responses.
"For the same reasons you asked me to be your date. You're helping me out, so I'll help you out."
Theo shot a glance at Rowan, who was focused on pouring alcohol into the glasses now, and lowered his voice as his eyes met mine again. "I already told you I wouldn't use that against you."
"You're not. I'm agreeing to this."
"You know this will be a lot more involved than just one date, right? We have to actively act like we're dating. My mom will want us to get together with her and my dad."
I shrugged, adjusting my position again so I could sit cross-legged, facing him. "I already met them, so it's not that big of a deal. If this gives your mom some relief as she deals with her illness, then I'm willing to do it."
Theo silently gazed at me for a moment, dark eyes boring into me. I tried not to flush under his attention, but the intensity of it made my body feel warm. Maybe this was a bad idea. I was supposed to be distancing myself from him. These unfamiliar feelings would never go away if I continued to stay around him.
"Do you have feelings for me, Maisie?" Theo asked suddenly, his voice clipped.
I sucked in a quick breath, caught off guard by his question, nearly choking on the air. Had I said that out loud? Why would he ask me that? Had I been staring at him for a little too long? Rowan had glanced over, attention drawn by his harsh tone, her eyes narrowing a bit.
"If you're doing this to get close to me, or because you eventually think a real relationship will come out of it, then don't bother," Theo continued, his posture tense, as if my offer threatened him in some way.
That warm feeling in me disappeared completely, replaced by irritation, reminiscent of the times we first met. Was the idea of being in a relationship with me that appalling? It was hard not to feel offended. "If that's what you think I'm after, then why did you ask me to be your date tonight in the first place? And if you remember, I initially declined."
Theo's guard didn't drop. "Why are you so interested in helping me when you're not obligated to?"
"I don't have to feel obligated to want to help someone out," I told him. "You said yourself how worried your mom gets about you. Is it wrong that I want to help you alleviate that if all it takes is us pretending to date?"
A muscle jumped in his jaw, but he didn't say anything, eyes still trained on me, as if searching for anything that could give my true intentions—or what he assumed them to be—away.
"To be very clear, though, I'm not trying to pursue any kind of relationship with you." And even if any of those feelings were there before, his accusation was certainly off-putting enough to sizzle them out. He clearly had zero interest in me. Which was totally fine. I'd wanted to get my feelings in check, anyway. This just helped that. "And I'm obviously not into celebrities," I added, maybe unnecessarily, but I was still a little irritated. "You know. I don't like to be perceived."
Rowan snorted at that, and I think she broke some of the attention in the room. Theo relaxed his muscles, a slow breath leaving his lips. "Okay...I believe you."
I smiled sarcastically. "Oh, thank you so much, I'm so honored."
He frowned a bit. "I deserved that. I can't use this as an excuse, but I find it hard to fully trust people. Even those with good intentions. But I shouldn't project the feelings I was left with on you."
Rowan came back over to us, handing a glass of water to Theo, and a margarita to me. I wasn't exactly in the mood to drink anymore, but I took a small sip, trying to ignore the guilt settling into my stomach. Even if Theo had built walls up because of whatever happened in the past, I didn't think I deserved the misplaced attitude. I appreciated the apology, though, and as I watched him take a large gulp of his water, Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed, I realized couldn't begrudge him for being cautious. I didn't know the full extent of what happened back then.
"How is it?" Rowan asked, plopping down next to Theo, and throwing an arm on the back of the sofa behind him.
"Good," I said, taking a longer sip, and glancing down at the glass. "Are these ice cubes made out of strawberries?"
She nodded. "Keeps it from watering down too much. But anyway," she continued, angling her body toward Theo. "I don't think the fake dating idea is bad."
"You don't?"
"No. You're constantly worrying about your mom, Theo. I think it would help both of you if she believed you were in a relationship. That way she can stop worrying about you, you can stop worrying about her worrying about you, and she can focus on getting better."
I hadn't thought Rowan would be pro fake relationship. At least not with me being the girlfriend part of it.
"How long would we keep it up for, though?" Theo asked.
"Until she's better," Rowan said simply. "You two will be around each other anyway until the end of filming, so why not?"
Theo still didn't look convinced, shifting in his seat. "If the treatment doesn't work, who knows how long we'd have to keep it going?"
"Theo, stop thinking about ifs," Rowan scolded. "Your mom's treatment will work."
"That's not a given—"
"Stop thinking so negatively. Your mom will be fine."
I took another long drink of my margarita before interrupting. "If you don't want to, we don't have to. I was just offering."
Silence stretched for a moment, Theo's attention returning to me, his lips curving down, considering. "I do think it would be good for my mom," he finally said. "But we'd need to discuss what it will entail."
"Like meeting up with your parents?"
"Yes, and whether or not this will be a public relationship."
I froze. I hadn't thought that through. I gripped my margarita tighter in my hands, regretting offering my help so easily. "Um. I really don't mind helping you with your mom, but I don't want the attention that would come with being your girlfriend publicly."
"That's fair," Theo replied easily. "I don't want that attention, either. I rather stay single in the public eye."
"Can we do that?"
"Yes. I'll explain to my mom why we're keeping our relationship a secret. She'll understand."
I nodded, a little relieved. "And while on set we can just act like we don't know each other."
Theo paused, a pinch appearing on his forehead. "Why?"
"I don't want attention there, either," I told him. "You're still famous, and the lead actor of the movie." And I'm still hiding my identity, I added silently. "I don't want anyone thinking we're close. We really have no reason to interact during the filming, anyway."
Rowan let out a low whistle. "Damn."
Confused, I glanced at her. "What?"
"Nothing," she responded, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm just trusting that you really don't have any feelings for Theo more and more."
I didn't really get it, but figured that was a good thing. Theo would probably call the cops on me if I ever fell for him, considering his earlier reaction. "That's a good thing."
"Do you actually secretly hate him?" she prompted.
Where had that come from? I gave her a funny look. "No. I just don't want the attention. I can't stop Director Ahn from dragging me along to dinners with you guys, but I'm saying like, we shouldn't talk to each other and stuff on set."
For some reason, Rowan found that amusing, looking at Theo with her lips pressed together as if holding back a laugh.
"...Alright," Theo agreed after a moment, ignoring her, even as she jabbed him in the side with her elbow. "Then let's only communicate by text. I'll leave you alone on set. I'll let you know when my mom wants to see us and we can make plans on a case-by-case basis. That way no slip-ups happen."
"That works for me," I said. "Is there anything else we should consider?"
"We should probably try to be convincing. Hold hands in front of her, or something."
My gaze dropped down to Theo's hands, one resting on his thigh, the other resting on the armchair of the couch. "That's...doable."
Rowan snorted again and then clapped a hand to her mouth. "Sorry."
I ignored her. "Then it's settled?"
Theo dipped his head. "Sure."
"Hold on," she said, putting her hand up, a wry smile on her face. "You two are going to pretend to be a couple. If you only meet up like that, your mom will see right through the lie. You two barely know each other. You have to get to know each other a little so you can act naturally comfortable with each other."
I pursed my lips a bit. Rowan actually had a point. "Then—"
"Let's play a game," she said, clapping her hands together, grinning. "Right now."
"A game?"
Theo gave her a wary look before turning back to me. "Maisie, she wants to play a drinking game with you. I'm sure this is just an excuse to do that."
Rowan scowled a bit at Theo. "No. I want you two to get to know each other."
"Theo doesn't drink," I pointed out, surprised I remembered that fact about him.
She waved her hand. "He doesn't need to."
I now shared Theo's wariness. It sort of felt like she was targeting me for something. What, exactly? I didn't want to find out. But...I wasn't one to turn down a challenge. From Rowan, at least. "What game did you have in mind?" I asked Rowan.
"An easy one. Never Have I Ever. You can even go first, Maisie."
I thought about it. "Never have I ever gone out of the country."
Theo and Rowan didn't move. I made a face. Yeah, I should have realized that. I took a sip of my almost empty margarita.
"My turn," Rowan said. "Never have I ever... not been with a woman."
My jaw almost dropped. We were starting with that? Right off the bat? Were double negatives even allowed? Theo didn't drink, and Rowan say there looking smug. I was in danger. I drank down the rest of my first margarita, trying not to blush. "That's not fair," I said after. "I haven't been with anyone."
"Really?" Rowan responded curiously, getting up to pour me another drink.
I pointed at myself, raising an eyebrow. "Hello? Homebody? Writer? I've pretty much locked myself up in my room from age ten. No space for romance."
Rowan returned, handing me a new glass that was filled so much it spilled onto my hand as she handed it to me. "Makes sense."
I licked the alcohol off my hand before taking a sip of the new margarita, realizing immediately it was way stronger than the last.
"But that could be changed, you know," she added, still hovering in front of me.
I nearly choked, looking up at her, seeing that sly smile she always wore. "I-I'm good, thanks."
"Rowan, you said we were supposed to be getting to know each other," Theo pointed out.
"This is getting to know each other. I know more about Maisie now, don't I?"
I scowled. Yeah. She knew I'd never been in a relationship or with anyone. Useless information. She'd probably done that to try and embarrass me, but I wasn't embarrassed by it. It was never at the top of my priorities, and it still wasn't.
"My turn, then?" Theo spoke again, tilting his head to the side. "Never have I ever gone trick-or-treating."
Neither Rowan nor I took a drink. I looked at Theo questioningly. "Really?"
"Halloween isn't a traditional holiday in Korea. It's growing in popularity recently, but it's more for the going-out, drinking crowd," Theo explained. "And when we moved here when I was younger, I just never really got into it."
"I've only been trick-or-treating once," I told him, thinking back on the memory. "My mom never allowed my brother and I to do it, but one year I slept over at my friend's house, and she gave me one of her old costumes. It was actually pretty fun. I was a cat. Pretty typical, I think."
"I loved trick-or-treating when I was younger," Rowan said, mindlessly sipping her drink, even though she'd obviously trick-or-treated before. "My parents took me and my siblings every year. Although, sometimes they made us do themed costumes. I was the tallest, too, so I'd always have to be like Hook when I wanted to be Wendy. At least until my little brother grew taller than me."
"Do you have a big family?" I asked her.
She nodded. "Kind of. I'm the oldest and then I have two younger brothers and two younger sisters. We're all pretty close. Is it just you and your brother?"
"Yeah, but I wouldn't say we are close. He grew up following my parent's expectations and I didn't, so there was always kind of this wall between us," I explained.
Rowan pressed her lips to the side, eyes narrowing. "Your family doesn't accept you for who you are?"
"It's not really about who I am, per se. I just wanted to follow a different career path. I don't know what they would think if they found out the truth. I lie to them about what my actual job is," I said, fiddling with my fingers, not sure why I was so easily admitting this to Rowan so easily.
"I didn't tell my parents I was Theo's bodyguard for a long time. Then they noticed me in a magazine and called me out for it," she responded, shaking her head at the memory. "It ended up being fine, but I think they wanted me to use my degree since they helped me pay for school. Oh, well, though. It's my life. They just had to deal with it. I offered to pay them back, too."
I smiled wryly. "I wish I could adopt that kind of attitude. My dad isn't as strict as my mom, but they're both still a bit overbearing considering I'm an adult now."
"A child is always a child to their parents," Theo said, pushing him up from the couch. "But you are also your own person. I'm sure they'll come to respect that when you're ready to tell them."
"I hope so," I mumbled, beginning to feel anxious, and wanting to change the topic. "But um, anyway. Your turn, Rowan."
"Hmm. Never have I ever skinny-dipped."
I gave her a look before drinking, but at least Theo did, too. "Never have I ever ridden a bike," I said.
When neither Rowan nor Theo took a drink, I sighed lightly, taking another gulp of mine.
"You don't know how to ride a bike? Really?" Rowan asked.
"Nope. I never learned. I guess though that's something most people do learn, huh?" I scratched the back of my neck. "I would like to try though, one day."
"Well, now you're a lot taller than most people who learn, so it'll hurt more to fall."
I gave her a deadpan look. "That's helpful."
"Theo's turn," Rowan said with a smirk.
Theo hooked a thumb toward Rowan's kitchen. "If you guys plan on drinking more, you need to eat something. We barely ate today."
"Just Doordash something," Rowan responded, craning her head back to look at him as he made his way into her kitchen. "There is no food in this place. I need to go grocery shopping."
Theo opened the doors to her fridge and abruptly closed them. "Rowan, how can you possibly have nothing at all? Your fridge is empty."
"I'm lazy," she answered simply, taking out her phone. "I'll Doordash something."
Theo gave one more look of disbelief toward the fridge before returning to us, shaking his head. "Maisie, is there anything specific you'd like?"
"Uh—"
"I want wings," Rowan said. "Is that fine? I'll order some fries, too."
"That's fine," I said.
"Are you sure?" Theo asked me. "Rowan eats anything, so if you want something else, don't hesitate to say so."
"I'm good with wings," I assured him. "I like regular buffalo ones."
"Sure thing. Done," Rowan said a second later, tossing her phone down. "Theo, I got you your wrap. Now back to the game."
Theo gave Rowan a hard look, and again, they had one of their little silent conversations. Rowan seemed to brush him off, rolling her eyes.
"Fine. Never have I ever gone to Starbucks," Theo said after a moment.
Finally, I didn't have to drink, and I smiled to myself. Being a coffee addict had its perks. Rowan didn't drink either, leaving Theo to have some of his water.
"Okay, let's see," I said, thinking. My last one was too easy. I needed to get Rowan to drink... "Ah! Never have I ever been on an airplane."
Theo took a drink of his water while Rowan complained, pursing her lips at me. "Come on. You knew we traveled on planes to get out of the country!"
"Not necessarily true. You could drive to Canada and Mexico," I pointed out.
Rowan took a big swig of her margarita. "Fine. Never have I ever had a one-night stand."
I was starting to see a theme with Rowan's turns. Both Theo and I drank at that. My cheeks were already starting to feel warm, and my head was light-headed, the alcohol getting to me.
"Never have I ever graduated college," Theo said for his turn.
Surprised at that, I drank, but Rowan didn't. "I thought I read that you went to film school?" I asked him.
He gave me a strange look. "You...read about me?"
I flushed. "Uh. Like. Wikipedia and stuff."
Rowan snorted. "Wow."
"I mean I obviously researched you when I found out that you were playing the main lead in my—" I cut myself off, nearly biting my tongue with how fast I closed my mouth. That was too close. "My next job," I finished awkwardly.
"I did attend college, but I never finished. I became too busy," Theo said, drumming his fingers on his knee. "I would like to finish one day, I guess, but I'm not too worried about it."
"You graduated, though, Rowan?" I asked, remembering that Theo had said they'd gone to the same school. I assumed both high school and college. "What was your degree?"
Rowan freely sipped at her drink. "Engineering with a minor in business."
"Oh, so you're smart smart."
"Smart enough to graduate, not smart enough to realize that it was exactly not what I wanted to do with my life until after I graduated. That tuition money went down the drain." As if annoyed by the memory, she downed the rest of her drink.
I copied her, draining my margarita as well. "And being Theo's bodyguard is?"
"He basically pays me to hang out with him."
"I do not," Theo grumbled.
Rowan stood up to get us another round of drinks, and this time I followed her to help. I peeked into her cabinet as she opened it, finding no signs of food, but plenty of alcohol. It made me wonder how Rowan stayed in such good shape, especially since as she reached for the bottle of tequila, her shirt rode up, revealing a muscled abdomen.
"Actually, Theo gave me this job as a favor," Rowan told me, filling our cups with mostly tequila, and a little dash of triple sec and lime juice. "I'm out of strawberry puree, is that okay?"
I took my glass back, concerned about the amount of tequila, but unwilling to ask for it to be watered down. "You couldn't get a job with your degree?"
"I could, I just didn't want to. But I still wanted money. A lot of money. A bit of a dilemma, huh?"
"I think an engineering job would have gotten you that, though," I pointed out, trying not to make a face as I took a sip of my new margarita, and the alcohol burned my throat.
"So did being Theo's bodyguard, and it's a lot less work since he doesn't ever do anything."
"Do you want me to give you more work?" Theo called over to us. "Or are you admitting I pay you too much and you would be okay with a pay cut?"
Rowan ignored him. "I managed to save the money I needed and then decided to just continue on as his bodyguard. I wouldn't say everything's been easy, especially because I didn't really consider what people would think of a female bodyguard."
"Like the paparazzi?"
"The public in general," she clarified. "But I'm pretty good about steering clear of attention. Once they figured out I wasn't Theo's partner. But again, it helps that Theo doesn't ever want to go anywhere."
I found myself nodding. "But that's the best."
Rowan clicked her tongue, shaking her head. "I don't understand that. Going out is fun."
I grinned at her. "That's what I don't understand."
"Is it my turn again?" she asked. "Because here it is. Never have I ever been so lame as to spend an entire day inside my apartment."
Theo and I drank.
The game continued until the food came, and we paused to eat. I didn't know if it was because I was well on my way to being drunk, or if the food was that good, but I swear I hadn't eaten chicken wings that good in a long time. Rowan made a mess as she ate, getting sauce all over her face, and Theo reached for a napkin, wiping her face, the action so natural it made my stomach flip.
"You're even more messy when you're drunk," he muttered at her, shoving the napkin into her hand.
I leaned forward and picked up a napkin too, wiping my fingers off, trying to blame the tightness in my gut on the alcohol.
"Next game," Rowan announced as we put away our leftovers, and I was already half-asleep on the loveseat, my head propped up on my fist to hold it up.
"Next?" I repeated, blinking. "I don't know about that. I probably need to go home."
"Giving up? I figured you would," she teased. "It's fine. Theo and I can play alone."
I felt my eye twitch. "Actually, I'm in. What is it?"
And the next thing I knew, I was waking up in a room I didn't recognize. I shot up, startled, my head immediately beginning to throb. A brief inspection of the room made me realize it was Rowan's room, and I was in her bed. I'd fallen asleep at her house?
Vague memories flittered through my mind— Rowan and I drinking more and more, Theo warning us to take it easy, Rowan and I getting more combative, playing a game of spoons that turned oddly dangerous... And then me lying on the couch, where I supposed I conked out for the night.
Embarrassment mingled with guilt inside me— guilt for getting so drunk I passed out, and embarrassment because I'd done it in front of two people I barely knew. And one of them had carried me to Rowan's bed.
I scrambled to find my phone, which had been placed on the bed stand along with a bottle of water and a bottle of ibuprofen. The time read 7:00 AM.
We had to be on set by 7:30 AM.
I launched myself out of bed, rushing out into the main living area, where Theo and Rowan were up and ready for the day, standing around and drinking coffee around the kitchen table. I hurried up to them, wincing a bit at the pain in my head. "Can you bring me home?"
"You don't want to get ready here?" Rowan asked, looking flawless as ever, seemingly unaffected by how much she drank last night. "I probably have something for you to wear. And you can shower here."
"I really don't think it's a good idea to show up with you guys," I said, never mind the part about showing up in her clothing. No one would even know, but it'd set me on edge.
"I'll bring you home," Theo offered. "I want to stop by my house, anyway."
Rowan retrieved my dress, handing it to me in a paper bag. "You can return my clothes later. Here's your dress."
"Okay, thanks."
"See ya later. Don't worry though, I won't say hi."
Her tone was more amused than sarcastic, but I still grimaced a bit. "It's not like that..."
She shrugged, going over to the counter where her phone rested, plugged into an outlet. I followed Theo out of her apartment, worrying if I'd have enough time to get ready, and then make it to set. Theo and I didn't say anything to each other as we got in his car and drove back to my house. He drove faster than normal, though, so I wondered if he was worried about being late, too.
Once we were outside my apartment building, I unbuckled my seatbelt, swinging open the door in a hurry. "I'll see you in a bit."
"Maisie."
I paused, turning back to him. "Yeah?"
He held my gaze, expression softer than usual. "I wanted to apologize again for accusing you of having ulterior motives."
"As long as you still believe me," I responded.
He slowly nodded. "I do. And thank you. For helping me."
"It's no problem," I said distractedly, glancing at the time on his dashboard. "Sorry. I really have to go get ready."
He cleared his throat. "Right. See you. Oh, and your keys were still in here."
He held out his hand and I grabbed the keys from him, giving him a quick wave before nearly sprinting into my building and up the steps to my apartment. I glanced down at my dress as I went down my hall, smiling a little. All in all, it hadn't been a terrible time. I was actually glad Theo had invited me along, even if there was a little coercion involved.
"Maisie?"
My heart dropped at the sound of my name being called. I almost didn't want to look up.
Because it was my mom standing in front of the door.