Page 36 of All Bets Are Off

“The same way we’ve handled it all night—working together,” Theo says with a confident, assertive nod.

He pulls me into the bathroom, stands as far away from me as he possibly can with his arm outstretched and his back turned, and closes his eyes while I do my thing.

“I hate you so much,” I mumble. I want nothing more than the ground to swallow me up right now. My cheeks are burning up from the embarrassment of it all. Is there anything that could possibly be worse than having a guy listen to you pee?

“Me? I didn’t do this. Hate Melissa.”

I finish up, and as I wash my hands, Theo washes his too. I keep catching his eye in the mirror, and I keep looking away, and then I catch his eye all over again. He waits patiently by my side as I remove my make-up and work through my skincare routine.

“You’re so lucky Addy carries spares of everything,” I say, handing him the toothbrush she’s left out on the counter. I apply some toothpaste for him, then some on my own brush. Together, we brush our teeth as our handcuffed hands hang between us. “You know we’re going to have the worst sleep tonight, right? Whenever one of us rolls over, we’re going to drag the other with us. It’s going to be terrible.”

“Don’t be so negative,” Theo says through a foamy mouthful of toothpaste. “Think of it as a fun sleepover with the hottest guy you’ve ever known.”

“Debatable.”

“Who exactly am I competing against?”

I lean over the sink, rinse my mouth, then meet Theo’s eyes in the mirror as I straighten back up. “I’ll have you know we get some very hot men in our dental chairs with their perfect smiles. You’re not even the hottest guy I’ve seen this week, let alone ever.”

Theo raises a smug eyebrow. “So you do think I’m hot.”

“Fine, Theodore, I’ll admit you’re not exactly horrifying to look at.”

“That might just be the first compliment you’ve ever given me.”

“Don’t get used to it,” I say, pulling him out of the bathroom. He follows, but it’s not like he has any other choice. “I need to get out of this dress. Can you, like, turn around and close your eyes? And don’t be a creep who steals a peek in the mirror. Please?” My voice is soft, kind of vulnerable.

“I would love to watch you step out of that dress, Hails,” Theo says, eyes dipping to my waist, “but I also would never do anything that makes you uncomfortable. Does this work?” He turns away and smacks his free hand to his face, covering his eyes. “If you don’t believe me when I say I can’t see anything but darkness right now, then feel free to blindfold me with a towel or whatever.”

I stare at the soft fade of his hairline around the nape of his neck as he stands there like a goofball, hand over his eyes, and fight the bubble of laughter that rises through me. Why is he kind of adorable, but also kind of sexy all at the same time? And what does he mean—he would love to watch me step out of my dress?

My head spins as I onehandedly attempt to unzip my dress. It was difficult enough to get on with two hands, and Addy helped me zip it shut earlier. After much struggling, I sigh and admit defeat. Theo is going to have to help me.

“Um, Theo?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

Nervously, I ask, “Would you mind helping me with the zipper? You can turn back around.”

Theo drops his hand from over his eyes and slowly twists back to face me. I’m the one who turns away instead, biting the inside of my cheek as I hold my breath. Carefully, Theo sweeps my hair to one side over my shoulder and tugs gently on the zipper of my dress. The tips of his fingers brush coolly over my bare skin and I shiver as his touch travels all the way down to the small of my back.

“You want the bra off, too?” he asks, and I gulp.

“Um, no, that’s okay. Thank you.”

“There, Hails,” he murmurs. “I’ll close my eyes again.”

“Thank you.”

I feel him turn away from me once more and I hastily shimmy out of my dress and kick off my heels. I have to awkwardly maneuver Theo around with me as I grab my cute little satin PJs set from my suitcase, but very quickly realize this isn’t going to work. I manage to slip on the shorts part of the set, but it’s impossible to even try to wrangle the top on. Every time I glance at Theo, his other hand is still pressed firmly over his eyes, and my heart hums a little. Despite how awkward this entire situation is with these handcuffs, he’s made me feel so safe with him. I can only imagine how awful tonight might have been had I been handcuffed to literally anyone else.

“Okay, this is the best I can do,” I say, awkwardly hugging my free arm over my chest. I can’t stand sleeping with a bra on, but there’s no way I’m sleeping next to Theo naked.

He drops his hand from his eyes and turns back to face me. Without my heels on, he seems even taller next to me than he did before. “You’re very cute,” he says with a smile. “I like the bears.”

I glance down at my PJ shorts and all of the little teddy bears in the print. “Only Addy was supposed to see these,” I say defensively, though deep down, I know he isn’t mocking me in the first place. I bet Theo really does like the bears.

“My pajamas aren’t that cute. Just some incredibly sexy boxer briefs,” Theo teases, then flashes me a stern look. “Can you turn around and close your eyes while I get out of these jeans? No peeking at my ass in the mirror, Hails.”