All Chapters of The Way He Looked at Me: Chapter 131 - Chapter 140

The thought should feel like a victory and it does but it’s sharper than I expected. Almost dangerous in how good it feels.Because Theo isn’t some perfect idea I made up in my head.He’s better than that.He’s real. Messy. Frustrating. Human.Like me.And worse he reacts to me.All day I’ve caught it. The way his breath catches when I get too close. The way his jaw tightens like he’s fighting himself. The way he keeps adjusting his shirt, like fabric alone can fix what’s happening under it.It’s ridiculous.And honestly?Kind of adorable.As if I wouldn’t notice.As if I wouldn’t enjoy noticing.This evening, he stopped trying altogether.Gray sweatpants. Bad idea. Terrible idea. A catastrophic idea for someone trying to look normal around me.I barely even did anything.Just took a bite of his apple.That was it.One bite.And the way he looked at me after like something in him snapped quietly into place I almost forgot how to breathe.He even licked the juice off his hand slowly, l

He'd spent years living out of duffel bags.Hotel rooms. Women he had no business falling for situationships that somehow bled into something messier, something that cost him more than he'd ever admit. Before that, college. Before college, my family's couch.Theo had never had a place that was his.Until now."The apartment is yours too," I said, watching the city blur past the passenger window. "The only rule no hookups. Everything else? Do whatever you want. It's our home."He didn't answer right away. Just kept his eyes on the road, jaw tight."Yeah, right," he finally laughed that low, disbelieving cackle I knew better than my own heartbeat."I mean it, Theo."And I did. I wanted him to finally feel like he belonged somewhere. With me.A dark brow arched. "Bet you'll lose it the second you see my hockey jersey collection."Nice try, handsome."Are they framed?""...Yeah.""Perfect. We'll hang them in the hallway. Under my helmets." I smiled. "What else? Do your worst."He d

He'd been surviving.And then my phone lit up on the cushion beside me.A message from my brother.Nate: Don't let him tell you it's fine. It was never fine. And Dad knew. He knew the whole time."There were two versions of my dad."Theo's voice was controlled. Practiced. The voice of someone who'd learned early that feelings were a liability."I called them the Coleders. Light and dark." He didn't look at me. "Light meant he'd drunk himself into something almost bearable stumbling, laughing, harmless enough. Dark meant " He stopped. Jaw tight. "Dark meant you cleared the room."He picked at the cuticle on his thumb now, the couch seam abandoned."When it went dark, I'd hold out as long as I could for my mom. But when it got bad enough, I'd bail. Show up at your place. Nate's floor, usually. A few weeks would pass, and then my dad would notice I was gone and come drag me back." His mouth twisted. "I always went quietly. Couldn't stand the idea of him making a scene on your doorstep.

He was at the stove when I came out of my room. Back turned, shoulders relaxed no tension that I could read, no storm gathering. Give it a minute, I told myself. It's coming. "Morning." He didn't look up. "Made eggs. Want some?" "Thanks." I sounded like a man who'd swallowed gravel. I cast around for the standard morning pleasantry. Eventually: "Sleep okay?" He turned. His eyes hit me open and honest and so painfully unguarded that my chest did something I didn't authorize. "Not really," he said simply. "Lot to process. And I was worried about you." "I'm fine." He didn't believe me. He smiled anyway slower than usual, eyes closing more than normal, lids a little pink and heavier than they should have been. I did that. I made him look like that. Something violent moved through me. He plated the toast with quiet precision, selected the two best eggs sunny-side up, yolk centered, whites even and slid them across the spatula onto the bread like it mattered. Like I mattered. Ha

Congratulations, Captain. Now step down quietly, or what I know about your goalie goes public by midnight. Silence pressed through the bus like a held breath no one dared release. “Alright. That settles it. Cassian stays captain of the Silverfang until further notice.” A few nods. No argument. No hesitation. But my mind wasn’t on any of it. “Why did you do that?” I finally asked, eyes fixed on the road as I drove toward St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital. My grip tightened on the wheel. “Was it because ” “I didn’t do it because I love you.” The words hit like a clean strike to the chest. Not a crack. A full collapse. Something inside me didn’t just break it scattered, fine and irretrievable, like glass turned to dust. And the worst part? The way he said it so casually. Like it meant nothing. Like I meant nothing. Except I did feel it. That was the sick, unbearable part. I