You, with a View

by Jessica Joyce

I want to know what kind of devil deal Theo made when he was born. Besides his questionable personality, he was built lovingly and with extreme care by whoever is in charge of those things.

It’s fucking rude that he’s so good-looking. It offends me.

“You can close your mouth now, Shep,” he says with a lazy grin.

“I’m sorry, did you just compliment me?” “Don’t take it personally,” he echoes. “I tell my accountant he looks nice all the time, too.” “It’s a slippery slope to earnest compliments, Spencer.” He tilts his head, appraising me. “I don’t expect you to let me get that far. You’ve never been one for accepting my compliments.” “You’ve never been one for giving them to me.” “Maybe you weren’t listening.” “Trust me, I was.”

“By all means, pretend I don’t exist.” My gaze skims over him from head to toe before I can stop myself. Impossible.

It’s not a lie. It’s a secret, which is just a truth that hasn’t been told yet.

You’re the first thing I’ve been brave enough to go after just for myself, simply because I want it so much. It’s okay if this scares you. It scares me, too. But I’ll do it anyway.

“People rarely get it on the first try, Noelle,” Paul says quietly. His eyes slip past me to Theo. His arms are crossed over his chest, his eyes locked on his grandfather’s, searching. “There’s nothing wrong with that. It doesn’t make you less of a success story in the end.”

“Why are you messing with me right now?” “Not messing, Shepard.” His nose skims along my cheek until his mouth is millimeters from mine. “Let’s call it playing. Isn’t that what we’ve always done with each other?”

“They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered.”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the more perfect it looks on the outside, the messier that shit is on the inside.”

“I have a secret,” Theo murmurs, his midnight eyes fixed on me, full of starlight. “Tell me.” “Don’t let it go to your head, okay?” “Well, with that disclaimer…” His grin is small, but it fades as quickly as it came. “You look so fucking beautiful right now.”

“The energy between you two is pretty intense. It feels old.” “Old?” Theo echoes, insulted. Flor laughs. “Old, like multigenerational. Like lots of forces and people worked to get you together. You’re very, very connected, and that’s rad.”

If you could see yourself through my eyes, your head wouldn’t fit through the door.”

“You make it easier to try to be brave, but I’m not always going to get it right. I can’t be perfect.” “Haven’t you been listening to me? I don’t want you to be perfect. After all our battles, Spencer, you should know that it actually pisses me off.”

“You didn’t try to fix me. You just supported me until I believed it.