I'm enjoying the punching bag more than I thought I would. Perhaps too much, I realize belatedly when Theo is suddenly standing next to me with a scowl on his face.

"Did you not hear me?" he asks, and my arms drop to my sides. They feel like dead weights. "I was calling you from the top of the stairs. The soup is ready."

"Oh." I lift my arm to take one of the gloves off, and I'm surprised by how difficult the action is.

"You overdid it," Theo comments with a sigh. "I guess I should have known you would..." He removes my gloves for me and drops them to the floor. "I'm sorry, Princess."

His strong hands come up to massage my biceps and then move up to my shoulders, and I step into him to rest my head against his chest.

"I wish I knew what to say to make this right," he says quietly while his hands continue to massage my shoulders. "But I don't think you got it even when you thought I was a virgin, and now..."

When I don't offer anything to the conversation, he uses my shoulders to pull me closer and then smooths his hands down my back and gives me a hug. "Come on. Let's go eat and then I'll run a bath for you upstairs. You need to rest your muscles, little boxer."

----------

The water has gone cold, and my skin has become wrinkly from being so water-logged but I don't care enough to get out of the large bathtub.

"Milia," Theo's voice proceeds his knock. It's the second time he's come to the door, and his knock sounds a little more urgent this time. "It's time to come out. Don't make me come in there."

Says the man who doesn't want to see me naked...

I roll my eyes and sink further down into the stale water.

The door opens, and Theo's eyes settle on my face. He walks toward me with purpose, and before I can think of a thing to say, he's reaching into the water to grip my elbows and pulling me out of the bathtub.

"This isn't how I imagined the first time you saw me naked going," I mumble while he walks across the bathroom to retrieve the thick, navy towel that's folded on the counter.

He gives me a tight smile when he returns and wraps the towel around my shoulders. "Me neither." His large hands run over the thick material, pressing it into my skin to soak up the water.

Shivers have begun to move through my body but I'm not sure if it's from the air hitting my wet skin or the cold expression on Theo's face.

He's pissed.

I know I'm being a bit of a brat. So he doesn't want to have sex with me, so what? It probably seems like a silly reason to work my muscles into the ground and to sit in a bathtub for way too long but the rejection I feel is hitting me hard.

I thought the two of us were becoming something. This morning felt like a step forward in whatever it was that was happening between us but now it feels like we've completely fallen off course.

I study Theo's face while he rubs the towel over my body. He bends down in front of me to run the towel over my legs and then stands again to bring it back around my shoulders. Our eyes meet.

"Kiss me." The request comes softly from my lips but Theo doesn't miss the demanding aspect behind those two words.

His eyes move to my mouth, and he slowly licks his lips before shaking his head. "I can't. Not right now..."

Another rejection. I don't know why I keep setting myself up for this wretched feeling but this is a clear reminder that I need to stop doing it. I'm not sure I can handle it another time.

"Look, Milia, I..."

He stops talking when I press a finger against his mouth, and the feeling of his full lips brushing against my skin is enough to drive me crazy.

Fuck this. No, I won't give him the chance to reject me again. I'm taking what I want.

I throw myself at him. Quite literally.

I fucking jump to get my arms around his neck. The towel falls to the ground, and Theo has no other option but to catch me or let me fall with it.

My mouth forcefully slams against his when his hands catch my waist, and to my great pleasure he makes no move to pull away.

On the contrary, he returns my kiss with just as much passion, possibly even more. He adjusts my naked body to hold it more securely against his own and promptly carries me to the bathroom counter.

The cold quartz on my bare ass causes me to flinch when he sets me down. His mouth is against my neck now, and a moan falls from my lips when he lifts me again to slip his strong hands between my glutes and the counter, caressing the muscles as if to warm them.

"You are so beautiful."

He hasn't even taken the chance to look at me. His eyes have remained on my face and when he was bending down to dry my body the saint of a man had fucking closed them. But his words still warm my bruised pride.

"Take me on this counter. That's all I want," I whisper the words into his ear while I move my arms from around his neck down his body, getting them under his shirt to feel his stomach.

His head comes up to seek my mouth again, and he kisses me deeply. His tongue works its magic, reminding me of my fantasy of a dream where his tongue was working its magic elsewhere on my body.

I lean back from him just enough to get my hands on his belt but he doesn't miss a beat. He just moves along with me to keep his mouth on mine. That is, until I work the leather through the buckle and get my hands on his jeans.

The moment I pop his button free, he wrenches his mouth away from mine. His hands slide out from under my ass, and I'm left on the cold countertop while he takes a hasty step back.

"No." It's the only thing he says before he turns away and rushes out of the bathroom.

I'm too stunned to move at first but the cold air is quickly becoming unbearable without Theo's heat warming me. I force myself to hop off of the counter and pick up the towel from the floor to wrap it around my body.

When I walk into the hallway, Theo is waiting for me. He's leaning against the wall, stroking his beard and staring at me with a mix of emotions in his expression.

"Emilia," he starts while he pushes himself off the wall to step toward me.

"I get it, Theo." I turn away from him to walk to my room, and he follows behind me.

"I don't think you do. If you could—"

I slam the door in his face before he can finish his sentence and then I hold my breath, trying to keep the tears at bay.

"We'll talk when you come downstairs, then?" his unsure voice sounds through the door.

I force my voice to come out steady. "I'm going to bed."

There's a short pause before he speaks again. "Up here?"

My eyes close, and I bring a hand up to press my fingers into my forehead. I hate this. Am I punishing him or am I just punishing myself? In either case, it feels like it needs to happen.

"Yes," I answer, "Alone."

There's another pause.

"Could..." He doesn't finish his question. Instead he says, "Okay," and I think he's walked away before I hear him add, "Goodnight, Milia."

I can't trust my voice to answer.

----------

I don't know what I expected but I should have known it would be this.

I can't sleep without Theo. I keep changing positions and trying to get comfortable in the lonely king-sized bed but I already know that it's going to be impossible.

For a second there, while sitting on the bathroom counter, I actually thought that I was going to get my way. But now I'm alone, frustrated and horny, with no one to blame but myself.

Memories of Justin come to mind. He didn't have a problem taking me on the bathroom counter. He didn't have a problem taking me anywhere. Maybe I should have left with him. Maybe I should call him...

I wonder what he's up to and if he went back home or if he's waiting around in the area to try and approach Cal and I again. But in the end, it doesn't matter.

I glance at my phone on the nightstand but I know in my heart that I won't do it. Now that I've met Theo... Now that I've laughed with him and been held by him and kissed him... There's no going back.

As hurt as I am, I should have given him a chance to talk because he's right. I don't get it, and I never will if I won't let him explain.

I kick the blankets off of my body and move into the hallway. When I'm standing in front of the other bedroom door, I don't let myself hesitate. I knock.

There's no answer.

I knock again, and my shoulders droop. "Theo? Could we talk?"

He still doesn't answer, and I almost walk away like a dog with its tail between its legs but then I straighten my spine and reach for the door handle.

"We need to..." The words die on my lips when I swing the door open and step forward into an empty bedroom. And by empty, I don't just mean that Theo isn't there.

There's a bedframe in the middle of the room. There's some clothes draped over the back of the frame, and some other clothes haphazardly dumped in a chair in the corner but there's no mattress.

The closet doors are hanging open, revealing it's empty state. The dresser top and walls are clear of pictures or personal items. The bedroom as a whole lacks any personal touches or signs of ownership, save from the clothes that look like they were dumped in place in a hurry.

This must be the wrong room.

I step back into the hallway and walk the short distance to the remaining door that is located beside the bathroom. From the outside, this room appeared to be the smallest so I hadn't expected it to be Theo's bedroom but it must be since the other room...

"Or not."

My eyes scan the last bedroom after I've opened the door. It's even more bare than the previous room I entered. There's a small, cluttered desk and a nearly empty book shelf. That's it.

"What the hell?"

Irrational rage seeps into me when I step back into the hallway and glare down the door that leads into the "spare" bedroom where I've been staying.

Not that I've actually been staying there much since I usually sleep with Theo on the couch—the couch that he's had no other choice but to sleep on.

"Fucking Theo," I mutter to myself as I turn around to march down the stairs.

"Why did you..." I begin to ask but close my mouth when I don't find him on the couch either.

Where the hell is he?

It's then that I hear the now familiar sound that was my soundtrack earlier this evening. The faint, steady thuds of the punching bag, taking a beating while it swings back and forth from the floor joist below my feet.

I move down the hallway along the staircase to the basement door that's hanging partially open. I begin to quietly walk down the stairs but I pause when I notice that Theo's back is toward me.

He doesn't seem to realize that I'm there. His attention is fixed on the punching bag which he's pounding at a ferocious pace.

"Fuuuck!" The uncharacteristic curse coming out of him is so loud and unexpected that I have to cover my mouth to stifle my gasp.

His hands come up to the steady the punching bag, and he leans into it, pressing his forehead against the padded surface with a heartfelt groan.

"What do I do?" he mumbles softly, and for a minute, I think he's asking me until he tips his head back to stare up at the ceiling. "What do I do now, God? This isn't working!" He lands another hefty punch against the bag after his last statement.

I feel wrong watching this. I had every intention of confronting him and demanding answers but Theo is clearly searching for answers of his own.

As quietly as I can manage, I back up the stairs but the damn door squeaks when I try to close it back to the position it was in before I went through it.

Fuck.

I quickly duck into the bathroom when I hear Theo's footsteps coming up the stairs, and I pray that this isn't where he's headed.

What would I even say if I had to face him now? I wanted answers but I was just spying on you and clearly you don't have answers either so never mind? No thanks. That's not a conversation I want to have right now. Not ever.

I hold my breath until I hear Theo's footsteps moving past the bathroom door and then I step over to the sink to brush my teeth. At least that's a valid excuse for why I'm down here, even if I claimed that I was going to bed close to an hour ago.

When I finish with my teeth, I make my way to the staircase to sneak back upstairs.

Theo's feet are hanging off the couch, and I stand on the bottom step for a brief moment before I give my head a shake. Perhaps I should talk to him but I wouldn't know where to start.

When I've made it halfway up the stairs, I glance back at the couch again. Bad idea.

Theo's sitting up now, and he's staring directly at me.

Neither of us say anything, and when I can't take the awkward silence anymore, I turn away.

"Goodnight, Milia."

His low voice sounds conflicted and troubled, and I want to go to him and tell him that everything will be okay. But I don't know that it will be.

"Goodnight, Theo."

I pick up my pace to make it up the stairs and crawl into Theo's massive bed to spend the night alone.