“Theo, I want to see your dolls,” I decided.
“I should take you home,” he said like a stick in the mud. “You need to sleep this off.”
He was no fun at all, but I was still crazy about him.
I gave him a thumbs down. “No. Your place.” I poked him in the arm. “Besides, you have to do what I say. Know why?” He shook his head, smiling. I placed both hands to my mouth, breathing heavy through them. “Theo, I am your manager,” I said in my best deep voice, drawing out the words. It sounded pretty damn good, if I did say so myself.
“You did not just try to impersonate Darth Vader.”
I giggled at the deadpan look on his face. “Try, I did not. Do, I did.”
“Oh boy. Now you’ve moved onto Yoda. You’re adamant on seeing the dolls, huh?” he whispered.
I glanced over to him and envisioned him as my very own Jedi come to destroy the empire built by my father. His hair looked wild and I wanted to run my fingers through it. “Yes.”
We stepped through his front door, and I felt like I was home. I glanced at his dolls and stepped closer to them.
“So, tell me about them.” I jabbed a finger at the cabinet. “Can we play with them?”
He grinned as he grabbed me by the waist to steady me. “No, we can’t play with them.”
I stuck my tongue out at him, and he growled. Sexy, feral, and primal. Rawr. The giggles were about to make an appearance. I arranged my face in a serious expression the best I could. “What made you start collecting?”
“I’m not really sure. I’ve always been a big fan of comics and Star Wars. Superheroes are cool. It gives you something to believe in.”
“What do you mean?” I peered at the Batman figure in the front, trying to focus on just one.
“Well, superheroes save the planet. They do good deeds.” His eyes lit up as he grabbed the doll still in the box. “Most do, some don’t, but still. It gives us a role model to aspire to be like. If you become more than a man, devote yourself to an ideal, then you become something else entirely.” He looked over at me and winked. “To quote Batman.”
Philosophical Theo was hot. “Say it,” I whispered.
He placed the doll back and drew his brows together. “Say what?”
“Say ‘I’m Batman’.”
He rolled his eyes as he muttered the words, “I’m Batman.” He grabbed me by the waist and squeezed. “Come here, you silly girl.” He kissed my temple as I thought about his earlier words. Theo was my superhero. Swooping in to save the damsel in distress, or in this case the drunk girl from falling over onto his cabinet of dolls. “You’re a good man, Theo.”
He leaned close to my ear. “Shh, don’t tell anyone.”
Oh, I wouldn’t. I didn’t want anyone else to come along and take him from me. Fear gripped me. Because, pretty soon I’d be married, and he would be free to do as he pleased.
I went to the couch, sat down, and pulled my knees to my chest.
“I’m sorry I made you take me somewhere. I just couldn’t face going home. I don’t even know why. It just seems like when I’m with you the whole mess fades away.”
He sat beside me. “What do you want to do?”
I knew what I wanted to do.
“Sex is always fun. But, what I really want to do is just forget. I just want to hang out with you. What would you be doing if I wasn’t here?”
“Jerking off.”
Holy shit, yes please. Maybe I could help him.
My eyes widened as he cracked a smile. I laughed as he grabbed his Xbox controller.
“I’d be playing video games, maybe,” he said as he flipped on the TV.