4. Overprotective
Theo’s POV
Savannah’s phone buzzed with a notification. I glanced at the screen – Callum’s name. She started to sit up in bed, as if preparing to answer it. “Sorry,” she said, her voice laced with a familiar tension. “I need to take this.”
I gently placed my hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll step out.” She settled back against the pillows, and I quietly left the room.
I lingered in the hallway, cracking the door just enough to hear. A foolish impulse, I knew, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I needed to listen. She’d said Callum was just a friend. A *friend* shouldn’t be causing her this level of stress.
“Hey, Callum,” she began, her tone measured. “Are you okay?”
A pause stretched on, long enough to make my own chest tighten.
“Is there another way?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“No,” he replied, his voice flat through the phone. “I do like you, but I told you I don’t want to do it yet.” *What* didn’t he want to do? Savannah’s voice was tight, laced with frustration.
“Look, I’m not stupid. I know I don’t need to send nudes to show I like you.” The words hit me like a physical blow. He was *pressuring* her? Demanding explicit images? How could she even be speaking to him?
“Callum, please don’t end the call. Please.” Her voice was now a plea, raw with desperation.
Then silence. The call had ended. Savannah let out a shaky sigh.
I hurried downstairs, grabbed a glass of water, and headed back up. I knocked on her door. “Come in.”
She sat on the bed, staring at her hands. Her face was pale, her eyes avoiding mine. “Are you okay?” I asked, offering the glass. “Do you want some water?”
She shook her head, her expression lost.
After a long moment, her brown eyes finally met mine, and she offered a weak, brittle smile. “Sorry. I’m okay. Thank you.”
I set the glass down on the bedside table. “You don’t look okay. You know you can talk to me about anything. What’s bothering you?”
She hesitated, then replied, “Honestly, I’m okay.”
“Listen,” I said, keeping my voice calm. “I’m Adam’s friend. You can trust me. I won’t tell him about this if you don’t want me to. I promise.”
She considered this for a long, agonizing moment. “Don’t tell Adam,” she finally said, her voice barely audible. “There’s this guy… I like.” I felt a surge of relief that she was confiding in me, and a flicker of warmth that she trusted me enough to talk about Callum. “He likes me back, but he always asks for… for pictures. I’m not comfortable sending any yet. And it bothers him a lot. I was at his earlier, and he scared me so much because I thought he was going to hit me over it. But yeah, I…”
I cut her off. “Wait. He was going to hit you? Is this Callum?” The promise I’d made to protect her felt like a chain around my neck. I wanted to tell Adam everything.
She shook her head quickly. “No, it’s not Callum. He didn’t hit me. I just thought he was going to, but he didn’t.” She was trying to downplay it, to make it sound less serious.
“Why did you think he was going to?”
She hesitated. “He… we were arguing, and he was being rude, so I went to slap him, then he grabbed my arm—” Her voice trailed off, her voice dropping to a whisper.
I hated that she stopped talking. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about what he did.” I said, but I desperately needed to know.
She broke eye contact. “He grabbed my arm and…” She looked up at me, her tone serious. “He was clenching his fists, Theo. I saw them. I thought he was going to hit me.”
This guy was dangerous. “Savannah, that’s wrong. You need to stay away from this guy. No decent person would do that.”
She looked down at her hands, fidgeting with her fingers. “But it was my fault. I went to hit him first.”
“What? No, it’s not.” I reacted, then consciously relaxed my jaw. “Regardless of what you did, you didn’t deserve that. You need to tell me you’re going to stay away from him. I know you barely know me, but do it for Adam.”
She met my gaze and nodded slowly. “Okay, I will.”
“Alright, good.” I glanced at my phone, then headed to my wardrobe and grabbed a hoodie. As I pulled it on, I continued. “I need to go now, but make sure you eat something. There’s food downstairs.” I left the room, leaving Savannah with her thoughts.
Savannah’s POV
A few hours later, I moved my things from Theo’s room to another guest room and headed downstairs. The house was eerily silent. The guys must have gone out. I checked the kitchen fridge… empty. Ugh, too late.
I walked into the living room and sank onto the sofa, turning on the TV. That’s when I heard someone behind me. “Hey, Sav.” I looked up to see Matt, a playful smile on his face, holding a bottle of water. “Thought you might need some cheering up. Want to play a game?” He held the bottle above my head, threatening to dump it.
Realizing I was wearing a white oversized t-shirt with no bra, I instinctively stood up and backed away, reaching out to create distance. “Matt! You better not!” I started laughing nervously, sensing he was enjoying my reaction.
He laughed as he approached me. “Why not? It’ll be fun.”
“Maybe for you, not for me, though.”
“It’s just water, relax a little.” He chuckled while shaking the bottle.
“Please, anything but that.” My back was now pressed against the wall.
“Anything?” He questioned, his eyes locking onto mine.
“Yes! Anything!”
He stopped inches away from me, his smile fading as his deep blue eyes stared into my soul. Then he leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Be careful saying things you don’t mean.” He breathed, his voice low and intoxicating. “You never know… someone might take your word for it.”
I felt a strange pull, a confusing warmth blooming within me. I didn’t understand what was happening, but I wanted to feel it again. “That’s the point,” I whispered back.
Matt pulled back slightly, raising an eyebrow in surprise. “I didn’t know you were like this, Sav.” He smirked, placing the water bottle on the table beside us. “I know a different game we can play.” He ran his thumb over my lips and then moved his hand down to my neck, softly squeezing it.
We both heard laughter growing louder. Matt stepped back, away from me, toward the opposite side of the room. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Adam and Theo walked in, still laughing. Then Adam spoke. “Bro, did you get her? Show us the vid.”
Matt shrugged, deflecting. “Nah, I got a bit hungry. What shall we eat?”
Adam started heading toward the kitchen. “Let’s see what we have already.”
“The house is empty, Adam. You have nothing.” I said.
He stopped, turning to me. “Oh, alright. I’ll go and get some food then. You coming, Matt?”
Matt glanced at me, then back at Adam. “Uh, yeah.” He followed him, and they both headed out the door.
“What did you do with Matt?” Theo’s voice was low and I turned toward him, seeing he hadn’t moved from his position.
I walked to the sofa and sat down, still looking at him. “Nothing.”
His brows knit together. “Just a second. The whole reason Matt came after you was to drench you. And now he makes some bullshit excuse about being hungry. You’re stood there breathless. His bottle is right next to you.” Shit, I forgot about that. “Yet he’s at the opposite side of the room with a hard-on, and nothing happened?” He noticed so much so quickly.
I regretted telling him about Callum because now he was being overprotective. “Yeah, nothing actually happened.” I’m only answering him because I don’t want him to think badly of me.
He strolled up to the end of the sofa. “Just be real with me. You’re Adam’s sis, so I feel like I need to look out for you.”
I wanted to roll my eyes. “I know you’re a good friend to Adam, but nothing happened.”
“Alright, well, just be careful around Matt. You don’t know the type of guy he is.”
“What type of guy is he?”
“He doesn’t know how to treat a girl right.”
I opened my mouth to ask him to elaborate, but my phone lit up with a message from Callum.
Callum: Hey, sorry, I had a lot on my mind. Just so you know, I’m not mad at you. I understand your point. I’m sorry for being a prick.
I couldn’t help but smile. I knew Theo told me to stay away, but Callum had apologized now, and he deserved a second chance.
Savannah: Hey, aww it’s fine. I’m glad you’re alright with me.
Callum: I wouldn’t be able to hate you even if I tried.
I smiled even more.
Savannah: Me too.
I turned off my phone, looked up, and realized Theo wasn’t there anymore.