Page 119

Theo

Tucked away behind an iron fence was the longest driveway I’d ever seen. It wound along a neatly cut lawn and ended in a wide circle in front of his house. The expansive turnaround offered enough room for several cars to park, which made sense, considering the few stories I’d heard about his friends. Warm lights cut through the darkness as they flickered on over the front door when Rhodes rolled to a stop near it.

As I climbed out, I couldn’t help the way my jaw dropped slightly at the sight of his house. It stretched low and wide across the property, all clean lines and sharp edges. Enormous panes of black-framed glass reflected the night sky. Palm trees framed the property, their leaves shifting lazily in the warm breeze. That same breeze carried with it the salty aroma of the ocean that butted up to his backyard.

Dinner and football talk with Vic Thompson turned into drinks and shooting the shit. He’d given me more advice than I knew what to do with, autographed a few bar coasters for me to give to Wyatt and Jude, and had Rhodes take a few pictures of Vic and me to commemorate the occasion. He also made me promise to come back after I got drafted so he could put an official picture of me and an autograph up on his wall of famous people.

Apparently, Vic’s definition of a wall of famous people was basically an entire museum. Sports players, actors, musicians, politicians—I recognized names everywhere. I snapped a picture of the Noise Dolls section for Jude and the handful of Renegade Ball players for Wyatt. I was pretty sure they were going to be more excited about those pictures than I was about my own.

And while I was riding the high of the whole night, the sheer size of Rhodes’ home knocked me back to reality. I’d never seen anything like it in real life. That wasn’t to say there weren’t nice houses in Everdale, but nothing like this. This was the kind of house you tiptoed through, afraid of breaking something. One wrong trip and I’d go through any one of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

“Do rocket scientists really make this much money?” I asked before I could help myself. Maybe it wasn’t my place to be asking about his financial situation, but I couldn’t wrap my head around his house.

Rhodes laughed as he shut his door, unfazed by my question.

“Not when you work for the government,” he replied. “Some private sectors will pay that well. But I’ll explain that to you later.”

I followed him, frowning. He was being very cryptic, and it was borderline stressful. It must’ve shown because he paused to offer me a reassuring smile.

“I’ll tell you tonight. I promise,” Rhodes said. “But that’s a whole conversation, and it’s not one I want to have outside my front door. Come on. Let me show you around.”

I nodded, my curiosity immediately winning out over everything else.

“The code is: 0-5-0-9,” he told me as he punched in the numbers.

“That’s my birthday,” I replied.

“I know,” he said. “I changed it last night so you won’t get locked out.”

I stared at him for a second, the significance of his actions hitting harder than he probably meant them to—more than they probably should have. He’d changed his security code to my birthday. Out of everything he could’ve picked. My birthday. Maybe he really did mean nothing by it, but it still made my stomach flutter.

The inside of his home was even more impressive than the outside. I stopped just past the entryway and took it all in. The house was built in an open-plan layout with the kitchen flowing seamlessly into the dining room and living room. Everything looked clean and modern, with dark blues, creams, and grays throughout. Pale wood stretched across the floors and ceilings, broken up by dark beams and black-framed windows. A long kitchen island dominated one side of the room with more counter space than anyone could need.

The living room was designed for comfort with a few couches facing an enormous television mounted on the wall. The game would look incredible on it. The oversized chairs angled toward it had matching footrests. A couple of blankets were thrown over the backs of the chairs along with a few books stacked on the coffee table. I caught a glimpse of a hallway on my right leading down to what looked like a few bedrooms and a bathroom.

And while all of that was impressive, what really caught my attention were the galaxies everywhere. They weren’t photographs or generic prints. Abstract paintings of stars and swirling colors covered portions of every wall, some enormous enough to fill the entire space while others were smaller and tucked between windows or displayed over the sink.

I rotated slowly, taking my time to absorb each one fully. Each one was beautiful in ways I couldn’t quite put into words. There was something wild in the colors, something unexpectedly soft beneath all the darkness. The pieces were bold and complicated and somehow quieter than they had any right to be—as if something more hid beneath the layers of paint. In a matter of strokes, the artist had captured Rhodes’ complexity without a word.

“Did you commission these?” I asked quietly, unable to hide my awe.

“There’s an artist in California I met who does them. I had her do canvases for every room,” Rhodes said. “Though the cost of shipping damn near made me cry.”

I grinned. I couldn’t imagine him crying over anything, let alone shipping prices.

I wandered to the back wall, which was made entirely of glass, stretching from one end of the house to the other. It overlooked a backyard made for entertaining people, much like the rest of the house. There was a grill and a large patio table along with an in-ground pool that reflected the lights around it. A low fence surrounded the yard, and beyond that, the sparse grass faded into sand as it sloped down to the beach.

“Astro, come say hi,” Rhodes said loudly as he flipped on the kitchen lights. He dropped his keys and wallet into a small wicker bowl on the island.

My interest was piqued immediately because Astro had to be his moment-of-boredom robot. For a few seconds, nothing happened. And then I heard a faint mechanical whir coming from somewhere down the hallway. I took several steps back to see better just as a small robot came into view.

Astro was barely knee-high, built on a compact wheeled base with a rectangular display for a face. Two glowing blue orbs appeared on the screen where eyes should have been, blinking lazily as he made his way toward us with a soft electric hum. Those eyes transformed into two bright hearts when he caught sight of Rhodes.

“Hello, Rhodes,” he greeted as he rolled close to Rhodes, his screen tilting back to better look up at him.

“Say hi to Theo, Astro,” Rhodes ordered.

Astro immediately spun away from him, his wheels making tiny corrections until he faced me. He went perfectly still. His head cocked to one side, his eyes blinking slowly all over again as if he were studying me. Or maybe he was scanning me, which was honestly the more unnerving possibility. Somehow, the whole thing landed somewhere between creepy and fucking adorable.