Chapter 25
Note to self:
Do not even think the words “Theo” and “shower” in the same sentence.
Next morning, I woke up full of nervous energy. I was dressed, packed, and ready to go by seven. I watched an episode of Forensic Files, then called Mom before she called me. She and Dad had left early that morning and planned on making it mostly out of Texas that day. She drilled me on the usual—health check, med check, Mack check.
“Did you get a chance to watch the video I sent you?” she asked. “The one with my candles?”
I hadn’t even opened it. “Oh, um…”
“You will not believe all the interest I’m getting. Dad says I’m internet-famous,” she said with no small amount of pride in her voice.
“Internet-famous, that’s what I told her,” Dad yelled in the background. “I’m married to a celebrity.”
I snorted. I loved them but, just last month, I’d had to show my dad how to download an app on his phone. Again. Internet-famous to them was probably one stranger commenting on something they posted.
“I promise I’ll check it out,” I said and pressed my lips together. I had this desperate need to tell her about seeing Abe. But I knew I couldn’t. For a lot of reasons. If he refused to go, the disappointment would crush her.
When Abe left, Mom had been overcome with a kind of grief. Although she’d never said it out loud, it was evident her heart had broken a little the day he left. I’d find her hiding in the pantry, crying. Or begging off a family movie night to curl up in bed. If possible, her incessant worry over me got worse. I think part of her reasoned that she’d lost one child; she would not lose another.
“Hey, I love you,” I said softly.
“I love you, too.” Mom paused. “Are you alright? You sound anxious.”
“I do?”
“Yes, I know that voice. Do you need something? Did you forget something at home? We could turn around and get it.”
“We are not turning around,” Dad growled. “We’ve been on the road for four hours.”
“You wouldn’t make that sacrifice if one of our children needed us?”
“No. Not even if God sent an angel down. Do you know how much gas costs?”
“Stop saying things like that. When God strikes you with lightning, I don’t want to be anywhere near you.”
“Take me home, Lord, I’m ready,” Dad shouted, as he often did.
“Mom, I’m still here.” I laughed.
“Oh, honey,” Mom said. “I’m so sorry. Your father was being a smartass again.”
Dad’s voice was faint but clear. “Better than being a dumbass.”
“Okay, okay, you two. You don’t have to turn around. I’m fine.”
“If you’re sure?”
“I’m sure. Go drive Dad crazy. You know he secretly loves it.”
Mom giggled. “I know. You tell Theo we said hi. He’s such a nice boy, isn’t he?”
“Sure.”
“I was just telling your father he’ll make someone a fine husband one day.”
Frowning, I pulled the phone from my ear and stared at it. Where was all this coming from? “Okay.”
“I know you’ve always had that little cru?—”
“I’m way over that.”
What a lying liar I was. After lightning struck Dad, it was coming for me next.
“Oh, of course, honey,” Mom said quickly. “Now, you all be safe today.”
After hanging up with her, I slipped on my backpack and went next door to Mack and Theo’s room.
Mack opened the door, cradling a swaddled Karen, only her small, ugly face visible. She growled at me; I growled back.
“Don’t you look bright as a daisy,” he said. “Are you hungry? I was about to go get me some of that free breakfast. But your boyfriend there is taking his sweet time.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” I breezed through the door, dropping a kiss on Mack’s cheek. Karen growled louder.
Mack grinned. “Right. Right.”
Theo grunted from his spot at the desk. “I’ll be another minute. You can go without me.”
“Go say good morning to the man. Might put him in a better mood. I’ll slip on over and get me some coffee.” Mack patted my arm and waltzed through the open door. Before it closed all the way, he peeked back inside. “Now, you kids, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“Go away, Mack.”
His laughter could be heard even with the door closed.
“How was sleeping in the same room as Grandpa?” I asked, after flopping on one of the beds.
Theo glanced at me over the top of his laptop. “Loud. That guy does not know the meaning of an inside voice, does he? I also had to run to the store last night for distilled water for his sleep machine and he was up by five this morning. Singing in the bathroom.”
I snickered. “Sounds like fun.”
“A real joy,” he muttered and went back to typing furiously.
“Kind of grumpy this morning, huh?”
“Yeah,” he said, not looking up. “Didn’t sleep well.”
Me neither, not that I’d tell him that. Then he might think I’d been up half the night replaying that kiss, and the other half having dreams about what could have happened after it. I’ll say this: my fantasies were getting better. Sigh.
I slipped off my backpack and made myself comfortable. Whatever Theo was working on, it had him completely immersed and it seemed like I’d be here a while. I wondered if it was the same “project” he had been working on yesterday morning.
Theo had always liked writing. Reading, too. When I was younger, he’d make up stories for me, fantastical tales with dragons and princesses who kicked ass and the princes she rescued. (Say what you will, but Theo knew his audience.)
He’d also loved baseball. His senior year, he’d had offers from more than one university. When he’d crushed his ankle in that car accident, his chances to play in college were crushed too. He’d pivoted though, settling on a journalism degree with a history minor. His job working as a sports writer for one of the big papers in Houston seemed to be the perfect fit for him.
I got up and began to pace the room, that anxious energy from earlier making a comeback. In a couple of hours, I would be talking to my brother face-to-face. I shook my arms out, the nervousness settling in my limbs.
I stopped in front of Theo, tapping my fingertips on the table. With a grin, he pressed two more keys with a flourish. He leaned back, looking pleased with himself. “Done.”
“Great.” I rolled my hand at him in the universal “get a move on it” motion. “I’m starving.”
“Give me a second and then we can go eat.” He stood and stretched, revealing a stripe of pale skin between his shorts and t-shirt. Which I tried so hard not to notice. There was zero, zilch, nada, nothing remotely provocative or alluring about the move. The man was stretching. It wasn’t even an important inch of skin.
But this is what my life had come to—a glance at an innocent piece of skin and I was scandalized in all the right ways. And yet…had I not, mere hours before, agreed that we were friends in a friendship who were friendly to each other? Said friendship did not include ogling. Or kissing. Definitely no more kissing.
God, I wanted to kiss him again.
I schooled my face into a friendly, innocent smile but my voice was much too loud when I spoke. “You do that.”
“You nervous about seeing Abe?”
I nodded, my hands fussing with the hem of my t-shirt.
Rounding the table, he put his hands on my shoulders and turned me to face him. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Yeah, it will be okay.”
“It will be. Believe it.” Then before I could blink, he pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. “Be right back.”
“Okay,” I sighed and tried not to melt into a puddle of gooey, heart-eye emotions, or worse, throw myself at him.
Back to pacing. I juggled my phone between my hands and debated texting Mae and Ellie and asking for advice. Something like, “How about that Astros’ game? What stocks should I invest in? Also, Theo and I accidentally kissed and even though we both swore it didn’t mean anything, I can’t help thinking it meant something.”
That needed more than a text to work through. At least a phone call. Perhaps a weekend retreat with professional help.
The phone tumbled from my hands and landed by Theo’s chair.
“Crap.” I bent to pick it up, my hip bumping the table. When I stood up, the laptop screen was right in front of me, and it was awake and staring at me. I shouldn’t have done it. I should have gone back to the other side of the room and waited on Theo, but it was right there, whatever he’d been working on so intently a few minutes ago. Who among us wouldn’t look? I’m not that strong.
With a glance toward the bathroom door, I hunched over the laptop and began reading.
…he unhooked the buttons of her dress slowly, one at a time like the best kind of torture. Her chest rose and fell faster, her breath unsteady…
My mouth dropped open. Theo had been writing this? Oh, my…
I kept reading.
“We shouldn’t,” she whispered. “I’ll be ruined.”
I gasped.
More reading.
He chuckled, low and deep. “Darling, I’m a pirate. Don’t you know I live to plunder and ruin?”
Fanned my face.
“No way.” With a shaky hand, I moved the cursor down and perched on the chair.
His big, powerful hand slid the dress from her shoulders, breath hot on her?—
So engrossed was I in this…this… this that I was reading, I didn’t hear the bathroom door open.
“What are you doing?”
With a shriek, I fell back against the chair and stared up at Theo, my face hot. All of me was hot, if I were being honest. “I didn’t…it was an accident. I mean, I dropped my phone and then the laptop screen woke up and…” I waved a weak hand toward the screen.
Two giant steps later, Theo grabbed the laptop and clicked it shut. He pressed his lips together and glared at me. It wasn’t a look I often saw from Theo, and rarely was it directed toward me.
I swallowed audibly. “I, ah, what, um…”
Sliding his eyes shut, his chest rose and fell with huge, deep breaths. Pink crept up from his neck to his cheeks.
“I’m sorry?”
With a grunt, he grabbed his messenger bag from the floor and stuffed his laptop inside it. I watched incredulously as he grabbed his wallet and room key and marched to the door. He held it open and waved a hand. “Let’s go eat.”
I leapt to my feet. “Theo Goodnight, I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what I just read.”
His scowl could only be described as murderous. A beat passed, then another. Finally, he slammed the door and shoved his hands through his hair, yanking on the ends in anger.
“What was that?” I stared at the place on the desk where the laptop had been.
Theo stalked toward me, stopped a few inches from me. “You were not supposed to see that. No one was.”
I blinked slowly. Angry Theo was super…hot. His chest rose and fell with each furious breath, eyes practically glowing. That kiss I was not supposed to remember began to replay in my head in slow motion.
No, stop that.
“I’m listening.”
His eyes slid shut and I swore I heard him count to ten under his breath. When he opened them, he seemed more resigned than angry. “I write books.”
“Those kinds of books?”
“Yes.” He scowled. “Those kinds of books.”
“I have so many questions. When did you start writing?”
With a sigh, he turned and plopped on a bed. “College. It was an assignment for a creative writing class I was taking. We had to write out of our preferred genre, so I went for it. I wrote a short story, a romance. Didn’t think it was any good, but the professor told me I had talent, and I should consider publishing it. I did it as a joke, I guess. To see if I could. And, well, people bought it and then a lot more people bought it, so I kept writing them. The money helps out and…and…I like writing them, okay? I like it.”
“But romance?”
He crossed his arms. “Historical romance.”
Who was this guy? “Right. Historical romance. My bad.”
“With pirates,” he said quickly.
I arched a brow, trying hard to rein in my smile. “Historical pirate romance? That’s…specific.”
“I have a good fan base.” His cheeks were a charming shade of bright pink. “They like pirates.”
I grinned. “So, do these pirates kidnap innocent young women?”
“Sometimes.”
“Are these all set on the high seas?”
“Mostly.”
“Are they all swashbuckling bad boys?”
He sighed and stood. “You aren’t going to forget about this, are you?”
I ignored such an obviously dumb question. “Oooh. Does someone have to walk the plank?”
He shrugged. “It happens, although it’s not historically accurate. But the readers…”
“The readers like what the readers like, right?” I snapped my fingers. “This explains your thing with oranges. Keeps away the scurvy.” With that, I collapsed into the chair overcome with laughter. Because this was hilarious. Theo Goodnight, romance author? My quiet, thoughtful Theo? “Who are you?”
Theo rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, no one knows about it. No one. I want to keep it that way.”
“Not even my brothers?” Oh, man, they’d have a field day with this info.
The look he gave me had a tinge of panic to it. “Please don’t tell them.”
“Huh.” I moseyed over to him. “So, how do I find these books?”
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why? Do you think now I know this I can forget it exists?”
His head dropped back, and he stared at the ceiling. “They’re online. Under a pen name.”
“Well, what is it?” I asked, already pulling out my phone.
“I don’t want to tell you,” he muttered.
“Why?” I put my hands on my hips.
He refused to make eye contact. Oh, this was bad. Or really, really good. “Because?—”
The door burst open, and Karen raced into the room, yapping like she’d seen a robbery at a dog bone factory. She made a beeline for me and my ankles.
“Stop it, you gremlin,” I said, but Karen was not playing around. She got ahold of one of my shoelaces and began to shake her head back and forth violently while yanking on it, all the while growling at the offending piece of string. “Someone get it off me.”
I tried gently, and then not-so-gently, to remove her by shaking my leg. Teetering on one foot, I put a hand on Theo’s shoulder, but it was a losing battle. While Mack laughed like this was the funniest thing he’d seen in ages, Theo attempted to shoo her away, but Karen got the shoelace untied and scrambled between my legs. And that was that.
One minute, I was standing and the next I was falling…right on top of Theo. His hands caught me at the waist but not fast enough to prevent the inevitable. Theo fell on the bed, and I went with him. We both landed with an “Oophf,” followed by stunned silence.
Or rather, Theo and I were silent. Karen was well on her way to a barking-induced brain aneurysm and Mack was laughing so hard, he was wheezing. Our eyes collided in shock. I dropped my forehead on his chest and we both began to laugh. His laughter traveled through my body, and I was certain I’d found a new perfect moment. This one right here with Theo.
You are in the danger zone, Ramos. Abort. Abort.
I scrambled to get off him but instead of helping me, Theo’s hands tightened on my waist. My hand rested on his chest, and I could feel his heartbeat, strong and fast.
“I should get up,” I whispered.
“Yes.” One of his hands traveled up to gently tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. “You probably should.”
“Absolutely.” But instead of doing that like a sane person, I found myself moving closer. Theo’s fingers slid into my hair and encouraged me and then there we were, our mouths a whisper apart. All one of us had to do was shift and our lips would touch and then…
“You two lovebirds need a little alone time?” Mack scooped up Karen and smirked at us.
“Oh, my gosh.” I scrambled off Theo and the bed. My cheeks flamed hot as I grabbed my backpack from the floor and tugged it on, carefully avoiding Theo. Or Mack. And definitely that damn dog.
“I’m…just going to go…” I could barely hear my thoughts over the pounding of my heart. I froze mid-step. Crap. Where was I going? “Food. I’m going to go get breakfast.”
“Good idea,” Mack called to my back. “You’re gonna miss out on the good oatmeal flavors.”
“Right. Don’t want to do that,” I yelled back. But it wasn’t the oatmeal I cared about missing; it was that kiss.