Lineage

Chapter 7

Colton

     During practice, Theo and I were walking out of the locker room when we ran into Dane Rutledge and a couple of his cronies.   

       "Can't believe you're pimping your sister out Bancroft. I thought you'd have had a little more respect for her than to let Barrett have a go", Rutledge spat.

 All eyes in the locker room go to Theo. He lunges at Dane and has him by the throat in the blink of an eye. The team members in the locker room all start pulling them apart. 

    "Don't ever put my sister's name in your mouth again, Rutledge!" Theo seethes. "I mean it, I will end you!"

 He let go of Dane and stands back. Dane slumps against his friends catching his breath. I had hold of Theo to keep him from going after Dane again. The muscles are twitching in my hand. I am having a hard time restraining myself. Dane stands up glaring at us and starts to speak, but he never gets the chance. Before anyone knows what is happening I punch him square in the mouth. I grab him by the shirt and pull him up until our faces are inches away.

       "If I ever hear you speak about Tatum like that, you won't even be around to regret it!" I shove him and walk out of the locker room. Theo by my side. 

     "You punched the s**t out of that bastard. How's your hand?" Theo pats my back.

I flex my hand a few times. "It'll be ok, it was worth it to shut his smug mouth!"

The girls are waiting next to the Land Rover. Theo hits the unlock button and the girls climb in as we walk the last couple of steps to the Land Rover. As Theo pulls out of his parking space,  Dane comes out of the locker room and stares daggers as we leave.

    "What's up with him?" Teagan asks.      

    "Nothing!", I insist, running my hand through my hair. Tatum must have seen my hand because she grabs my arm and pulls it down so she can see my hand better.

      "What in the world happened?" she breathes.    

      "Rutledge ran into it," I recount. That's all I say and Theo doesn't elaborate either. 

  Theo drops us off at my house. We're going to get the equipment Tay needs for bugging the phones.  She goes to the kitchen to fix an icepack while I change clothes. She's waiting at the bar when I walk in. I come up behind her, slip my arms around her, and plant a kiss on the top of her head. 

    "I'm sorry you had to deal with Leslie today", I hold on a little longer and squeeze her shoulders before I break away. 

    "It's fine. It wasn't your fault, and I think I hit legendary status with my sick burn!" quips Tatum. 

    "Baby, you have been always been at legendary status. All the girls want to be you,   and all the guys want you!"

She flushes and I can't help but grin at her. 

    "Ready?" I ask.

    "Yes, let's go", the sooner we get the components the sooner we can get some real information", she murmurs. 

    "Gee thanks! I nearly get caught snooping in my dad's phone but it's not real information," I roll my eyes. 

    "You know what I meant!"

 She grabs the ice pack and leads the way out of the house. I follow her to the passenger side of my shiny silver jeep and open the door for her. I fight the urge to pick her up and set her in the seat. My jeep sits high off the ground, so she struggles a little getting in. I enjoy the show too much to interrupt. I pull the shoulder belt down and across her lap myself though and buckle her in. She smells mouthwatering. I shut the door and walk around the jeep to the driver's side almost in a daze. She makes my heart crazy and I like it. I get in, buckle my seat belt, start the jeep, and back out of the driveway. Once I pull into the street I reach over and grab her hand. She promptly moves her hand until it is underneath mine and places the ice pack over my bruised hand. 

    "So, are you hungry?" I ask. 

    "I could eat", she giggles. "Do you want a sit-down meal or fast food?"  

    "Let's do drive-thru so we don't take a chance of running late getting to the security place. We don't want them to close before we get there", I reason. 

    "Good idea", she agrees, "Chick-fil-A?

    "That works," I know she has a soft spot for the famous chicken joint. I would eat dirt if she wanted that. I pull into the drive-thru and soon we are zipping back out while she gets our food out of the bag. I tune into my favorite radio station and crank some tunes while she hands my chicken sandwich over. She sits my fries in the console and puts the straw in my drink. She's perfect.

    "You're good to go," she says as she digs her 8-piece nugget meal out of the bag. We eat in silence for the first few minutes. She finishes first and starts crooning along as her favorite song comes on. Her voice is clear and beautiful. I finish my meal and hand her the wrapper, then grab her hand again as the song ends.

    "Your voice is amazing. I forgot how well you sing",  I compliment her, then laugh when I see that cute little blush of hers again. I love making her blush. She squeezes my hand making me wince. 

    "Spill it," she says. "What did you do?" 

    "Nothing to tell", I shrug. 

    "Bull! I guess I'll have to go to social media to find out", she mumbles and starts scrolling through her phone. 

    "Fine, Rutledge ran his mouth a little too much, so Theo and I shut him down!" I snap. 

I see her jerk a little at the snap of words but she continues her quest for information. 

    "So, why are you the one with the jacked-up hand if you AND Theo shut him down?" she asks. "I didn't see a mark on Theo". 

    "Because Theo didn't punch him", I grumble. "He just choked the s**t out of him". 

    "What did he say that had you two going caveman on him?" 

 I won't budge though. I will not tell her. 

    "Fine, but I doubt it would be too presumptuous of me to assume it had to do with me. I don't want you fighting over me, got it?" she eyes me. 

    "Tatum, there are some things you just have to handle. Some things you can't let go!" I insist. "Can we not talk about that douche bag?"

   I pull into the parking lot of Charleston Security and park. She's sulking, and I don't want her to be unhappy. 

    "Let's not let a d**k like Rutledge ruin our evening. Just know he got what was coming to him" I lean over and brush my lips over her cheek. She turns her beautiful face to me, and I take her lips in the sweetest of kisses. We're both out of breath when the kiss ends. I lay my forehead to hers for a moment. I pull my head back and stare down into her beautiful green eyes and my heart is undone. 

    "This is good. We are good together", I breathe. 

    "We are," she exhales. "No more talk of Dane or Leslie the evening is ours". 

I'm happy with that announcement. We go inside the store to purchase the things Tatum has on her list. It amazes me that she not only knows what to get but also what to do with it. She pretty much knows everything or can find it out. She'll put those skills to use and find out what Dane said about her. I wish she wouldn’t, but I know she will. I wouldn't have her hurt for anything, so the thought of it bothers me. It's not even that Dane really meant it that way about her, so much as he said it to get to me. We've never liked each other, and the rivalry escalates every year. 

    She finds everything she needs, and after paying we walk back to the jeep. As I walk her to her door she says,

      "We are so close to Kiawah. Wouldn't a stroll on the beach be nice?" 

    "It would", I agree as I reach for the seat belt. I buckle her in and shut the door. She whistles as I climb into the driver’s side and start the jeep. 

    "Hey sexy, can I get your digits?" she teases as I'm backing out of the parking space. 

    "Sorry, my heart is already taken by the most beautiful girl in the world", I laugh. 

    "Flattery will get you everywhere!" she smiles. 

    I intertwine our fingers and hold her hand as I drive west to Kiawah Island. We park at Beachwalker Park and make our way to the beach. I slow my stride to match hers, especially in the sand. She starts to shiver so I put my arm around her shielding her from the breeze. I wish I had a blanket in the jeep, so we could sit on the beach and watch the sunset. We walk a little further and Tatum stops and scans the area for a moment.

    "This is the perfect spot to watch the sunset!" she says as she pulls me down to the sand with her. I couldn't agree more as she wiggles into my lap.