Lineage

Chapter 5

    I was restless the rest of the night. My idea to look extra great for Colton today tanked thanks to the dark circles under my eyes. A shower helped get rid of most of the cobwebs in my mind, and some skin care tricks will help with the dark circles, but I am seriously running late since I hit snooze one too many times. I step out of the bathroom and into my closet to grab the pair of black skinny jeans I decided on last night. They look great on and are perfect with the royal blue side tie top I just bought. The blue makes my eyes pop even more than normal. Fully dressed I sit down at my vanity and let the products do their magic. By the time I am done there is no sign at all that the fitful night was even real. I'm in the bathroom fussing with my hair when Teagan strolls in. 

        "Hey, are you ready?"  

        "Almost. Is Theo clocking me?" I ask. 

        "You know it", she chuckles. "Did you have trouble sleeping as I did?"

        "Yes! I had awful dreams about mom and dad all night". I groan. 

         "Yeah, me too".  

She scoots up onto the bathroom counter as I work on my hair. She pulls out her phone to text Theo to give us another five minutes. She laughs at his "OMG" reply. 

        "Colt is going to eat his heart out today", she declares. 

        "That's the plan", I agree. "Ready?" 

        "Yes ma'am! Let's go let you infatuate Mr. Barrett".

We walk down to the kitchen where grandmother has fresh croissants and bacon from our favorite bakery. Theo is sitting at the bar shoveling his favorites in his mouth. 

        "It's about time!" he says between bites. "We have to go like right now!" 

        "Chill, we've got 2 minutes for me to eat", I say while slathering strawberry jam and butter on a croissant and crunching on a piece of bacon. 

        "Just barely", he mumbles with his mouth full. 

    Teagan pours two glasses of fresh-squeezed orange juice and hands one to me. She takes the first drink of hers as Theo guzzles down the rest of his. He takes off upstairs to get his backpack and football gear for practice. On his way out the kitchen door, he says, "Be ready when I come back!"

      We are ready when he gets back downstairs. We kiss grandmother goodbye and head to the Land Rover in the garage. Neither of us girls has taken our permit tests yet. Neither of us really cares much about driving. Especially me. I love being able to ride with Theo because Colton is usually there too. I smile thinking about our text conversation last night. He was sweet. I've always known he is a great guy. He's been like a brother, but of course, that's not the way I feel now. Thank goodness because that would be gross! 

       Teagan sits up front so that Colton can sit in the back with me. The butterflies in my stomach  are really stirred up. We've already been texting this morning and he's sent a snap of his handsome face, but I haven't sent him one. I  want to see his face when he lays eyes on me this morning. Theo pulls up in front of the house and honks the horn. The door opens and out he swaggers. Lord have mercy, I am hooked! He is HOT! He realizes Teagan is in front, so he moves on to the back passenger side and opens the door. His eyes go hot when he sees me. He stops for a minute like he's lost his senses. Finally, he regains his composure and climbs into the back seat with me. He looks over at me and mouths, "Wow!" He grabs my hand and intertwines our fingers as Theo backs out of the driveway and heads to school. 

    "I had an idea last night", I tell them after we all chat for a while. All eyes on me,  I go on, "We need to bug their phones". 

    "How?" asks Theo. 

    "If someone can take me to Charleston Security after practice I can get what we need. I researched it last night. It will work". 

    "How do we get whatever devices on their phones?" Theo contemplates. 

    "I will show you all how to do that later. Tea and I can take care of grandmother's phone, Theo you can go into the office and do grandfather's, and Colt can get his dad's", I have it all planned out.

    "It's a good idea. I'm in", declares Colton. 

     "Me too", agrees Theo enthusiastically. 

       "Of course, you are", laughs Tea. 

        "What does that mean?" he frowns

        "You can see Lauren!" Tatum giggles. 

    Theo's face reddens, "what are you talking about?" 

        "Dude, we're not dumb!" cackles Colton. "We know why you're interning!"

        "Yeah, because my grandfather expects it",  mumbles Theo.

        "Pretty handy isn't it", Teagan laughs. 

        "I don't know what you're talking about", he says with a sheepish grin on his face. He pulls the Land Rover into his assigned parking space. We get out and make our way to the courtyard where everyone waits for school to start. As Colt comes around to my side he stops and hits his heart a few times with his hand. 

    "You're killing me girl!" he exhales. 

    "Watch it," warns Theo. He and Teagan walk on ahead while Colton and I follow hand in hand. Heads are turning at this development. Theo walks up to a group of their friends in the courtyard and joins their conversation.  Teagan meets up with her friends, and they make their way towards their first class of the day.  Colton sits on an empty bench and pulls me down next to him. 

    He brushes a stray hair out of my face and says "You look beautiful". The simple touch has me blushing. It makes him laugh. 

    "Thank you", I say as I run my hand from my face down to my toes. "I worked hard on this!"  

    "You're too gorgeous to have to work that hard," he compliments me. 

    "Want me to walk you to class?" he asks as he rubs my hand in his. 

    "I'd love it!" I agree. We get up and I start to grab my bags, but he reaches them before I do. He swings them over his shoulder. He takes my hand in his and we walk to the English hall where my first class is located. At the door of my class he bends down to drop a sweet kiss on my lips before we say goodbye. 

    "Text me,' he says as he turns to walk to his class. I immediately text him and watch him take out his phone and turn around to see me still standing at the door to my class with a smile just for him planted on my face.