Page 53 of Theoretically Straight

“Although I have a new theory now,” Oliver adds.

“A new theory for what?” I ask.

“I initially thought that you witnessed Caleb murdering someone in that basement, but now I’m convinced that it’s actually the opposite.”

“Wait, what?” Caleb asks, walking towards the pool and rubbing sunscreen into his cheeks. “What about me murdering someone?”

“Don’t worry, Caleb, I’m convinced you’re the victim now,” Oliver reassures him. “I think that you witnessed Theo murdering someone in cold blood in Saint Catherine’s basement, and he was going to kill you, too, because you’d seen too much. In a desperate attempt to save your own life, you agreed to do anything Theo wanted, and he forced you to spend your Sunday afternoon with a bunch of losers you don’t know. Although now you know that we’re not all losers, and there’s at least one other cool person here, but still, you had no way of knowing that until you met me.”

“Ahh, I see,” Caleb says with a grin, glancing down at me. “Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag, Theo. Will you still let me live?”

I rub my chin thoughtfully. “Well, unfortunately, now I just have to kill all of you because you all know too much.”

“Unless we all gang up on you,” Caleb says with a mischievous smirk. “I mean, now it’s four against one. You can’t kill all of us.”

“It’s him or us, Caleb!” Oliver shouts. “Throw him in!”

“What, no!” I say as I scramble to my feet. “You wouldn’t!”

“Oh, I think I would,” Caleb says, his smile devilish and full of intent, which for some reason makes my insides feel funny, catching me off guard.

Caleb takes full advantage of my hesitation and lunges towards me, scooping me up in his arms in what I can only describe as a bridal carry, sweeping me off my feet with one arm and supporting my back with his other arm. It happens so fast that I’m barely able to register what’s happening until I’m off the ground, legs dangling in the air, my bare olive skin pressed against his fair skin as he literally holds me in his arms. I can only stare up at him in shock.

“Throw him in! Throw him in!” Oliver is chanting somewhere in the background.

Caleb looks down at me and smiles. “Sorry, Theo.” And he leans over the side of the pool to gently toss me into the water below.

The water is cold, shocking me initially, but I have the distinct feeling that the resulting adrenaline rush that follows is not related to the temperature of the water. I reemerge from the water, hearing laughter from several different directions, but my focus is solely on Caleb, who stands over the edge of the pool with a pleased grin.

“Traitor!” I yell after I gasp for air, then with herculean effort, I use my feet to propel myself upward out of the water and grab onto his arm.

“No, no, Theo, wait,AHH–”

I show no mercy as I cling to his arm with both hands, pushing myself off the wall with my feet as I pull him in to make sure he doesn’t hit the edge as he tumbles into the water with me.

I resurface at the same time he does, and he’s coughing and spitting, but he’s laughing, and his nose is doing that little crinkle thing, which makes me laugh even harder.

I notice the sunlight bouncing off his wet curls. His hairisdarker when it’s wet, more of an auburn than copper.Called it.

“Asshole!” Caleb shouts, still chuckling. “My sunscreen hasn’t soaked in yet!”

“Oh, crap, I’m so sorry, I totally forgot,” I say between gasps of air, trying to stop giggling but failing miserably. My heart is racing, and my cheeks hurt from laughing, but I couldn’t care any less if I tried.

After Caleb and I make it back to the shallow end of the pool, and he claims the last available inner tube, my heart finally stops pounding in my chest, and I can catch my breath. I grab a pool noodle and relax into it, floating effortlessly between my friends in a blissful daze.

As a bonus, every time Caleb and I make eye contact, he grins at me, and my chest feels warm. I tuck the image of this specific smile away in my brain for later study.

“So, I don’t think we’ve talked about the Hudson shout-out of your video yet, have we?” Harrison asks out of nowhere.

“Oh shit, no, we haven’t,” Oliver answers, then turns to look at me. “Which is weird. Isn’t that like your whole thing, Theo?”

He’s right. I have barely even thought about it since Saturday afternoon before Caleb and Wren came over. Weird. “Yeah, I’m super psyched about it. It just hasn’t come up yet,” I say dismissively.

Harrison squints at me. “Well, what are we going to do about it? Have you tried reaching out to Hudson or anyone from the show to let them know you saw the shout-out?”

I run my fingers through my wet curls. “No, not yet.”

“Dude, seriously, you’re slacking,” Oliver says, splashing himself with water to cool down. “What are you waiting for?”

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