Page 18 of When It Burns

Hannah: Helllll yes! Theo the DD? I think he’s growing on me. I’ll spend the night at Caroline’s after we get home tonight so y’all can just grab us from her apartment if that works? Will and Seth are coming a little later, so they can get themselves there.

Margaret: Sounds good to me.

Me: That’s so sweet of Theo! Tell him thank you! What are y’all wearing?

Hannah: C, you’d better have on that bikini you showed me last week.

Me: I’m afraid it’s too much.

Hannah: I’m not dealing with your shit today. Put it on now. If not I’ll make you when I get there.

Me: *eye roll*

Margaret: Y’all are a mess. See you soon.

Me: I’m apartment 2A whenever you get here. Just come on up.

Knowing that Hannah isn’t joking about finding a way to make me wear the swimsuit, I begrudgingly throw it on and look at my reflection in the mirror. It doesn’t look bad, but I am worried about the fish getting an eye full. Sighing, I throw the shorts on over the bottoms and decide to roll with it. I hear a knock at the door and walk to swing it open assuming it’s Hannah.

Instead, I come face to face with Theo. I should have known Hannah wouldn’t be early, but the coffee hasn’t fully knocked out my brain fog. Theo looks at me and then glances down at the itty bitty swimsuit top I’m wearing, and I try not to blush as his eyes rake over my body. All of a sudden it seems like all of the air has been sucked out with a straw. Theo is all muscle, and his dark brown hair has gotten just long enough I can imagine grabbing it while sinking down onto his cock. Judging by his physical size, I am willing to bet he isn’t small. I start to imagine leading him into my apartment and stripping him down before pushing him onto the couch and straddling him to let my dripping wet-

“You have everything you need?” he asks from the doorway, breaking me from my daydream. I jump a bit, mortified that I fell so deeply into the almost sex scene playing out in my head. Maybe Will is right and the smutty books have broken my brain. Oh well, my book boyfriends are worth it.

“Give me just a minute to grab my stuff. You’re welcome to come in. Make yourself at home,” I say over my shoulder, already making my way back to my bedroom. I throw the cropped tee on over my swimsuit and make quick work of grabbing a beach bag. I throw in a change of clothes, a towel, sunglasses, some sunscreen, and run to grab my fully charged Kindle off my nightstand. Once I have all the essentials, I walk back to the kitchen grabbing my water bottle before turning back to Theo and saying, “Ready when you are.”

“Okay cool, come on. We can wait on Hannah in the car,” he says. I wonder if being alone with me in my apartment is making him uncomfortable, but considering the fact I was just imagining myself writhing on his dick, he may be warranted in that emotion. We silently walk down the hallway and make our way outside. Margaret is standing at the back of the truck checking on the cooler on the tailgate.

“Hey girl,” I call out to her when we are close enough that I won’t have to yell.

“Oh goodness, hey! I was just grabbing the muffins I baked for breakfast. Here you go, have one while we wait.” She hands me a bag that must have at least four flavors of the biggest muffins I’ve ever seen. “I made a lemon blueberry, a banana chocolate chip, a cinnamon coffee cake, and an orange strawberry batch. Let me know what you think.”

“Have I told you lately how glad I am that you decided to move to Springside?” I ask jokingly. As I grab out a banana chocolate muffin, Theo leans in to grab the bag from me. Even with the heavenly scent coming from the muffins, I can suddenly smell nothing but him. He smells of cedar and mint toothpaste, and I have to refrain from leaning closer to him. What the hell is wrong with me?

* * *

We wait roughlyten more minutes, making small talk and snacking on the muffins before Hannah whips into the parking lot. She jumps out of the car after barely getting it in park and reaches for her bag in the backseat before she sprints over to us and jumps in the backseat of Theo’s truck with me.

“So sorry everyone! Leroy was giving me absolute hell this morning, and he tried to charge the chicken coop to get some of their feed. I thought I was going to have to stay home and figure out how to replace the wall, but I got everything settled after I moved Cletus and Maryanna into a new field. Of course, after all that I smelled like shit so I had to take a shower,” Hannah says, rolling her eyes as she throws herself into the truck. Sensing the confused look on Theo’s face, I explain.

“Hannah takes care of the family farm for her grandfather. Leroy is her pet pig, but I am pretty sure he thinks he’s a dog. If she would let him ride in the front seat with her I am pretty sure he would hang his head out the window,” I say with a laugh. “And Cletus and Maryanna are the only two cows she likes. We went through a phase a while back that we thought all of them needed a name, but they have over one hundred. We couldn’t even begin to keep up with what we’d called them, so we just had to say forget it. But Cletus and Maryanna stuck.”

Margaret laughs out loud as Theo throws the truck in drive and turns onto the backroad that leads to the small coastal town about forty-five minutes away. Crestview is bigger than Springside, thanks to the college campus and beach property, but I love that it still has a small-town feel. I grab out my Kindle and we ride in polite silence listening to music and reading.

Around nine, Theo pulls into a parking spot at a secluded public beach. We make quick work of unloading the truck and start to make the trek towards the water. I grab my beach tote and one of the bags Margaret had filled with snacks. I haven't made it more than a few feet when Theo reaches out his hand and takes the bag from my shoulder. I immediately feel chill bumps run down my arm where he touched me, regardless of the ninety-eight-degree heat. “I’ll take this.”

“Thanks,” I murmur, feeling incredibly shy all of a sudden. I am pretty sure I am blushing like a schoolgirl, but since there’s nothing I can do to stop it I try not to worry about it. Hannah scouts out a great place on the beach for us, and we try to spread our stuff out enough to ensure that we have room when Will and Seth arrive. Hannah and Margaret run straight out to the water with some floats they’d brought with them, but I decide to lay out for a bit first. I expect Theo to keep to himself, but instead, he brings a chair and sits down beside me. I smile at him, wondering if he feels as magnetic with me as I do with him.

“I heard what happened at school this week with Michael. Are you okay?” Theo asks me after a few minutes.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I don’t know what’s going on with him. Obviously, my feelings are a little hurt, but I don’t think any of his behavior was really about me. I’m just hoping that everything is okay,” I reply, looking out at the vast blue ocean. It’s moments like this that make me really glad to be alive. “How was your first week as Chief, Mr. Johnson?”

“Well, I’m damn glad it’s ending better than it started. I know I’ve said it a million times before, but I really am sorry for the way I talked to you when we met,” Theo says with a sheepish look on his face. I take pity on him and give him a smile.

“We all have our days. If I’ve learned anything as a teacher, it's to have a whole lot of grace. It’s crazy what the people we see every day are going through, and we can be so clueless. I am sorry the town hasn’t given you the warmest welcome. I think they’ll grow to love you though. Except maybe Mrs. Sally but she hates everyone,” I say with a laugh and Theo cracks a small smile.

I grab the sunscreen I packed in my bag and start applying it quickly, rubbing the lotion in on my legs and arms. I struggle to reach around and get my shoulders covered, and after a minute Theo says, “Do you want some help with that?”

I blush a little thinking about his big hands running across my body, but I quickly nod in agreement. “Sure, if you don’t mind that’d be great.”

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