The Jacket Snatcher

Chapter 30- I Have a Theory

After several hours of uploading and sifting through the photos at the office with Lindsay, we head over to the boys' house. I managed to copy some of the pictures from when they showed me around the first day and from them playing soccer today and put them on my phone without Lindsay noticing. I know she'd give me grief for it if she knew.

After gorging on Chinese takeout this time, we all settle into the living room for another movie. While everyone else bickers over which one to watch, I pull out my phone and start swiping through the pictures I added of the guys. Even though they are of completely random moments, some of them are actually pretty good. I wonder if I should use a few in my portfolio for college.

In the middle of my thoughts, my phone is rudely plucked from my hands. "Hey!" I protest.

"Hi," Calum responds with a ridiculous grin. "What are all these? Oh, look at those sexy lads!"

He swipes through several pictures, smiling to himself as he goes.

"Those are just the pictures I have of you guys acting like idiots," I say, rolling my eyes. "You know, so I have blackmail if I need it."

"Please, these are awesome!" He turns the screen around to show Luke. "Look at this one of me schooling you in soccer."

Luke snatches the phone and keeps swiping through, but it soon gets taken away by Ashton, and finally Michael. I walk over to where Michael is sitting and hold out my hand, knowing that if anyone is going to give it back, it's going to be him.

"These actually are really impressive," Michael says, placing it into my open palm. "It kinda makes me want to see what you got of the surfers. I mean, if you were able to make those dopes look good kicking a ball around, imagine what your pictures of actual athletes look like."

Calum throws a pillow at his face to shut him up.

"You will just have to buy a magazine to see how good a job she did," Lindsay says, coming up to pat me on the shoulder. "Let me see these pictures they're talking about, though."

While she scrolls through, I notice the boys giving each other odd looks, occasionally whispering.

"What are you guys whispering about?" I finally ask, my curiosity mounting.

Ashton gives me a wide grin. "Don't worry about it."

"Okay..."

"So what movie did we decide on?" he asks, changing the subject.

"She's the Man," Lindsay says at the same time that Calum says, "Transformers."

I groan and fall back onto the couch as we're thrown into this argument again. I hear a deep chuckle as the cushion behind my head sinks down. I tilt my chin up to see Luke staring down at me with laughing eyes.

Eventually, Lindsay wins after she convinces Ashton to switch his vote to her side. I sit up so that I'm not taking up so many spots on the couch. It ends up being Luke, me, Lindsay, and Ashton on the couch in that order. Lindsay and I are practically sharing one cushion, again.

At several points, I have to adjust positions and end up poking Lindsay in the ribs with my elbow.

"Ouch! Steph, get your bony arms away from my side!" she hisses after I accidentally nail her in the stomach.

"Sorry!" I whisper, trying to extricate myself from her limbs without ending up in Luke's space.

He makes a derisive noise and says, "Oh, this is ridiculous," before his arm reaches around and hooks across my shoulders. He pulls me against his side so that Lindsay and I are no longer on top of one another. I freeze.