Driving Me Crazy

Chapter Nine

Katana

When I come out of the bathroom, I am dressed in Isabel's gray Lululemon sweatpants and a pale green, cropped sweatshirt of the same brand. Sadly, no socks could be saved, but my shoes can be worn with or without them when I eventually go home.

I tried to brush my hair, but it was so knotted that I could barely get the brush through. I let out a slight, "Ow," before giving up and wrapping the towel around my hair. I realize I should probably check my phone so I start towards the bed and after looking up, I see Theo, lying across the bed, remote in hand.

"You ready?" He asks as I walk towards his beaming face.

"Sadly, no. I need to deal with my hair. I was just looking for my phone." Just as the words come out, he leans down and grabs my phone off the charger to hand it to me. I set it back down without checking it.

"I found it on the floor and plugged it in for you. Do you need help?" Theo has an innocent look of pure curiosity on his face right now.

"Help? With what?" I ask, not understanding what he means.

"Your hair, do you need help brushing it? I know tangles can be hard to get out when you can't see them. Here, sit down, I'll grab the brush." He says as he stands up and makes his way to the bathroom. I sit down towards the end of the bed and Theo comes back with the brush and sits down behind me.

"You really don't have to, I have stuff at home for this. It happens a lot because of the nightm-"

"Don't worry about it, let me help." He insists as he grabs a piece of my hair. The silence stretches between us as he works my hair back to its normal state. Starting at the ends, he brushes through it painlessly and moves each completed piece over my shoulder.

My skin pebbles at the touch of his fingertips against my skin, and I hate that it reacts that way. Something about him always has my body on edge like it never has been before. While it's energizing, it's also terrifying because I don't know what it means. I just met this guy and he's done everything right, except almost running me over, but that feels like years ago at this point.

"Where did you learn to do this so perfectly? It doesn't even hurt, I'm impressed." I ask, admirably.

Theo runs his hands along my shoulders and back to my hair before saying, "My mother taught me how to take care of a woman's hair in case a girlfriend ever needed help. I can braid too if that impresses you more." Both of us laugh together before I lean back into his body and look up at him.

"I really appreciate what you've done for me, Theo." A slight flinch runs across his face before he looks down at me and smiles back. "It's nothing really, I only try to be helpful when you need me."

"You have been so insanely helpful. I don't think I've ever been this comfortable around a murderer whose preferred weapon is a Ferrari." I say, laughing. He smiles in response and I can't stop fixating on those dimples. When my eyes make their way to his eyes, he's looking back into mine.

"What color are your eyes?" I ask, "They are so beautiful, but I can't make out a color."

Chuckling, he says, "They're kind of everything. Mainly green, but I have heterochromia iridium. That's why my eyes are yellow in the center. You know, your eyes are green around the outside, they are very beautiful..."

A long moment of silence stretches between us as we lean closer together. It's almost magnetic the way we attract each other. The electricity sparks between us and I know he can feel it too, despite barely knowing me. The space between us is now almost nearly closed, as his hand makes its way to the side of my face, thumb grazing my cheekbone lightly. Slowly, he moves his hand down and his thumb grazes my bottom lip before moving back to my cheek. His lips are millimeters away from mine and I can feel the energy against my skin. I feel his body shift as if he is about to-

"Fuck!" Theo exclaims as we both scramble away from each other. Grabbing his phone and turning off the alarm he says, "Sorry, I turned on a 5 am alarm when I first noticed you fell asleep." Theo reaches his hand up to his forehead and runs his fingers through his hair, leaving it tousled and messy.

"That's smart, especially since you didn't know whether I worked or anything. I appreciate the consideration." I say, trying to break the awkwardness between us, knowing we were less than a second away from kissing.

"On a good note, 5 am means that we can order breakfast, are you hungry?" He asks, anxiously.

"Yeah! What do they have?" I didn't realize just how hungry I was until he said something.

Theo breaks out in a gigantic smile as he says, "Hmmm. Do I have permission to surprise you?"

"Absolutely," I say with a smile. "Just no sausage, I'm not partial to it."

In agreement, he says, "Done deal, now let's get back to the show. I need to find out what happens when Kate tells Allison about werewolves."

"You are obsessed, I love it," I say as I bounce my way back to the headboard, next to him.

↫↬

Breakfast arrives not long after Theo orders and when they knock on the door, he insists I close my eyes to be "surprised."

"You better keep them closed, but also don't move because I am right next to you with a plate of food." He warns.

"Oh, god." I almost moan in response to the scent of the food in front of me. "That smells. So. Good." I exclaim.

Theo stills, and in a dead tone, he says, "please do not moan at our breakfast, ma'am." While breaking out in laughter, he places the food in my lap and works his way over to the other side of the bed. Once I feel him sit down, he informs me that I can open my eyes and when I do, I audibly gasp.

"What is this? It looks so good, thank you!" I praise.

With a grin, he says, "It's Socca breakfast pizza. I used to eat it all the time back home. The bottom pastry is very similar to a crepe, and then it's covered in a greek yogurt and topped with an array of fruits."

I grab my fork and gather a piece and as soon as my taste buds realize what hit them, an unannounced groan releases from the back of my throat. I look over to see Theo, eyes wide and mouth agape.

"I didn't mean to do that, but this is phenomenal, I am so glad you picked for me. Now let's get back to the show, cmon I gotta see how you react to this." Grasping at anything I can, to avoid talking about what just happened.

"As you wish, Juliet" Theo mocks as he reaches for the remote and resumes the show. This has got to be the best date I have ever experienced.