Just One Look (Castleton Hearts)

“I’m sure there’s some scientific answer, but I wonder if it goes back to when we used to cook things over a fire,” she said, and I thought about that.

“You’ve got a point.”

The food was amazing, and the company wasn’t that bad either. Theo seemed much more comfortable in her house than she’d even been in the bar. She told me about her niece, Mia, who was seven and who Theo clearly adored.

“She sounds adorable,” I said.

“She’s a good kid,” Theo said. “She wants to try out for a cheerleading team, so I’m coaching her this summer.”

I almost fell off my chair.

“You were a cheerleader?”

Theo nodded. “In college.”

I was utterly flabbergasted.

“You’re shitting me,” I said, and she shook her head. “I am at a loss for words.”

Theo took a bite of her burger and then set it down. “Most people say that.”

“Hold on,” I said, my food forgotten. “Are there pictures? I’m going to need to see evidence before I believe you.”

Theo sat there for a second and then sighed before pulling out her phone and searching through it.

A moment later, my phone dinged with a few messages. I pulled up the first of a number of videos.

“I think you can tell which one is me,” she said as I hit play on the first video.

It was of a group of four cheerleaders in a gym, and I spotted Theo right away. Her hair was longer, up in a ponytail, but she was unmistakable. She wore a black sports bra and shorts that did nothing to hide her rock-solid quads. As I watched, the person filming the video counted and one of the girls did a backward flip before going up in the air and executing a series of tricks and dismounts before the group at the bottom tossed her up in the air again. I knew I was supposed to be watching the girl at the top, but all I could see was Theo. Her face was tight with concentration as she lifted and tossed and caught the girl and worked with her teammates.

“Holy shit,” I said when the video ended. I played the second, which showed Theo standing in a corner. She slapped her thighs and then took off running until she threw her body into a tumbling pass that had my head spinning. She landed to cheers from the other people standing around.

“Holy shit,” I said.

“You already said that,” she told me. I watched another video, which was of Theo doing a cheer by herself, including a jump series. Her voice was clear and deep. It was at odds with my ideas of cheerleaders having high, peppy voices. Theo sounded more commanding.

At the very end, she flipped her ponytail and laughed, and I wondered how the girl in the video was connected to the woman sitting in front of me.

“Well, my mind is officially blown,” I said, putting my phone down. “You are a woman of many talents, Theo Harmon. I’m completely shocked and impressed.”

Theo did a little bow in her chair.

“What made you become a cheerleader?” I asked.

“Well, I did gymnastics for years and then when I was in college there was this girl I was absolutely in love with and so I joined the team in an attempt to seduce her.” That answered my gay or not question.

“Did it work?”

A sly smile spread on her face and I almost slid out of my chair for an entirely different reason. Why was I so gay around her?

“Of course,” she said. “But it also had the added benefit that I really loved the sport. So now I’m coaching my niece and she’s going to make the team if I have to do a back handspring myself.”

That was really cute. And really sexy.

“What other secrets are you hiding?” I asked. “First the karaoke, and now this.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she asked, picking up her burger again. It was impossible to tell if she was flirting with me or not, so I did the same and finished my food.

When our plates were clean, Theo grabbed them and brought them into the kitchen. I picked up a few more plates and followed her.

“I’ve got this,” she said. “Go sit down. You can give Scout a t-r-e-a-t. There’s a bag in that cabinet.”

She pointed to the cabinet, and I went and grabbed a treat for Scout, who had tried to sneak over to the table, but had slunk back to his bed every time Theo caught him.

I held the treat up so he could see it, and he immediately perked up.

“Scout, sit,” I said, and he did. “Lay down.” He did. I made him shake and then gave him the treat that he chomped happily on.

“Want another beer?” Theo called.

“Sure,” I said and went to sit on the couch. It was off-white, but I could tell it was covered in that special stain-resistant fabric and had several blankets over one area that looked like it belonged to Scout. I avoided that area and he got up and sat next to me on the blanket, putting his head in my lap.