5. Teddy
Chapter 5
O nce we’re on the road again, Sam starts apologizing. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make things awkward back there, especially between you and Brice. Honestly, I don’t even know why I did it, you just looked like you could both use a hug, and I…” He tapers off and I’m intensely interested in how this sentence ends. Somehow, it seems important to me.
Kelly stays close behind, and we arrive in about ten minutes. It’s a good thing I did ride with Sam. He lives in a big house down a dirt road, and I fear Kelly’s right about losing her muffler if I tried to ride with her.
As we pull up in the yard, I notice there’s no real driveway, just a dirt and gravel lot out front, but I can see the shop building back and to the right of the house. “Sam’s Shelves and Cabinets” is spray-painted across the front over the double doors.
Kelly bounces out of her car, holding a padded hanger with a long T-shirt and a pair of sneakers tied over her shoulder, clearly ready to get changed. However, she quickly scrambles back inside when a loud barking breaks out and some sort of big red dog comes barreling around the side of the shop. Sam gets out and the dog makes a beeline for him. It slams into his legs and Sam smacks into the side of the truck with a loud “oof”. Probably best it didn’t get to my pixie first, pretty sure she’d be on the ground now, and she’s already had one tumble today.
I turn back towards her car to check on her, but she’s not inside anymore. She’s squatted in her dress, on the ground, patting her thighs and whistling. The big dog stops trying to jump up on Sam and wiggles over in her direction, doing a full body wag.
“Well, aren’t you just a big ole slobber muffin!” she says, wrapping her hands around its head and scratching behind the ears. The dog lets out a garbled huff and flops to the ground, nearly dragging her down as it rolls around onto its back. Its saggy upper lip is flopped over its snout, and its eyes look huge, staring intently at Kelly, pleading for belly rubs, which she seems to happily oblige.
I quickly turn back to Sam, because squatting down in that dress is not doing a damned thing to keep it decent. It scoots farther up her thigh with every move she makes. I’m not sure if I should go lift her up or thank the dog myself. But things are going to get awfully embarrassing if that thing rides up much higher. Sam seems to have the same problem, as he’s staring intently at the shop, ears bright red and rubbing the back of his head.
“Yeah, that’s Jake, he’s supposed to be a guard dog. Um, clearly, he never got the memo. But if you wanna bring your change of clothes in, I can show you two around and get you situated. Teddy, you can see if you feel up to staying here.” His head turns slightly towards me while he’s talking, but we’re both pointedly not looking at Kelly by now.
In retrospect that was probably a bad idea, as I hear her let out a little squeak, and spin around to see her sprawled against her car, her skirt hitched all the way up on one side. Jake is leaning against her, trying his damnedest for more pets and she is flailing under the big dog’s weight. Her hands press tight against the driver side door, trying to keep from getting knocked to the ground.
Sam lets out a loud curse and stalks over, clapping his hands and gently chiding the dog, “Oh my god, yes, attention from someone new. You’re so starved for affection….” His voice trails off as the dog moves and he takes in the full sight of Kelly and her little blue panties. A low growl rumbles out of him. “Ahh, shit, Sugar, are you ok? I’m sorry about that big lug. He just wants attention, I didn’t mean to let him maul you.”
Kelly just laughs, her cheeks turning pink as she tugs down her dress. “No, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have gotten down there with him. Sorry about that, and you know, flashing you.” She’s staring at her feet in the pretty silver heels, now covered in dust. “I really would appreciate a place to get cleaned up and changed. I don’t want to ruin the dress Candice got me.”
Sam takes her hand and makes sure she’s steady, before opening her car and getting her clothes back out. “Not a problem, each bedroom has its own attached bath, and there’s an extra one downstairs. Let me show you two inside. Kelly can use the primary, and then Teddy can use the finished spare room shower to get cleaned up in. I’m sure I’ve got an extra T-shirt you can use till we go get your stuff from Joseph’s. If you want?” He looks back at me, uncertainty flickering in his eyes.
“Truth? This whole thing has been a bit of a shit-show and getting cleaned up and into something comfortable that doesn’t smell like a room full of strangers sounds wonderful right now.” I offer him a lopsided smile. I really do appreciate him offering to let me stay, but I’m also wondering if I can keep from making a fool of myself in a house saturated with his scent.
Sam
T his is a terrible idea.
What the fuck was I thinking?
I can’t have him in my house for a week.
Shouldn’t have her here at all.
Both of them are going to think I’m some kind of raging pervert!
I lead Kelly and Teddy into the house, carrying her everyday clothes so that her hands are free to ward off Jake. I pull a towel from the linen closet in the front hall and deposit her and her stuff in the front bathroom. I don’t know if she’ll want a full scrub-down to remove the dog slobber and body glitter, but I want to offer all the same. The house is two stories, almost a plantation style from the outside with big pillars and a wraparound porch on both levels. It really was a steal, but it’s taking so much work.
“Are you more comfortable on top or bottom?” I ask Teddy as I head towards the stairs. When I don’t get an answer, I turn back and he’s staring at me, his mouth hanging open and the tips of his ears red. My mind replays what I just said, and I groan.
Fuck me.
I point to the stairs. “Top or bottom, upstairs or down. Fuck, I promise, I’m not trying to hit on you Teddy.” I drop my face in my hands, mortified by what I just said, even if I didn’t mean it that way. Goddammit these two are driving me out of my mind, and it’s been less than ten minutes with them in my house. I’m not sure how I’m gonna be able to handle this for another six days. At least it’ll just be him, and not both of them.
Strong hands wrap around my lower jaw, raising my face up, and Teddy’s there, a small smirk on his full lips. “Well, to be honest, I’m kind of a switch, so I can go either way.” He pulls me towards him, and I don’t feel like resisting. His kiss is hard, his lips slanting over mine, sucking and nipping at my mouth. I groan into him and he tilts my head down to get a better angle before swiping his tongue across my bottom lip once and pulling away.
“But maybe bottom in this case, not sure I want to deal with an unfamiliar set of stairs in the middle of the night, just to be safe.” He’s still holding my face, his eyes capturing mine, searching. Holy fucking shit on a cracker . I stand there, not knowing how to reply. I want to pull him back to kiss him again. Drag him to one of the bedrooms and peel off these fucking clothes so we can explore this further. But Kelly’s here, and I don’t know how long she’s going to be cleaning up and getting changed.
Clearing my throat a few times before I can speak. “Ok, well, there are two bedrooms downstairs, plus an office and a nesting suite. The other four bedrooms—including the master, which is mine—are upstairs. I can go get you a change of clothes. The first room on the right should be completely ready for you, but if you prefer a different one, I can try to get it fixed up…It won’t look pretty, but I want you to be comfortable.” I’m kind of proud of how not choked my voice comes out, but I also really need to adjust my cock because I’m hard as fuck right now, and it is going to be painfully obvious as soon as I step far enough back that he can see my slacks.
Teddy smirks a bit. “Hmm, maybe I should have picked top then.” He turns and stalks off down the hall, opening the first door on the right. I need to get myself under control and get cleaned up. Plodding up the stairs and into the master bedroom, I unbutton my shirt and toss it into the hamper along with my slacks. I don’t have time to take care of my aching cock at the moment. Even if I did, I do believe it would only be a stop gap considering the delicious smelling omega and beta in my fucking house right now. Fuck, why did I think this was a good idea?
Because he needed help.
Ok, fair point, but do you really think you’re going to be able to keep your hands to yourself if he does that again?
Yeah, I didn’t think so either.
Teddy’s not like any omega I’ve met before. Fuck, he gives off more dominance than most alphas I know. That thought sends an image racing through my mind—him pinning Kelly to the wall downstairs, hiking up that short little dress of hers, and pulling aside those tiny blue panties she was flashing at us earlier. While I’m glad she didn’t seem overly embarrassed, I’ve never been so fucking jealous of a dog in my life. I would happily fall at her feet too if that was the reaction.
I head into my bathroom and splash my face with cold water. I wish I had time for more, but that would be rude, and I still need to get something for Teddy to wear. Drying my face, I head to the closet, pulling out a ratty T-shirt and a pair of work jeans. I have several solid button ups I wear when I work out in the shop to save me from flying woodchips, but it can get fucking hot out there too, especially in the summer. Always better to dress in layers so you can take shit off if you need to.
I snag a black jersey and a pair of basketball shorts out of a drawer. I don’t play basketball, but they can be comfortable to lounge around in.
Heading back downstairs, I knock on the door that Teddy went into earlier, but there’s no answer. I crack it open and hear the shower going in the bathroom. Forcing myself not to look and see if he left the door open, I toss the change of clothes on the bed and leave before I can give into temptation.
Walking back into the front room, I hear humming in the kitchen and turn that way. Kelly’s in there, her butt sticking out as she leans far into the fridge. Those cutoffs she has on hug her ass beautifully, her long lean legs tilting her hips from side to side as she hums a tune I can’t catch. She straightens up and lets out a tiny scream, almost dropping the armload of sandwich stuff she’s holding.
“Crud, I’m so sorry! I wanted to do something nice for y’all cause you’re letting us stay here for a bit so I don’t get into trouble. I already texted Steph, but she says Brice is gonna help her with the decorations since he brought the flowers. If you’ll just let me stay for a couple of hours, I’ll get outta your hair.” Her smile is sheepish, and she still has quite a bit of glitter smeared up her neck, but she pulled her hair down from earlier and it curls in ringlets down her back. She’s wearing a scrunchie on her wrist.
Not sure how I can tell her I want her, both of them, to stay for a lot longer than a few hours.
“I appreciate it, really. But Teddy’s in the shower, if you need more time to clean up, feel free to do so. I can make us up some food if you tell me what you like.” I step forward, helping her spread out the sandwich stuff on the counter and taking a look at her choices. I admit I do the bachelor thing most of the time, it’s just not worth putting in a lot of effort for myself. Usually if I want something hot, I just hit the diner down the road. Most of what I eat are sandwiches, so I keep a variety of fixin’s on hand, including the lunchmeat she found in the fridge. Seems like she only found the bread I left out on the counter, whole wheat. Maybe I should ask if she wants something else from the pantry.
She smiles up at me, and I take a step back so I don’t close the distance between us. She still has traces of Teddy’s snickerdoodle mixed with her touch of lilac and I have to grip the countertops behind me to keep myself from leaning down and running my nose along her glittering neck and getting a solid hit of her scent. She swallows a few times before speaking again. “Sorry, Momma keeps trying to teach me how to cook, but the most I can do is a sandwich, a grilled sandwich, or a decent burger…Do you have a grill? Daddy’s been trying to teach me how to do pancakes…but that’d probably be kind of heavy for lunch.” I know I look skeptical when she huffs. “I’ve only set myself on fire, like, three times, ok. And my eyebrows grew back just fine.” I have to hide my smile at her adorable look of outrage.
“Sorry, Sugar, I don’t actually have a grill at the moment. I don’t cook much for myself, so I never bothered gettin’ one. Maybe if Teddy is gonna be staying for a bit we can get one so you can come over and not set yourself on fire?” Her tiny self-depreciating smile makes my chest ache, and I watch as her fingers twist together before she starts to stammer.
“Sorry, I just…I’m kind of accident prone. It’s not on purpose. But like you saw today.” She points down at the bright pink bandages on her knees.
How did I forget about that? Oh yeah, I was busy trying to stop my own nosebleed. I reach up and unconsciously rub the bridge of my nose and her face falls, she looks mortified. “Oh…I am so, so sorry about that. I never even asked if you were ok. Are you ok? That was totally my fault, I couldn’t get that stupid door open, and then it did, and I just fell over, and it hit you. I should have asked sooner…”
She’s rambling, but fuck, her blush is adorable, and I reach out to touch her chin, tipping it up so she’ll look at me. Her continued apology tapers off as our eyes meet. “I’m ok, Sugar. It was a hell of a shock at the time, but I’ve had my nose broken more than a few times, this was nothin’.” Her smile is sweet as she tentatively reaches towards my face, her fingers tracing the bridge of my nose, there’s no real pressure as she feels along the ridge that’s been busted at least a half dozen times. Her hands feel so good on me, and I wish I was free to explore her as well, but she’s a guest. I reluctantly step back when I hear the door to Teddy’s room open down the hall, feeling a small twinge as her hand drops back to her side.
“So, I might have stuff for burgers, or I can run down to the store if you’ve got your heart set on ’em. Otherwise, a sandwich sounds mighty fine to me. It’s still pretty early, so we could do quick sandwiches now, and then maybe burgers for dinner if you are gonna be here that long?”
Please be here that long.