Chapter 2 #2
Teddy expected a fight, a harder push or pep talk, but Finn nodded.
“I understand. Just keep me up to date, okay?”
“Will do.”
“Should we get those exercise alerts on your phone?”
“Knock yourself out.” Teddy dug out his cell, swiped to unlock it, and handed it to Finn, who explained an app as he downloaded it that would better track Teddy’s progress than just adding calendar reminders.
When he finished and handed the phone back to Teddy, he said, “You’re welcome to use the spa facilities at no charge given you have standing appointments, and since this is your first day, you can enjoy a complimentary massage with any of our available masseuses.”
Complimentary. Maybe Teddy would indulge.
“And only because I have to mention this, all our physical therapists are also licensed masseuses.” He gestured to the bed—table. Teddy really needed to think of it as a table. “Just not yoga instructors,” Finn added with a smirk.
Oh, he made this hard.
Really hard.
“I think I better use someone else, if it’s all the same,” Teddy said.
“Of course.” Finn glanced away with that brief flash of shyness and disappointment that Teddy found so irresistible. “It was good to see you, Teddy. Remember to do your exercises, and I’ll see you again on Wednesday.”
Teddy was an asshole. He knew that. He didn’t try very hard not to be, and he’d been told as much many times over the years.
Still, he could have been less of an asshole to Finn, who knew Teddy was interested and was interested right back, pushing only slightly, most of the time accidentally, but always backing off when Teddy made it clear he just couldn’t.
Even though he wanted to.
That didn’t change that now wasn’t the right time, and everything was already too complicated with Finn being his neighbor and now his physical therapist. He’d see him several days a week for months.
They couldn’t start sleeping together. There were probably rules against that sort of thing, and Finn would get fired if Teddy gave in.
He also did not want to switch to someone else. Having Finn know intimate details about him and his injury was bad enough. He didn’t need more people infringing on his life.
Teddy just needed to get through a few weeks of routine and he’d stop thinking of Finn all the—
“Hey, Teddy!”
—time.
Was he literally following him now? It was the same day!
No, Teddy was in the supermarket in their neighborhood. Naturally, Finn shopped there too. He also wasn’t alone. A gorgeous dark-skinned young woman was with him. Teddy would have felt a stir of jealousy if he wasn’t certain Finn was gay.
He looked his own level of gorgeous out of the scrubs, but then Finn always looked good, with his scruff and his perfectly coifed hair and his long, lean body.
“Finn. Always a pleasure,” Teddy said, tucking his basket closer to him, suddenly self-conscious of the bottle of Kraft Easy Cheese inside.
He’d been a dancer for over twenty years, rarely allowing a cheat day, but spray cheese had always been a weakness. No reason not to cheat now, though he still felt the need to hide it from these kids, who both could have graced a magazine cover.
“Teddy, this is my sister, Rose. Rose, this is Teddy Scofield,” Finn introduced them, and she immediately smiled as she stretched out a hand.
This was Rose? Teddy didn’t see the family resemblance, but then he knew better than to assume.
“Enchanted,” he said.
“I could stand to leave men enchanted more often,” she said with a giggle, her handshake confident and firm. “How do you two know each other?”
“Finn’s my—”
“Neighbor!” Finn jumped in. “Remember, he’s the one I helped into his house the other night.”
“Oh, right!” Rose giggled again, and Teddy fought a scowl as he realized that would likely be how Finn introduced him to any of the folks from that night should he run into them too. “I didn’t recognize you up close. I hope everything’s okay. Nothing serious?”
“Mostly just my embarrassment,” Teddy said, to which Rose and Finn both laughed.
“Rose is a nurse, so her concern is genuine,” Finn said. “She works at the hospital, but our paths still cross.”
“Family business, is it?”
“Pretty much,” she said. “Both our fathers were doctors.”
Teddy wasn’t sure which part of that sentence required more attention.
“Just don’t ever say ‘and you’re only a nurse?’ or that I must have chosen it because I’m a woman.”
Now it was Teddy’s turn to chuckle. “While I am generally an ass, I know better than that. Way I hear it, doctors have specialties, nurses know everything.”
“You, Mr. Scofield,” she said through a heartier laugh, “I like.”
“Please, it’s Teddy.”
“Teddy,” Rose repeated, “why don’t you keep Finn company for a minute while I grab us a bottle of wine?”
“Oh, I….”
It seemed rather blatant that she was leaving them alone on purpose, especially since Teddy would swear she elbowed Finn as she passed him.
Still, his curiosity was stronger than the urge to run away. “Pardon my prying, but both your fathers?”
“Rose is my adopted sister.” Finn’s smile turned somber. “Her father still is a doctor, but my parents passed away.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s okay. I mean, it’s not, but it was a long time ago.” The way his eyes went distant prompted Teddy to change the subject.
“Why didn’t you mention you’re my physical therapist?”
“HIPAA,” Finn said. “Sorry. Technically, I can’t tell anyone or that would be sharing patient information.”
“Because then the person would know I require a physical therapist.”
“Exactly. You can certainly tell people; it doesn’t have to be a secret. It’s just easier if we run into each other like this to keep me out of any moral trip-ups.”
“Like heavily flirting with your patient?” Teddy couldn’t help teasing.
“Prior to knowing that was the case,” Finn defended with a renewed smile. “Difficult though it may be to stop now.”
Teddy’s breath caught, because there Finn went again, since they weren’t therapist and patient at the moment. His eyes had this alluring way of darkening whenever he was being impish.
“Professional, I promise. But just so you know, in case it ever crossed your mind, we don’t have any policy against dating our patients, it’s just frowned upon.”
Imp.
“Just so I know,” Teddy said.
“Yep.”
“That should do it.” Rose returned with a bottle of white added to her basket. Given the other ingredients, Teddy knew exactly what was on the menu.
“Risotto, I take it? Who’s the chef?”
“Oh, all Finn.” Rose patted his arm playfully. “I can’t cook at all. I’ll help myself to the rest of the wine and make pointed comments, though.”
“She will indeed,” Finn said, earning him a light smack.
Of course he could cook.
“We’re just headed back to Finn’s,” Rose said, gesturing at Teddy’s half-hidden basket. “Are you really craving that spray cheese, or would you like to join us for dinner?”
“What?” Finn turned to her in surprise, while Teddy wondered if she was an investigative reporter instead of a nurse with the way she’d noticed that cheese. “It’s movie night.”
“So? Doesn’t mean he can’t join us.”
“You never let anyone join us on movie night.”
“He’s enchanted. He’s allowed. Teddy?”
Both their attentions shifted back to him, and he was forced to contemplate the offer from a meddlesome sister—something he knew intimately well—who was clearly trying to set them up.
Finn’s curious and hopeful expression despite having chastised her had Teddy’s walls crumbling like being struck by a bombing raid from their combined forces.
“I would, but….” He stumbled to find an excuse.
“But… he’s still getting settled,” Finn rescued him, while giving a disappointed glance at the floor. “He just moved here long-term. I’m sure he doesn’t want us smothering him.”
“Rain check?” Teddy said.
“Really?” Finn brightened. “Coz I’ll hold you to that.”
Fuck. Teddy was making things worse, giving him hope, but then maybe he was overreacting thinking he couldn’t allow something to spark just because of his hip and general feelings of floating in purgatory. Giving in didn’t have to be a disaster just because everything else in his life was.
“Next time,” he said, as they moved toward the checkout counters and Rose went ahead to pay, giving them another moment of privacy. “What movie are you watching?”
“Our movie nights are always action or horror. Sometimes classic, sometimes cheesy. Tonight, I’m showing Rose Doom.”
“She’s never seen it?” Teddy asked, smitten by the wicked glint in Finn’s eyes—Doom, with Karl Urban, and one of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s first movies. “Well, then, I realize it’s sacrilege to enjoy the film if you’re a fan of the video game—”
“As any normal person should be.” Finn nodded, further solidifying his sparkling charm.
“But,” Teddy dropped his voice to a whisper, “I actually rather like it.”
“Me too! You sure I can’t change your mind about joining us?”
Rose was moving quickly through the checkout line, but the one next to them was open, prompting Teddy to diverge. He could have chosen to stay where he was, take Finn up on the offer, but he needed at least a little more time to decide if this was a risk worth taking.
“Next time,” he said again, and Finn nodded with a wide grin.
“Deal.”
Teddy did not see Finn on Tuesday, and at his Wednesday appointment, he managed to resist getting caught up in Finn’s simple touches, though the banter was still present. Teddy just wasn’t ready to take the plunge yet, not during their first week, and Finn, thankfully, didn’t push.
Thursday went by without seeing Finn either, though that might have been because Teddy never left the house. He wasn’t moping, but he didn’t know what to do with himself. He was on his second book already with no ideas about how to spend his retirement.
He didn’t have hobbies. He read, enjoyed good food and drink, traveled on occasion, but he had no desire to travel now. Everything else had revolved around shows, whether dance or theater, and his heart wasn’t up for any of that.