Chapter 7 #4
“You were amazing.” He cracked an honest smile. “I couldn’t have choreographed anything more beautiful, and even if I had, you would have outperformed that as well. You deserve every bit of praise they’re saying. I’m proud of you.”
Laverne may spout those words constantly, but it wasn’t something Teddy said often. He could see how the phrase startled Erina.
“Stop, you’ll ruin my eyeliner,” she said, running a finger under each eye to prove it.
“I’m glad you came. Really. I know we’ve done our own thing most our careers, and I’d always complain whenever you came to see one of my shows in another city and gave criticism, but I also don’t want to lose that just because your life is taking another direction.
You’re a bitch sometimes, but you’re honest. Dad was just mean. ”
Again, she’d brought up their father unprompted, and Teddy thought he might be starting to understand why. Dad was out of their lives, and it had been a good riddance, but now Teddy had stepped away too, a loss Erina hadn’t been prepared for or wanted.
“You know I’ll always be there when you need me,” Teddy said, glad the crowd had dwindled and that no one else was around.
“I know,” she said with another sniffle, glancing at her feet.
There was an age gap between them, over ten years’ worth, but it had been a long time since he’d thought of her as his baby sister. “Are you saying I’m not mean?” he said to brighten the dark mood. “Because you’ll destroy what little reputation I have left.”
Erina huffed a laugh, eyes sparkling with wetness. “You’re still an ass, Teddy Scofield, never worry about that.”
“If I gave you any critiques tonight, I’d be making them up,” he said sincerely. “If that’s ever not true, I’ll be honest.”
“I know that too,” she said and launched forward to hug him, allowing one stray tear to slip free.
Teddy forgot sometimes how often they both hid how they truly felt. Finn had hidden part of himself too. Maybe everyone did, but for once, being open didn’t scare Teddy, and he liked being able to share that with his sister—and his boyfriend.
“Now, go back to your cradle robbing.” She pushed his shoulder, indicating Finn across the room with Laverne, Rick, and Dan.
Frankie had left, but she’d been in a joyous daze that Teddy was grateful he’d been able to give her.
“Say hi to Carlos when you see him. He’s coming to the show next weekend. ”
Of course he was, though Teddy couldn’t be anything but happy for his sister.
And happy for himself when he caught Finn staring at him.
While Erina went off to change and head to a cast party, Teddy moved through the emptying lobby toward his friends. He caught a caustic look from Hartley across the room, but simply smiled back and felt a wave of self-satisfaction course through him when Hartley looked even more annoyed.
“It was good to see you, dear.” Laverne kissed his cheek.
“Lunch tomorrow? You’re in town until Sunday, aren’t you?
I don’t know when I’ll get out to that beach house, so I need to get in as much mother-son time as I can.
Besides, I expect Finn will be joining us?
He’s lovely,” she whispered at Teddy’s ear.
Laverne could have partied with the best of them, but she said her farewells to call it a night.
Rick, on the other hand, was already loosening his bow tie. “We hitting the bars or what?”
There were numerous local establishments near the theater that Teddy knew well and had frequented over the years, but the one they chose was an Irish pub with hidden nooks where he could sip on a whiskey for hours without feeling the need for more than a single glass.
He’d sobered from earlier and wasn’t drinking anymore to drown himself but to celebrate.
They claimed one of the nooks that was perfect for four, closed in on three sides like their own private room.
Rick mirrored Teddy with a whiskey, while Finn had a Smithwicks and Dan a Guinness.
They’d shoved their ties into their pockets, and all but Teddy’s suit coat had been removed to pile in the corner.
Teddy liked layers, though he did have his jacket unbuttoned.
“Glad you enjoyed the show, Finn,” Rick said through a snicker. “Have fun letting Teddy show you around?”
“Rick,” Teddy warned, since his tone was anything but subtle.
“I uhh… saw some worthwhile sights, yeah.” Finn blushed but didn’t try to hide his grin.
“Wait, what did I miss?” Dan looked between them.
“Nothing,” Teddy tried.
“Just some inspired stress relief, babe,” Rick supplied, putting his arm around Dan’s shoulders and winking over at Teddy and Finn.
“What? When?” Dan exclaimed, but the obvious answer dawned on him with his own darkening blush. “Erina would flay you alive!”
“Please.” Teddy barked a laugh. “If she knew, she’d have been the first one to high-five me.”
“Ha!” Rick raised his hand over the table. “I’ll pick up that slack.”
Teddy did not want to give in, but he also felt like he’d earned it.
He gave Rick’s hand a quick smack, and Finn laughed.
“Now leave it alone,” Teddy said. “I’m trying not to scare this guy away after how badly I’ve handled things since we met.”
“Intermission wasn’t handled badly,” Finn said.
“That’s because you did all the work.”
They shared the laugh this time, and Teddy realized he no longer felt as ancient as he had at the start of his night, mostly because being with Finn made him feel ten years younger.
“While I am still mildly offended you two snuck off for… whatever you did,” Dan said in reprimand, “you’re also kind of adorable.” He leaned into his husband beside him.
Teddy had to agree, and when Finn found his hand beneath the table, he gave it a firm squeeze.
“I just realized,” Finn said, turning back to Dan and Rick, “you two know everything about us and how we met. But how did you two meet?”
Dan nearly spat his beer all over the table. “We do not need to tell that story.”
“Aw, come on,” Rick said. He loved that story, and Dan loathed it, so Teddy generally liked hearing it too. “This one”—he tugged Dan closer against his side—“drunk off his ass and wearing a mesh tank top of all things, comes right over and gives me a lap dance as his opener.”
“You said hello with a lap dance?” Finn nearly spat out his beer too.
“I was very drunk,” Dan defended.
“Rick had just directed his first play on a big stage,” Teddy said, enjoying the heat of Finn close at his hip. “He was still getting his feet wet with writing, nothing of his own published yet, but hoping to get Playwright in Residence one day, so we were celebrating a successful opening night.”
“Which play?”
“As You Like It. I helped choreograph the fight scenes, though that isn’t my forte,” Teddy said when Finn’s eyes lit up. “As a joke, we had two of the sword props on us.”
“And Danny Boy here”—Rick leered playfully at his husband—“giant nerd that he is, has a huge hard-on for knights in shining armor.”
“Legendary heroes,” Dan corrected—as if it mattered.
“Said he liked the look of my sword, if you catch my drift.”
“Rick!”
“Aw, hush, those exact words came out of your mouth. I’m not making shit up.
‘If thou remember’st not the slightest folly
That ever love did make thee run into,
Thou hast not loved.
“And speaking of folly.” He flagged down the waiter. “I need another drink.”
Only Rick could quote As You Like It with adoring eyes at his husband and then turn to demand another whiskey.
Shakespeare would have approved.
“Sounds like you guys were pretty wild back then,” Finn said.
“Back then, he says,” Rick huffed. “Don’t think us old guys can’t keep up with the younger crowd. You obviously don’t mind a challenge if you went after Teddy.”
“He was a challenge,” Finn said, eyes dark and enticing in the dim light of the bar, “but I’m patient when something’s worthwhile. Plus, I was a challenge, too, though I can’t seem to scare him off.”
“Your dancing might do it,” Teddy joked.
“I told you I have two left feet!”
Teddy chuckled. “You have potential. You just need direction.” The warmth of the whiskey coursing through him made it easy to add, “Which you take very well.”
Finn flushed, and from across the table, Rick gave a gruff laugh.
“You are something else, kid. Not too many people can pull out such easy smiles from this old grump. And I get why. Maybe he’ll let us borrow you sometime.”
“Rick!” Dan shouted again, smacking Rick’s chest with a scandalized expression.
“You know I don’t mean it,” Rick said after another deep chortle. “I only have eyes for you, babe.”
They kissed, practiced and heated in a breath, and Teddy saw Finn gaze at them in wonder.
“Stranger things have happened at my beach house,” he muttered, which took Teddy a moment to register.
“Excuse me?”
“Not like that!” Finn said quickly, now that Teddy’s head was filled with illicit threesomes. “And you have nothing to worry about, it’s just… Carlos and I made out once after too much tequila.”
Teddy laughed.
“Carlos? That the guy Erina’s after?” Rick asked with a sly grin. “Oh, we’re gonna have fun with him next weekend.”
“Don’t torture him too badly,” Teddy said. “I think Erina actually likes this one.”
“And Carlos adores her,” Finn chimed in. “They’ve talked on the phone almost every night since they met.”
The buzz of the whiskey and other good feelings in Teddy’s belly made it impossible for him to care if his hip was sore from sitting on a plane, then in a theater, and now. He snuggled closer to Finn, all his walls dropped, and loved how Finn’s were nowhere in sight either.
“Like I keep saying,” Teddy purred, “you are a terrible influence.”
The way Finn ran his tongue over his lips drew Teddy’s eyes right to them—and reminded him of where they’d been earlier. “Does that mean I’d be totally lame if I said I’m ready to call it a night?”
“Only if you go straight to sleep,” Rick said with another laugh, “and we all know that’s not happening. Go on, we can make our own way home and catch up with you kids tomorrow.”
“We’ll cover the tab.” Dan smiled, having drunk significantly more of his beer in a short period after reliving his meet-cute with his husband. “You two have a good time. A good night,” he corrected the obvious innuendo.
“And a good time,” Rick affirmed.
“I’ll call you in the morning,” Teddy said, dragging Finn out of the booth, but as they headed off, Rick was already too distracted to answer, crowding Dan into the corner of their nook, the two of them ever in love and an inspiration Teddy used to resent, if only a little.
Now he didn’t feel quite so hopeless in the wake of their romance when he had a warm hand in his.
They were only a few blocks from the hotel, perfect to walk on a cool spring night. Finn had already been to the room to drop off his things and change, so his bags were upstairs. Erina had planned her surprise so that he arrived just as Teddy and the others were out at dinner.
“This room, by the way, is insane,” Finn said, finally shuttered away together, alone, not even with pets to interrupt them. “How much money do you have from your dance career anyway?”
“Only interested in me for my money, Mr. Archer?”
“Obviously.”
Laughing heartily, Teddy kicked off his shoes and removed his suit coat to toss on a chair.
Finn tossed his coat there too.
“Let’s say I know how to temper myself and save and only indulge when it’s worthwhile.
I thought I’d need the pick-me-up of overindulgence tonight.
” Slowly, Teddy met Finn in the center of the living room of the large suite, Finn’s shoes kicked away now too, and their hands immediately going for each other’s waists.
“Then a much better pick-me-up walked into that lobby.”
“I’m glad,” Finn said, the flush in his cheeks equal parts alcohol, exertion from walking, and expectation. “Really glad.”
They surged together, Finn’s lips never failing to make Teddy’s heart flutter—a catch of breath, a thrill of youthful want. Finn might be younger, but being with him didn’t make Teddy feel old. He didn’t feel useless or washed up. He didn’t feel alone.
Pawing at Teddy’s shirt, Finn started to tug it free from his pants, opening his mouth wider for a deeper connection, while long fingers slipped up beneath the fabric and sprawled across Teddy’s stomach. The pudge was still there, but if Finn liked it, Teddy wasn’t about to dwell.
He moved his hands in tandem, sliding up the front of Finn’s shirt to get at the buttons. Their kiss was turning more heated quickly, wet and ravenous. Finn even chased after Teddy’s lower lip with a mild bite when he tried to pull away.
“Tell me.” Teddy gasped to catch his breath. “What did you mean the other night when you said you have ideas to get around my hip?”
Releasing another mischievous chuckle, Finn grinned.