Chapter 17
Charlie
S itting there, inside the tent, felt a little bit magical. My mind kept spinning about how someone had gone through all this trouble for me ?
“I just can’t get over how good this tastes.” I twirled more spaghetti around my fork. “Definitely the best non-chef meal I’ve had in a very long time.” I smiled at Teague.
He perked up even more. Had he been a dog, his tail would’ve been wagging like crazy.
“I like cooking a lot. Like I said, this is one of my signature dishes.” He tore a piece of garlic bread with his teeth, the action somehow oddly charming.
It also reminded me of his casual acceptance of my potential limitations. It wasn’t something I’d expected. Not from anyone, not even him, even though the last couple of weeks had shown me what kind of man he was. Teague was everything David hadn’t been, and that in itself should’ve told me to not rush into things.
“What’s that face about?” Teague peered at me.
I took a sip of my water to buy some time. “I…. I don’t know how much you know already, but I broke up with my most recent boyfriend a week and a half before I got here. So, it’s… it’s still pretty recent.” I glanced at him frowning. “Maybe I should’ve been clearer about that. I mean, this is n-not a rebound thing or anything, I don’t think, it’s—”
His larger hand covered mine. “Can you take a deep breath for me, Charlie?”
Like it had the other day, Teague’s touch settled me on a level I wasn’t used to. Not from people other than Blue or, sometimes, Nic.
I breathed for a while, then continued to explain. “I told you about the dinner party, the mirrors. It’s… it wasn’t even the worst thing he did in the four months we dated. We broke up because I’d ‘embarrassed him’ at the dinner, but also because I couldn’t… I guess I didn’t feel safe to have… have sex with him naked.” I lifted the hand he wasn’t still holding and quickly glanced at him. “And I’m not… this is not about that. Not another sex talk trying to scare you off, I swear, but it’s an explanation about him.”
Teague nodded and frowned. “He sounds like an asshole. I mean, I knew that already based on the dinner thing, but just….” He shook his head as if he couldn’t fathom someone acting like David had.
“He berated me. Called me all sorts of names,” I continued quietly. “He never made me feel safe in the way you have already. So, I’m thinking, maybe we need to be careful here, too. Because this doesn’t feel like a rebound, but I’m scared that it’ll turn into one whether we want that or not.”
He tilted his head, contemplating my words. “You’re saying we need to take this very slow?”
I nodded, relieved that he understood me when I wasn’t sure I understood myself. “Yeah. That.”
“Well, the way I see it, this is our first date, Charlie. We’ve become friends, right? There’s no rush, and I’ll try my best to pump the brakes if I feel like things are getting too fast.”
“Okay. Sounds good.” I let out a self-deprecating chuckle and picked up my fork again. “I’ll try not to trauma-dump on you so much in the future, it’s not fair—”
“No.” The tone of his voice made my gaze snap into his. “Absolutely not. You’re not allowed to put yourself down like that. Not on my watch. You’ve been through a shit ton I know about and then all the rest you haven’t told me, and that’s just….” He shook his head, looking determined. “We don’t get to put ourselves down about whatever went wrong in the past, especially when it was something we couldn’t help for whatever reason.”
I blinked a couple of times, feeling myself tear up. “Okay,” I whispered.
He realized that I was getting weepy and became alarmed. I squeezed his fingers and shook my head. “It’s okay. You didn’t upset me or anything. I’m just not used to this.”
He gave me the gentlest smile I’d seen from him yet—and that was saying a lot—and said, “Well, better start getting used to it.”
I chuckled and let go of his hand just to pick up a piece of the garlic bread. We continued the meal, chatting about random things again, much like we’d done while we built the deck.
“Do you have a comfort movie?” Teague asked when we were about done eating.
I blushed. “I do, actually.”
He grinned. “Now I got to know.”
I rolled my eyes, the blush getting worse, damn it. “Wimbledon.”
“I’m thinking it has something to do with tennis?”
“It’s a rom com from the early 2000s. About a British tennis player played by Paul Bettany and an American one played by Kirsten Dunst. It’s fluffy and funny and just… I don’t know. I like movies set in the UK.”
“Huh.” Teague smiled. “You have to show it to me sometime.”
“You watch rom coms?” I asked incredulously.
“I’ve seen some, yeah. But honestly, I’d just want to watch something with you.”
I might’ve melted a little.
When we finally wrapped up the night, I was physically and mentally nourished.
I took his hand when we walked back to the cars. When I glanced at him, his lips were curled into this pleased little smile that warmed me in the slightly colder than I’d expected evening.
At my car, I turned to him and just looked. I could see myself falling in love with him, and it freaked me the fuck out. It was too soon, too scary to think about right then, but I kept it inside because of how fucking happy Teague looked.
“So….” He was giving me a choice on how to end the evening, and I appreciated it more than he could know.
I let go of his hand, and he couldn’t hide the flash of sadness.
I stepped closer to him, my whole body suddenly alight with none of the freak-out but all the attraction his warm steadiness brought out of me.
Despite all the talk about taking this glacial, I let my heart go with what my body wanted right then. I shut down my doubting brain and cupped Teague’s face between my hands.
“I’m just gonna….” And then I pressed my mouth to his.
His surprised gasp gave me just enough room to lick his top lip in a way that was all exploration. That’s when he got with the program and opened his lips even more, inviting me in.
He wasn’t touching me, just stood still, likely to not freak me out, and I wished I could tell him he didn’t have to be so careful with me.
I used my hold to tilt his head as I licked into his mouth. He let out a whimper and then his tongue tangled with mine, giving me a head rush so fast I had to pull back to stay upright.
“Holy shit,” I breathed. “That was….” I let go of him and took a step back.
Teague swayed toward me, as if my hold of him had been the thing keeping him stable.
“Y-yeah,” he managed, then cleared his throat and licked his lips. “Uh….”
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” I asked, reaching back to the door handle. I was starting to feel the telltale signs of getting overwhelmed and I needed to get away from here before that happened.
“Yeah.”
I got in the car, started it, and backed out of the spot to head home.
In the last moment, I looked into the rearview mirror. In the light coming from the single lamp of one of the buildings nearby, I saw him put his fingertips to his lips.
Smiling like a weirdo, I saw him doing the same.
Despite the way my body still felt the current that had buzzed between us, I didn’t freak out. Not during the drive or after.
I hoped that could be called progress, because I damn well needed some to happen.
I showered in the dark again, then went to bed and read for a while. Or tried to. After I realized it’d been two hours and I couldn’t remember much of the two chapters I’d read in that time, I gave up.
Curling up under my covers, I hoped I’d dream of the perfect first date we’d had.
In the morning, I walked—accompanied by Cricket—down the hill with a smile on my face.
Nic spotted me as she came out of their place and walked around the corner to meet me by the lobby doors.
“If I didn’t know you better, I would say you got laid, but that’s not it,” she said, squinting at me.
I snorted. “Definitely not that, no.”
“But clearly a good night?”
“Oh yeah.” I ducked my head and felt a bit blushy. “It was… great.”
She patted my arm. “I’m glad.”
“Yeah.”
We went our separate ways, and I headed into the kitchen where Dana was putting finishing touches to the breakfast.
“Morning.” I stayed out of her way, watching her break a gazillion eggs into a bowl.
She glanced at me over her shoulder and smiled. “Morning.”
“Thanks for giving Teague the heads up.”
She stopped breaking the eggs and turned around. “No problem. I was a bit worried, but he said his intentions were true and all, so I thought you wouldn’t mind.”
“It was a perfect first date, really.”
She grinned. “How’s his cooking?”
“Amazing. I was shocked. So damn good.”
“Nice!” She turned back to the eggs. “I’m happy for you, Charlie. You deserve someone good like that.”
I knew she didn’t mean his cooking skills. “Yeah.”
I slipped back through the door and went to get myself coffee. There’d be scrambled eggs soon, and the trays of bacon smelled amazing already.
By the time I was sitting behind my desk with my belly mostly full, I couldn’t wait to see Teague again. Luckily, if nothing surprising happened, he’d be arriving soon.
I felt giddy enough to snort at myself, because I wasn’t fifteen with my first crush anymore.
My phone beeped.
The message was from Blue. I couldn't help the smile.
How was the date?
Perfect. I might’ve kissed him good night.
My brother knew what massive step that was for me, so his half a dozen shocked emojis and hearts made me laugh.
Just remember to take it slow so you don’t get overwhelmed. I know you’re not na?ve or young, but I have a feeling you’ll be falling fast for this guy.
Needless to say, falling fast made people rush into things.
I promise I won’t push myself into anything I don’t really want.
There. That was the best I could do right then. Part of me wanted to rush into all the things.
The front door opened before Law had time to message me again, and I lifted my gaze, grinning when I saw Teague with his boxes of pastries marching into the dining room.
I had left the office door unlocked for his sake, but I felt antsy all of a sudden. I got up and went to the door, opening it as I waited.
When he walked back out, a cupcake box in his hands, his smile as he noticed me was blinding.
I backed into the office, and he followed me there.
“Hi,” I said, sounding breathy as fuck.
“Hi.” He reached to the side to pop the box on the front desk, then concentrated fully on me. Except he didn’t seem to know what to say.
I took his hands and squeezed them. I didn’t know what to say, either. I just wanted to be close to him, so I did the only thing that came to mind and let go of his hands, then wrapped my arms around him as I buried my face against his neck.
Clinging him like a baby koala, I soaked in the warmth and scent of him. He was so, so solid and there was something so damn comforting about him. I wanted to crawl inside him and stay there—okay, that was a bit serial killery for my tastes.
I pulled back. “Hi.”
He leaned down as if to kiss me, then caught himself and stopped. Before he could say anything, especially sorry, I lifted my face and pecked his lips.
“Hi,” he repeated, grinning from ear to ear. “I brought you a Unicorn Fart.”
I popped my brows. “Rare occasion,” I teased.
We cracked up, holding onto each other, and it felt so damn natural that I didn’t want the moment to end.
Then Nic walked into the lobby and peered through the wall opening. “Hey, Teague, can I borrow you for a bit?”
I smiled at him. “Go. I have work to do as well.”
He squeezed me where his big hands had landed on my hips, and neither of us made a big deal out of it. “I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah.” I stepped back, ignoring Nic’s knowing gaze, and picked up the cupcake box. Then I retreated back to my desk while Teague went out of the office to see what Nic wanted.
She led him back outside, and I sighed contentedly. Since I’d refilled my coffee before coming into the office and had it in one of those smaller travel mugs—thank you Altmann’s—so it was still hot enough, I popped open the box and fished out my treat.
I needed to figure out something nice I could do for Teague. Bringing me these every morning and giving me his shirt were a lot. It hit me that he genuinely was courting me in a subtle way. Maybe I needed to ask for help, too? I was sure Oakley would help me if I asked.
The kid squealed, then bounced on his heels like an overactive meerkat.
“Okay, simmer down,” I told him, which didn’t help much at all. “Now, if I was to do something nice for your uncle, what’d you suggest?”
“Blowjobs are always—”
“Except that.”
He smirked. “Right.”
We’d chatted enough that he knew that wouldn’t have been my go-to anyway, and I kind of liked that he could tease me like that. It showed that we had become friends and he was comfortable enough here to joke with me. Even if it was at my expense.
“You can hold that thought, because I have another question. If I want to have some of his favorite snacks around for a movie night soon, which ones should I get?”
“Well, I know he loves these pretzels Aunt Regan makes sometimes when they have the time. So those would be the kind of special touch you might want after the cooking he did for you.” His tone suggested it had been a lot.
I chuckled. “You got to watch him in action?”
“Oh yeah. He knows how to cook, don’t get me wrong, but he was nervous about messing something up. Which he was trying to hide, but I’ve learned to read him.” Oak’s sharp, teasing edges softened, and he said, “But when he came home last night… he was so damn happy, Charlie.”
My heart lurched in my chest, and I ducked my head a bit. “Good.”
“Yeah. So, other snacks he might like… hmm….”
“Oh, and if I asked Dana to make us pizza, what are his favorite toppings?”
I dug out my phone to take notes, which made Oak grin, but he gave me enough information to feel confident that I could host a nice movie night at my little cabin.
The TV wasn’t huge and neither was the couch, but hey, at least that meant sitting closer together? To my shock, the thought didn’t freak me out. It might, when we got there, but right now, I was looking forward to it, whenever we would have our second date.