Chapter 21
Charlie
T elling even a little bit about my family to Teague, who had such a loving one, felt as if I was tainting him somehow. Like the shit that had covered me from the moment I was born would stain his lovely family and I would be to blame.
He comforted me and I felt that maybe my hang-ups weren’t a burden. Not for him. Not like they’d been for others before him.
And so, I trusted that it’d be okay to take a bit of time before meeting his parents. I knew Oak would be there for support, which was nice. He hadn’t had the best family, either. Having him as a buffer, an in-between case, would likely help.
It was just that people who grew up loved in stable families rarely truly understood what people like me or even Blue had to face.
A couple of nights after the big talk at the office, I invited Teague over, with the suggestion that he’d stay the night if he wanted to. He told me he’d come with dinner, so I wasn’t surprised when I opened the door and saw him carrying containers and an overnight bag.
I reached to grab something before his pile collapsed, but instead of giving anything to me, he just pecked my lips, grinned, and bustled inside.
“It’s fine, I can do this!”
I rolled my eyes and closed the door behind him. “Did you cook? I thought you’d get takeout.”
“I couldn’t decide, and the options are somewhat limited anywhere close, so I decided to make chicken enchiladas and tiramisu.” It was more elaborate than what I would’ve thought he’d make, which he could read from my expression. Appearing sheepish, he admitted, “I might’ve asked my mom for help.”
I felt a twinge of discomfort at the thought of his mother being involved, but then he lifted one of the containers and said, “Trust me, her tiramisu will make you weep tears of joy.”
“Ah, is she where Regan gets their talent?” I leaned to the edge of the little dining table while he deposited the food, chatting about his family.
Once he’d put everything away, he stepped closer to me and leaned down to kiss me. “Hi.”
I chuckled. “Hi.”
“Where should I put this?” He lifted the duffle off his shoulder.
“On the bed is fine.”
We spent the evening cuddling on the couch, trading lazy kisses, and quoting The Princess Bride while watching it. Then we went for a little walk which was surprisingly nice, and came back to watch Now You See Me .
When bedtime rolled around, we took our turns in the bathroom.
I’d gone first, so I sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for Teague to come out. I immediately saw the contemplation in his gaze. Ah, I’d been expecting this.
“So, ground rules,” I said easily. “I don’t think I’m up to anything but cuddling tonight. This is what I’m going to sleep in,”—I gestured at my T-shirt and boxer shorts—“and I feel a bit naked-in-a-bad-way, but I know you’re a furnace so I don’t want to wear long pants. It’ll be fine once I’m under the covers,” I assured him, because his expression got worried. “You can sleep with or without a shirt, though. I don’t mind either way. Just know that I’ll octopus you, because I feel comfortable around you.”
The softness in his gaze made me avert my eyes and get up. I pulled the sheets to the side and slid into bed. It wasn’t a huge one, and I’d end up smushed against the wall because I had a feeling Teague was as into cuddling while he slept as he was while awake, but it’d be worth it.
He took off his shirt and put it on top of his bag I’d moved on the chair in the corner.
He slid into bed after me, settling against the pillows. “Oh, this is a very comfortable mattress.”
“I got a new one about a week into living here. The old one smelled wrong.” I wrinkled my nose.
Teague looked at me as if I was something special. It was partially his old “he’s so hot” expression that’d freaked me out in the beginning, partially just pure affection.
He seemed to catch himself and looked away, but I put my hand on his forearm.
“Don’t do that,” I murmured, shifting closer until we almost shared the air between us.
“Do what?”
I moved my legs closer to his, enjoying the heat radiating from his bigger body. “You don’t need to worry about looking at me anymore. I know you and your intentions now. It doesn’t make me feel uneasy.” Then, because I had to, I added, “If I’m ever ready to get naked with you, that might be a different thing, but….”
He closed the distance and kissed me gently, as if I was something to be cherished. “Understood.”
“Can you get the light?” I waited for him to reach back to turn it off, then moved even closer, until my thigh was between his and I could place my head on his chest.
It wasn’t quite skin contact, I wasn’t ready to wake up shirtless next to him, but it was so, so good anyway.
I knew Teague had picked up on how much I enjoyed touch. It was in everything we did together. He was constantly touching me in small ways like putting a hand on the small of my back when he passed me in the kitchen, and bigger ones, like his bear hugs I’d become addicted to.
He waited for me to settle, then wrapped his arms around me as much as he could in this position.
We sighed loudly, contently, at the same exact moment, then started to laugh.
“I guess it’s safe to say that a sleepover was one of my better ideas,” I said quietly.
Teague hummed. “Definitely.” He squeezed me impossibly closer.
I put my arm around him and sighed again. I felt so damn safe. “I feel safe with you,” I whispered.
His breathing hitched under my head, then he replied, “Good.”
I woke up in the morning to Teague’s alarm. He was trying to reach his phone on the bedside table by reaching over me. Somehow, he’d ended up on the wall side.
I grabbed the phone and passed it to him. He grunted and turned the alarm off, and we both relaxed back into the mattress.
“I hate alarms.” I flopped back against his side.
“Same.” Then he realized we’d swapped sides and squinted at me sleepily. “Why are you there?”
I snorted. “I’ve no clue. I don’t even remember going to the bathroom in the night.”
“Huh. Me neither.”
We cuddled for a few minutes, then Teague sighed in a way that told me he needed to get going.
“This was fun,” I said as I watched him climb over me and then out of the bed.
“Yeah. We should definitely do this again.” He smiled in that super attractive way of his where the corners of his eyes scrunched up, and I just knew he’d be stunning when he got older with those crow’s feet from the happy kind of person he was.
I almost blurted out “how about tonight” but managed to keep it in at the last minute.
I let him get ready, then got out of the bed and put myself together enough that I could ride with him down the hill to the inn.
Once he parked in the front, I looked at him hopefully. “Do you want to come and have breakfast with me?”
I wasn’t ready for our intimate bubble to pop yet, and Teague seemed to understand that.
“Sure, I’d love to.” He leaned closer and gave me a kiss.
I got out of the truck and went to give Steve some scratches. He was lounging in his usual spot and thumped his tail at both of us.
Glancing around, I saw Cricket vanishing into the brush near the edge of the parking lot. The dogs were already hard at work even though it was early.
Without thinking, I grabbed Teague’s hand and led the way inside. I could immediately hear the clanking from the kitchen, so we headed into the dining room.
Not much was ready yet, given how early we were, so we went to get coffee first.
Dana came through from the kitchen pushing the cart she used to move trays.
“Oh, morning!” she said brightly, clearly clocking the fact that we were together already.
“Morning. Ooh, is that bacon?” I peered into the cart.
“Yup, I’ll whip up some eggs for you guys now that you’re here.” She organized everything on the line, then looked at us. “Scrambled for both of you, right?”
“I don’t know how you remember that stuff.” Teague sounded impressed.
“I have a filing cabinet inside my head, full of people’s regular orders.” She grinned and hustled back into the kitchen with her cart.
We picked a table by the windows and by the time we’d filled our plates, Dana came over with the eggs.
For some reason, we didn’t talk much while having breakfast. We just soaked in the remnants of that bubble of closeness, our feet tangled up under the table.
I got up to get us more coffee and Teague zoned out a bit while staring out the window. When I got back to the table, he was frowning.
“What?” I asked, glancing out.
“Cricket. I’m not used to seeing her on the road’s side, but she’s still on this side of the road so that’s fine. Not on the road or anything.” He grimaced. “It also started to rain.”
Rain it did. The drizzle turned into so much more within a couple of minutes. I watched over Teague’s shoulder as Steve made his way into the lobby to get out of the rain.
We were sipping our coffees and holding hands when the front door opened and closed. Hannah, a little girl staying in one of the family rooms with her two moms, bounced in.
“Morning, Charlie!” she called out with the exuberance children around six years of age have in the morning time.
“Morning, Miss Hannah,” I replied.
She was remarkably dry, given the downpour, but then she’d run under the awning and only had to round the corner without anything covering her.
She made her way to our table, standing next to it as she looked at Teague, then me, then our joined hands on the table.
“Is he your boyfriend?”
Teague’s hand twitched in mine, but I squeezed firmly.
“Yes, he is. This is Teague,” I replied casually, then took another sip from my cup. “Where are your moms?”
“Oh, they were making kissy faces at each other, and I told them Miss Dana is in the kitchen anyway so I might as well come here.”
Teague snorted softly. “Well, I’m sure you can go and ask Miss Dana if she’d make her eggs in whatever way you want.”
“Oh, awesome!” Hannah bounced to the kitchen doors, and we could hear her hollering for Dana.
“Kissy faces, eh?” Teague grinned at me.
I blushed lightly. “I don’t mind some of that myself,” I murmured, squeezing his fingers.
“And I’m your boyfriend?” This time his tone was sort of soft and… hopeful. As if he couldn’t quite believe it, even though it couldn’t have come as a surprise.
“Well, I certainly hope so,” I deadpanned, making him chuckle.
“Okay. Good to know.” He squeezed my fingers. “Boyfriend.”
The lobby door opened again, and Hannah’s moms peered in. I pointed toward the kitchen, and they went to gather their kid.
Suddenly Teague’s attention was drawn to the window, and I turned to look.
“What the…?” Teague was already getting up.
Cricket ran toward the inn, and as soon as she got to the doors, she was making sounds I had never heard from any dog before. It was pure panic.
Dana burst out of the kitchen, and we followed her as one.
Nic met us in the front, where a frantic Cricket was howl-barking at us, trying to lead us away from the building, with Steve already at her side.
“Go, go!” I told Teague and ran after them.
I didn’t stop to see if Dana and Nic were coming with us, but I assumed they would follow.
Cricket dashed directly into the ditch in between the parking lot and the road. Then she started to run along the bottom, where water was already flowing.
We scrambled over the ditch and onto the road, because it was faster. Steve decided we were smart and jumped onto the tarmac as well.
Still making those worried sounds, Cricket loped in the water, her heavy fur swinging with the weight of the water that had soaked in.
She got ahead of us a bit, then stopped stared at something in the ditch.
“Holy shit!” Teague panted as he all but fell down next to her.
I couldn’t see anything at first, but then I saw Teague lifting up something from the water.
It was a small, sun-faded, pale pink, mangled pet carrier, and I could hear Nic gasp and curse behind me.
I reached a hand down to take the carrier so Teague would have an easier time getting out.
“I think it’s a puppy or a kitten,” he said as he scrambled up.
As soon as he was up on the road, I pushed the carrier into his arms and opened it, then reached inside.
There were two of them. Even though they were both listless, I could immediately tell one was dead. They were kittens, black ones, and I gently put the dead one back inside and shook my head at Teague’s questioning look.
“What is it?” Nic asked behind my shoulder.
“This one is alive,” I said, relieved, and stuffed it inside my—Teague’s—flannel so it could at least get some of my body heat.
Not that there was much of that left, I was soaked through as were the others.
Cricket followed us back to the Inn, all worried and keeping an eye on me like a hawk.
As soon as we got inside, Teague remembered Hannah and her moms.
“I’ll go explain,” Dana said quickly.
“Kid-friendly explanation,” Nic shout-whispered after her. “Let’s go to our place,” she told us and quickly unlocked the office door so we could go through.
The dogs both followed us, and nobody thought to tell Cricket to go around with her sodden fur dripping all over. This was her operation, and I guess cleanliness was just not that important when there was a life to save.
I went into Nic and Dana’s bathroom and plugged the sink before starting the tap. It was the quickest way to get the kitten warm, given that we were all chilled and time was of the essence.
Once there was just enough water in the bottom of the sink, I dug the kitten out from under my shirt and carefully placed it in the lukewarm water with its little head over the surface.
Tremors started to run through my body, the cold finally getting to me.
I heard Nic and Teague talking, but all I could concentrate on was the fragile life in my hands.
When I moved my fingers, I could feel a faint heartbeat, but the kitten was limp. There was no way to know if it had swallowed any water, but the rags inside the carrier had been soaked and I felt like the sibling had drowned when the ditch water had flowed in.
Suddenly the big eyes opened, and the kitten blinked at me, then let out a pitiful meow.
“Oh thank God,” Nic exclaimed, and suddenly the bathroom was filled to the brim with both the dogs peering up at me.
“It’s doing better, guys. It’s okay,” I told them.
“Baby, we need to get you out of that shirt,” Teague said in a gentle, firm tone behind me.
Without thinking, I held the kitten with one hand and started to awkwardly shrug out of the flannel with the other.
I was so concentrated, that by the time Teague pulled a T-shirt that was definitely neither of ours over my head and helped it onto me one arm at a time, I hadn’t even realized I’d been standing in front of the mirror with my shirt off.
When it all registered, I glanced down and saw that it was one of Dana’s shirts, a random food festival one. It figured, she was as tall as me, even though the shirt was a bit tight otherwise.
“You good?” Teague murmured.
“Yeah. I’m good. We’ll need to get this one to a vet though.”
“I’ll go drive to yours first. Get you a hoodie. I have some clothes in the truck and my bag, so I’ll change, too. Are your jeans tolerable?”
I moved a little. They didn’t feel good, but they’d do for now. “Yeah, it’s fine.”
“Okay. Give me five minutes.” He dashed out and Nic took his place, handing over a super soft microfiber towel that had a pawprint pattern running around the edges.
“Thanks.” I lifted the baby out of the water and started to gently rub it dry.
I had never been around pets much, given that my mom had been allergic, but I was pretty sure the kitten was malnourished and probably older than it looked.
“I’m going to take the dogs and bury the other one in the woods,” Nic said quietly. “We’ll get this one all healthy and you’ll have yourself a sidekick, eh?”
I hadn’t thought that far, but somehow the idea made me smile, cautious as the hope was for the time being.
“Yeah, okay.”
“Someone threw them out of their car like trash,” Nic whispered, reaching to pet the tiny head peeking out from the bundled towel.
“Yeah.”
I was rarely angry, but the rage coursing through me made me twitchy. I needed to be gentle because of the kitten, but I wanted to punch something.
Instead, I turned and went to sit at the table, letting the dogs get a better look at the baby.
The rain was passing outside the window, and I didn’t let myself think about what would’ve happened to the kittens if Cricket hadn’t found them.
“You’re the best girl, aren’t you?” I patted her giant head as it lay on my thigh, soaking the denim.
A couple of minutes later, Teague came back, handing me a pair of sweats and a hoodie.
“Go change, baby. I’ll take care of the little one.”
I handed over the kitten and decided to do as told. Then off to the vet’s we’d go.