CHAPTER ELEVEN
T eddy let out a content sigh as Summer continued to trace the tattoo across his chest. They never made it to dinner, not that he was complaining. He’d take Summer in his arms over food any day of the week.
“I never realized this was a tree. I always thought the strokes on your arm were like tribal patterns or something, like on the other arm ... I never would’ve guessed they were tree roots. It makes sense now though.”
The tattoo she was talking about was all black ink. The tree roots started on his forearm and worked their way up until they transformed into a thick trunk. Branches began to spread over his bicep, collarbone, and across his chest, with black birds emerging from the offshoots over his heart.
“Is that your nice way of saying it looks crap?” Teddy chuckled. Summer was never very subtle.
“No!” She jerked in his arms and shot up to face him, her hand still resting against his bare chest. “It’s beautiful, Teddy. Really beautiful.”
She was wrong. She was the only beautiful thing in the room. Her silky blonde hair was all mussed and hung in all different directions. Green flecks peeked through heavy eyelids. And her pretty pink lips were still swollen from hours of kissing.
Gently tugging her back down, she came willingly until her head was back on his shoulder. “Thank you, doll. I got this one when I left the Navy. See the birds that emerge from the tree?” He felt her nod against him. “Two are for my parents ... the other two are for Mason and Carter. My teammates.”
“The ones you lost.” It wasn’t a question, but he answered regardless.
“Yeah. The ones I lost.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “tell me about them. What were they like?”
Teddy dropped a kiss onto her hair. “They were good guys. Mason was a bit of a joker. Used to drive me and Ty crazy with his pranks. They were non-stop. This one time in Germany, he placed a load of bubble wrap under the bathmats in our hotel room. Of course we’d been out drinking the night before. The morning after, I go into the bathroom to brush my teeth and I swear to God I almost had a heart attack when the loudest goddamn pop had me ducking for cover.” A smile broke out as he remembered how hard Mason had laughed when he’d found him laid out on the floor of the bathroom.
“And Carter?”
“Carter was more reserved. The strong and silent type I guess. From what he told me, he had it rough as a kid. He grew up in foster care and was passed around a lot. He didn’t say much, but when he did ... people listened.”
Summer snuggled deeper into the crook of his arm, distracting him momentarily from the pang of grief that was now making his chest feel tight.
“I wish I could’ve met them.”
“Me too, doll, me too.”
Teddy ran his fingers up and down the smooth skin on Summer’s back as they fell into a comfortable silence. Thoughts of Mason and Carter eventually subsided, and for the first time in a long time, he felt at peace.
After a while he heard Summer’s breathing slow and a cute little snore escape her lips. He felt like he should pinch himself to check that this was real. His dream woman was asleep in his arms. In his bed. Naked. Goddamn, he was one lucky man.
“Sweet dreams, Summer.” He dropped a kiss onto her forehead and whispered, “I love you,” into the night.
***
“W hat you doing here , man?” Ace casually leaned against the wooden doorframe, narrowed blue eyes boring into Teddy and a hint of confusion creasing the mottled skin on one side of his face.
“Summer sent me.” Teddy gestured to the bed of his truck behind him. “I got some decking for the yard.” When his soon-to-be brother-in-law’s expression still looked perplexed, he continued. “For the platform, man. Y’know, for the ceremony? So you can marry my sister?”
“Oh shit,” he exclaimed, immediately straightening.
“Yeah. Oh shit. You gonna help me unload?”
With a nod, Ace was off the porch and circling the truck. They worked together to unload and carry everything around to the backyard.
This was not how Teddy imagined spending his day off. In between work and Summer playing wedding planner, the only time they’d spent together this past week had been at night. In bed. Not that having Summer in his bed every night wasn’t a good time. It was. A very good time. But he wanted more. Now that they’d taken things to the next level physically, he wanted to make sure they were on the same page emotionally.
Despite the lack of time they’d spent together, he could tell something was going on with her, and it was making him uneasy. He was hoping to talk to her properly today, but then he’d been summoned here. Maybe she was already aware that he was incapable of denying her? If not, it was only a matter of time. So here he was. Spending the day with Ace. Building a freaking stage.
Who are you kidding? You’d build a million stages for her if it made her happy.
After settling on a place to set up the decking, they got to work building a frame. They worked together quickly and quietly, only stopping to check on each other’s progress. So, he was surprised an hour in when Ace asked out of the blue how things were going with Summer.
“Good.” Teddy grunted, ignoring the churning in his gut. Things were good, right? They were more than compatible in the bedroom. And outside of it, everything was just so easy.
So why are you desperate to have a heart-to-heart with her about your feelings?
“You sure about that?”
Teddy looked up to see Ace wiping sweat from his brow as he lowered his power drill.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Ace took his time studying him before replying. “It means you don’t sound so sure about that.”
Teddy let out a sigh and heaved himself up. “Is this what we’re doing now ... sharing? You wanna braid my hair too?”
“Fuck off, Teddy, you don’t have to be an asshole.”
As he watched his sister’s fiancé shake his head in exasperation, Teddy blew out a long breath. Great. Now he felt guilty. Summer was making him soft.
“Look, man, I’m sorry.” Ace went from pissed off to suspicious as Teddy spoke. “I didn’t get much sleep last night ... I swear to God, man, wipe that look off your face right fucking now, or I’ll wipe it off for you!”
Ace threw up his hands defensively. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Cool it, man. I didn’t say jackshit.”
“Don’t even pretend you weren’t about to. Your eyebrows practically shot up to your hairline the moment I mentioned not getting enough sleep.”
“So now you’re the eyebrow police, dude?”
Teddy felt his lips twitch, but he refused to allow a smile to crack. “We’re not on a dude basis yet.”
“Oh no?” Ace didn’t seem to have the same trouble as he did flashing his pearly whites. “How about brother? After all, in just one short week that’s what we’ll be.” He was enjoying this way too much.
“I really fucking hate you.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you swear like a sailor?” Ace doubled over laughing at his own joke.
Teddy prayed for patience. He couldn’t punch the man in the face. Could he?
Ivy will give you so much shit if you ruin her wedding pictures.
He was obviously thinking too long. He hadn’t even noticed that Ace had stopped laughing until that smarmy Southern drawl was back and polluting his ears once again.
“Come on, Teddy. You gonna tell me what’s going on with you? You’re even more ornery than usual. Or ... shall I go get your sister and have her drag it out of you?”
Fucking Ace.
Teddy didn’t even know how to reply. It was true. He wasn’t acting like a man in love. And he was. He got the girl. Finally. But that niggling feeling making the hairs on the back of his neck prick up was mocking him. Something was wrong. He could feel it.
Over the years, he’d learned to trust his gut. It had kept him alive on more than one occasion during his time in the Navy. But this wasn’t a mission. This was a relationship. And he had no idea what he was doing.
Teddy used his sleeve to swat the sweat trickling down his face. “Fine,” he huffed. “I think something’s up with Summer, but I don’t know what. I don’t know if it’s something I’ve done or said or didn’t do. I’m clueless. Happy?”
“That’s it?”
Teddy looked up to find Ace frowning at him. “What do you mean that’s it ?” Did the man not hear him say he was clueless?
“Well, brother, there’s this thing in relationships called communication. In case you didn’t know ... that means talking.”
Yep, decision made. Teddy was definitely going to punch Ace. Wedding photos be damned.
“Have you tried asking her what’s wrong?”
What was Teddy thinking going to this clown for relationship advice?
He’s the one getting married.
“Of course I’ve asked her; I’m not a complete fucking idiot.” Teddy scoffed. “Every time I ask her if she’s okay, she tells me she’s fine.”
It was Ace’s turn to sigh. “Look. Before you ask her again ... maybe you could try opening up to her first? If she knows where your head’s at, maybe she’ll be more comfortable telling you what’s going on with her.”
Huh. That sort of made sense.
“That’s what you did with my sister, huh?”
“Yup. And look at me now.” Ace’s lopsided grin was back. “Bona fide relationship expert. Just call me Dr. Love.”
This time Teddy did laugh right along with Ace. Maybe having him as a brother wouldn’t be so bad after all.
***
T eddy muted the television and tugged Summer closer to him on the couch. Not that they weren’t close already. He just needed to get rid of that pesky air between their bodies.
“Everything okay?” Summer kept her head against his chest but tilted upward until he was looking into those hypnotic eyes.
“Yeah, doll, I just thought we’d talk for a bit.”
Summer stiffened in his arms and dropped her head again. That was not a good sign.
Letting his fingers gently trail up and down her spine, he waited until she’d relaxed back into him before he continued. “Remember when I told you I wanted you to know what happened to me?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I’m ready to tell you.” Summer shifted until her hand came to rest over his heart. “Is that okay?”
Her eyes met his once again with another slight tilt to her face. “I want to know whatever you want to tell me. I can handle it. I promise.”
Teddy nodded and ushered her to return to her previous position. “I was in Iraq. On a mission. It all happened really fast. We were scoping out the area one minute and being ambushed the next.” He took a moment to clear his throat. “When I woke up, I was chained up. Alone. Well, not for long. I’m not gonna go into details of what they did to me—you’ve already seen the scars.” And kissed every single one of them. Just remembering her lips on him gave him the strength he needed to let the memories creep back in. “I wasn’t in great shape, but I held up. The training I underwent prepared me for most of it.” Mason and Carter’s faces flashed before him, triggering the familiar twist in his stomach.
“But not all of it,” Summer correctly surmised.
“No. Not all of it.” He swallowed down the bile now rising up his throat. He knew he needed to say it out loud. Rip off the Band-Aid. “One of the tactics they used was to bring another teammate in when they ...” Tortured us. That, he didn’t need to say. She got the drift. “They brought Mason into my cell. Did the same shit to him they’d been doing to me and made me watch.” Teddy could hear Summer’s sharp inhale. She probably knew what was coming. Regardless, he needed to say it out loud. “They obviously weren’t getting the reactions they wanted from us. A couple of days in, they decided to take it further.”
“They killed him, didn’t they?” Summer whispered into his chest. “In front of you.”
“Yeah, doll. They did.” His vision blurred as tears filled his eyes. But the image of Mason’s last breath was still crystal clear. Forever ingrained in his soul.
“And Carter?”
“Thrown in with Tyler.” Teddy’s throat tightened. “From what Ty said, the same thing went down.”
They both fell silent. Long enough for Teddy to begin second-guessing himself. He did the right thing by telling her, right? If they were going to be together, he owed her the truth. Owed her an explanation as to why he left. Why he sometimes woke up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat. Why he was so broken.
All of a sudden, Summer was on the move, crawling onto his lap and positioning her knees on either side of him. Resting her forehead against his, she let her hands travel down his torso, lightly trailing her fingers over him in soothing motions.
“I’m so, so sorry.” Her soft, angelic voice was like a balm he never knew he needed. Until now.
Matching tears trickled down her cheeks and merged with his own as her salty lips pressed against his. Teddy breathed her in and allowed the vanilla-scented fumes to scramble his senses. Raw need ripped through him. He was a dying man, and she was the only cure.
Taking control, he nibbled on her lower lip until she parted for him. Once she was open, he took what he wanted. Needed. Their tongues danced in a sensuous rhythm to each other’s moans, sucking and tasting until the rest of his body began to burn.
He brought his hands up to encircle her delicate face. In contrast to the urgency of their kiss, his thumbs moved lightly across her cheeks. Stroking. Caressing. Swiping away the wet, hot grief that still clung to them both.
Untangling his tongue, he ran his lips along the curve of her jaw. Shifting his hands further back into the silky strands of her hair, he followed the line all the way up to the sensitive shell of her ear. Before he even spoke, he felt her tremble beneath his touch.
“I need you, baby.” He let his hot breath hover before tasting every goosebump that broke out in its wake.
Once he reached the nape of her neck, he bit down, eliciting a whimper that had fire shooting through his veins. Sucking on the same spot, she began to rock on his lap. This is what he needed. The relief he had been searching for. Only she could give it to him. Summer. His Summer.