15. Nellie
FIFTEEN
NELLIE
I’ve read the same line twelve times. We’re sharing a lounge chair, my back to Teddy while his arm is around my waist and his thumb traces patterns across the surface of my T-shirt.
“You’re cold,” he says, as goosebumps begin to rise on my exposed arms.
“I’m fine,” I assure him. It’s not the chill in the air; it’s the way he’s touching me. It’s his body pressed to mine and the memory of how he felt against me in the pool. No, the unseasonably cool weather isn’t to blame for a single thing I’m currently feeling.
He clearly doesn’t believe me though, because he sets his book down on my lap, removes his arm, and tips me forward a little. He pulls the collar of my shirt to the side, and his lips drop to my shoulder, kissing the spattering of freckles I have there. They travel up my neck, and then they’re gone, and he’s pulling his sweatshirt down over my body.
“Now you’re going to get cold,” I say, leaning back against his chest.
“Nah, you’re hot enough for the both of us.” He nips at the skin just below my ear, causing my goosebumps to have goosebumps.
“Keep doing that, and I’m going to need your pants too,” I tease, tilting my head just a little more, inviting him to finish what he started.
“I don’t think I could concentrate if you were wearing all my clothes.”
“It also doesn’t seem that fair,” I murmur, as his lips continue their journey down the side of my neck.
“To me or you?”
“You.”
“Oh, LG.” He sits back and looks down at me, “Don’t worry about me. Seeing you in my clothes does things to me that I’d rather not think about right now.”
His eyes have turned stormy, and I can’t help myself from spinning around and straddling him.
“What kind of things?” I ask as innocently as possible, while I push my reading glasses into my hair.
Teddy’s gaze tracks every movement and a little smirk appears on his face. “Things that are not slow.” I lean in to kiss his jaw and then begin trailing my lips down his neck like he had done to me. “Things—” He swallows, and I feel his Adam’s apple move under my lips. “Things that I’ve done with you in my dreams.”
“Tell me,” I whisper, sliding my teeth down his earlobe. The noise he makes sends a thrill through me, so I do it again.
He’s gripping my hips so hard that I won’t be surprised to find his handprints there tomorrow. “Fuck, Nellie,” he grits out before flipping us over so he’s hovering over me. “I’m.” He kisses my neck. “Not.” His lips move to the other side. “Going.” They meet mine. “To.” Harder now. “Rush.” He sits back and looks down at me, his hands pulling the sweatshirt down where it has ridden up my torso. “This.” He finally breathes out.
I’m relieved and disappointed all at once. I meant what I said about taking it slow, but I also want to just blow through the waiting period. But I get the impression he feels the same way, like he’s not stopping this just because of me.
I sit up and cup his face in my hands. “I’m sorry,” I say, searching his eyes. The storm clouds have moved on and they’ve returned to their pale blue. “I don’t want to rush things either, I just…” I don’t know what to say. I don’t want him to get tired of waiting.
“Hey,” he says quietly, taking my hands in his. “I’m not going anywhere, LG. You get that right?”
I nod and squeeze his hands. “Promise me one thing?” I ask, looking up at him through my eyelashes.
“Sure.”
“When we’re done taking it slow, you’ll show me what we did in your dreams.”
A laugh bursts out of him. “Sure, LG. I’ll give you a play-by-play.”
I behave myself for the rest of the day although I don’t know how. I deserve some kind of reward for my efforts. Around two, we extricate ourselves from the patio furniture to go in search of food.
“We’ve got a couple of cucumbers, a bag of baby carrots, a…” I pull a tub of hummus out to see if it passes the sniff test. “Seemingly okay tub of caramelized onion hummus and a block of cheddar so old it’ll turn to dust if you so much as breathe near it.”
“That’s the only kind of cheddar I eat.” Teddy grins and takes a few of the ingredients from me. “Any eggs?”
I pull the carton from the fridge and open it to reveal six.
“Okay, put two of those in a pot and cover it with water.”
Not too long after, we are curled up together on the couch with a board of odds and ends from the kitchen displayed beautifully.
“I’m not loving this guy’s holier-than-thou attitude,” Teddy proclaims, pointing a carrot at the screen.
“If I was alone I’d be fast-forwarding through every single one of his scenes.”
“Are they important?” he asks with one eyebrow quirked.
“Sadly for your first viewing, yes. He’s basically the main servant.”
“Damn.” He slumps back against the couch, his head rolling in my direction. “What?”
I’m staring at him with an amused smirk. “Nothing. I just kind of love that you feel the same way.”
“Are there Mr. Bates fans out there?”
“Many. In fact, I’d say most people are. Actually, I didn’t feel this way during my first viewing, but I’ve grown to despise him.” I pull my feet under me and turn more to face him. My head resting on the back of the couch, mirroring his. “Maybe you’re a better judge of people than I am.”
He reaches and tucks a piece of stray hair behind my ear. “I’m not sure about that. I do know that I was right about you, though.”
Christ almighty, is he doing this to me purposely? Does he know what hearing him say things like that does to my head and heart? It takes every bit of self-control to stay exactly where I am and just smile back at him. The stopping and starting today has been a lot, and I don’t want to stop again so I will not start. It’s times like this I wish he’d say normal twenty-two-year-old-guy shit. Drop a few more “bros” and “dudes” and a few less Mr. Darcy lines.
“And what convinced you to try and be right about me?” I ask and mentally punch myself because I know whatever he says next is going to melt every piece of me .
“Your glasses,” he says without hesitation.
“My glasses?” Okay, so no melting.
“You had them pushed into your hair.” He’s looking at the top of my head like he can see them there now. “I don’t know why. I just thought, damn, I like that.”
“Huh” is the only response I can muster.
“Not what you were expecting? Or hoping for maybe?” He grins back.
“No, I just didn’t have that on my bingo card.”
“What did you expect me to say? That I thought you were hot? That I wondered what these lips”—he runs his thumb along my bottom lip, and I fight the urge to open my mouth and let it in—“would feel like under mine?”
I nod slowly.
“Oh, I definitely thought you were hot and I absolutely wanted to feel these lips.” His thumb continues to trace. “But it was the glasses that made me think ‘her.’” Okay, commence melting. “It’s the same voice that makes me look at Mr. Bates and think ‘asshole.’” The spell breaks when we both start to laugh. It feels like all the tension that had been building releases at once, and I feel a sense of relief as we slip back into each other’s easy presence.
Around eleven, Teddy reluctantly pulls himself from my embrace. He has to be at work for seven and still has to drive home. I tell him he should have brought more clothes, and he reminds me that he hadn’t even planned to stay over one night, let alone two. I’d prefer he never go at this point. Tying him up and forcing him to remain seems a bit extreme though, and I suppose, very illegal.
At the door, I manage to stretch our goodbye out so by the time I hear the car door close it’s eleven thirty. I fall asleep to the sounds of a hushed argument featuring Mr. Bates and his nemesis and my lips still tingling from Teddy’s kisses .
In the morning there’s a single text from Teddy.
Enviro Guy
xxxxx
I can’t help running my fingers over my lips, remembering our goodbye last night. It’s one of those moments I’m glad I’m alone for because I don’t need my family asking why I’m floating around the house like Sleeping Beauty after the dance in the woods with the prince. I want to reply with language that would be inappropriate for this early in a relationship. This is very much the honeymoon stage, and I have to rein myself in a bit.
Xxxxxxx
Thank you again for taking care of me. It was the best sick experience I’ve ever had.
I spend the next several hours waiting for a reply that never comes.