Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
We rode home in the early hours of the morning, and unlike the first time when Teddy’d been reluctant to ride on the back of my bike, she seemed to revel in it on the way home. Her thighs pressed against my hips, and her hands slipped under the hem of my T-shirt, pressing against the bare skin of my stomach. Instead of sitting stiffly behind me, she pressed languidly against my back, like she didn’t have a care in the world.
The weather wasn’t supposed to turn until sometime next week, so I didn’t bother with the garage door and parked outside. Teddy climbed down and was holding my helmet out toward me by the time I’d swung off.
The kids had left the porch light on, but the house was dark when I led her inside. I quietly set the helmet down on the floor and locked up behind us, then made a quick check to make sure Dylan had secured all the doors and windows while Teddy grabbed a glass of water and downed it.
“I can’t believe we stayed out so late,” she whispered as she followed me toward the stairs. “I think the last time I was awake at three a.m., I was feeding Finn.”
“You have fun?” I asked, reaching for her hand as I tugged her upstairs.
“Actually, yeah.”
“That surprised you?”
“I guess not,” she said with a laugh. “But I also didn’t imagine we’d be drinking beer next to a bonfire with your parents and brother and sister-in-law all night.”
“That’s the best kind of night,” I informed her. “It’s even better when Charlie and Bishop have a sitter for the night. Once Jenna’s a little older, we’ll have to set somethin’ up.”
When we reached the top of the stairs, all the lights were off except the ones in the bonus room. We wandered that way, mostly because I wanted to turn off the light, but I wasn’t ready to let go of her hand yet, so I made her come with me.
We stopped in surprise just inside the large open space at the end of the hall.
Jesse, Finn, and Dylan were spread out across the floor, with Dylan on one end, Jesse on the other, and Finn diagonally between them. They’d dragged a kitchen chair upstairs and set Teddy’s TV on it. Underneath, on the carpet, was Jesse and Finn’s gaming system.
“That’s an accident waiting to happen,” Teddy muttered softly.
“No shit.” I crossed the room and moved the TV back onto the floor against the wall where it had been when we left the house that afternoon.
“You think we should wake them?” she whispered.
I looked down at the kids. Dylan was rolled up in the comforter from his bed, the top of his head and his feet from the ankle down the only parts of him visible. Finn had flung open his sleeping bag and was sprawled out on top of it with his hands above his head, and Jesse was curled up on their side, completely passed out, a dingy baby blanket pressed between their pillow and cheek.
“Nah, I think they’re fine,” I said. “As long as you don’t care?”
Teddy thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, let’s leave them.”
I turned off the light and followed Teddy toward our room, blinking in surprise when she hit the hallway switch as we passed it.
“I don’t want Finn to freak if he wakes up in the dark,” she explained. “He’d probably be fine, but with his luck he’d fall down the stairs trying to find the bathroom.”
“I doubt they’ll wake up before morning,” I replied as we reached the bedroom. I closed the door behind me and pulled off my cut, tossing it on top of a box against the wall. “I wonder what time they passed out.”
“Probably pretty late if Jess didn’t bring Finn into bed,” she replied, kicking off her sandals. “She’s usually pretty good about that. But I guess since they’re upstairs, she wouldn’t think it was such a big deal.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, pulling off my shirt.
When there was no reply, I turned to look at her. She was staring at my chest.
“Teddy?” I called.
Her head jerked, and she looked away. “Well, we had a rule that the kids couldn’t sleep in the living room,” she explained. “If someone broke in the front door, I didn’t want them right there asleep on the couch.”
“Makes sense,” I agreed. It wasn’t something I’d ever thought about.
“Do you care if I use the bathroom first?” she asked, turning back toward me with a pile of clothes in her arms.
“Have at it,” I agreed.
I held myself perfectly still as she slid my flannel off her shoulders and laid it across the foot of the bed, the sight far more erotic than it should’ve been.
Shit, how long had it been since I’d had sex? A month before I’d left Montana? Two? I’d spent about six months hooking up occasionally with a bartender friend. It hadn’t been anything serious or defined, but she’d still been pissed when I’d told her I was moving. That, in turn, had pissed me off. I couldn’t really say we’d parted on bad terms, but there sure as hell hadn’t been any goodbye sex.