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That way Teddy could watch it again here if she wanted to.
When I started walking, she curled her head onto my chest. My heart rate kicked up, and it was so loud, I wondered if it would wake her.
“Do you guys know how to play? My dad probably does, because Sara said this game is old.” Ouch. Teddy snorted and said, “I might be too young for this one, then.” Fucking liar. “So you’ll have to explain it to me.”
“You sure you’re ready, August?” she said. “Do you need a few minutes to stretch? Limber up a little?” “Spin the fucking arrow, Teddy.” I rolled my eyes. “You’re not supposed to say ‘fucking,’ Dad,” Riley said, and I had to bite back another smile.
After staying like that for more than a few seconds, I wondered if maybe I should’ve stretched after all—Christ.
It took me a few seconds to register that if Riley was calling out the moves, then Teddy and I would be playing. Suddenly I was very aware of how little Teddy was wearing—black running shorts and a tank top.
So I did what any self-respecting man would do. I faked a fall.
I was focused on Teddy’s freckles and her laugh that sounded like wind chimes on a summer day.
I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to grab her by the back of the neck and pull her mouth down to mine. I wanted to feel our tongues tangle. I wanted to know if she still tasted the same.
But the malice or annoyance that used to accompany his eye rolls was nowhere to be found—at least right now.
I looked up at Gus again. He seemed to be having trouble swallowing. “This is…really thoughtful, Teddy,” he said.
Once we got closer to her door, Gus started tiptoeing, and I had to pretend it wasn’t the cutest thing in the world.
When he looked in on his daughter, I saw Gus’s dimples for the first time in a long time.
But did that mean I was going to let whatever was about to happen, happen? Well, apparently, yeah, it did.
“Why?” he asked. He sounded…pained? Because I can’t get rejected again.
I didn’t know how the situation had changed so fast, but all I could think about was Gus Ryder’s hands and how I wanted them all over me.
“We can’t do this, August,” I said. “I can’t do this.” Not again.
Those two had never had a relationship, but you wouldn’t know it bothered Brooks until you saw the way his eyes found Jimmy every time we came to the bar.
The guy was lucky there wasn’t a baseball bat anywhere in the vicinity.
God I love Teddy
Because I knew Teddy now, and not just the Teddy that everyone else knew. I knew the Teddy that was just as fierce when she was soft and just as fun when she was comfortable. She was loyal and kind and funny. She was so much more than I ever knew.
Maple and I didn’t get along. She was a biter.
It felt less stuffy, but it still had that old-school dive bar charm that made us all keep coming back. Well, that, and the fact that it was the only bar in town.
She got quiet when she was focused, so I had time to do one of my least favorite things lately: think.
The first sip burned down my throat. Some people like to crack open a cold beer at the end of a hard workday. Me? I like a crisp Diet Coke.
I actually was flirting with the vet, but not because I liked him or wanted to sleep with him again—because I wanted to make sure Maverick was getting the best care possible.
“Get a grip, August!” “I can’t get a fucking grip. You literally make me insane!” “Likewise, asshole!”
“Maybe you’ll only want it once, but I don’t think…That’s not what this is for me.” “That’s not what this is for me, either, Teddy,” Gus said earnestly.
Throughout my life, Gus had often been hard for me to like, but he’d never been hard for me to trust.
“I like them,” I said. “I like you,” he responded. I let out a laugh. “No, you don’t.” When I said it, he held me tighter.
Dads were supposed to be invincible, and even though I knew my dad wasn’t, I still wished he could be.
The way Emmy was looking at me was very reminiscent of our father, and I tried not to sweat.
brown sugar one,”
Aside from a few other similarities, Teddy and I also share a deep love for brown sugar coffee
“Teddy, what are you doing to him?” Please god, don’t answer that.
“I’ll take you home,” I said quickly, which earned a look from both my sister and my father. And Teddy’s father. And Teddy.
When I curled into his side, I felt his lips in my hair. “You can cry, Teddy,” he said. And so I cried. And cried. And August Ryder held me the whole time.
So whh am I also crying
“Everyone always just expects me to figure it out. Like ‘Don’t worry about Teddy, she’ll be fine.’
That you roll with the punches and punch back if necessary.”
It clicked in my head a second later: I’d forgotten a crack about Gus. “It’s her dad that’s a challenge,” I added quickly. Aggie chuckled.
Shit, I was really rusty on my Gus insults.
And the truth was, I’d rather fight with Teddy than be happy with anyone else.
I’d been a little preoccupied with, what, realizing my enemy is maybe actually the thing I’ve wanted in my life this whole time?
“Yeah, they do that sometimes,” Riley said, and I froze. Did we? And did Riley see it? When? Fuck. Cam’s eyes flashed to mine and she arched a brow. “Do they?” she asked. I broke eye contact—a dead fucking giveaway. “Yeah,” Riley said with a shrug. Little gossip—turns out Riley picked up a habit or two from Luke Brooks.
“Liar,” Cam said. “Remind me never to call you as a witness.”
Nice, Gus—use your kid. But Teddy responded a few minutes later.
When I heard Riley start singing along to Linda Ronstadt, I smiled.
Teddy was out mowing the lawn—just finishing, it looked like—when we got there, and I immediately wished I’d gotten here sooner, so I could’ve done it for her.
Our mommy issues were different, but if we didn’t laugh about them, we’d cry.
This would be one of the ways she would always need me, and I would always need her.
“I’m not yelling!” I watched her realize that she was in fact yelling.
Emmy gagged again, and I had to bite back a smile. I felt bad that she’d found out this way, but honestly, watching her reaction was entertaining.
