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He was just so…grumpy. Men who are that good-looking should not be allowed to be such assholes. It was false advertising.
“Hey, pornstache. Nice of you to join us.” “Fuck off, Theodora,” he said without even glancing my way.
“Don’t forget, I want to be cremated and shot off in fireworks,” I responded. “While Kiss performs ‘I Was Made for Loving You,’
One of the most annoying things about Teddy? She was familiar, even though I didn’t want her to be. Don’t think about it. But here I was seven years later still thinking about it. Here was the fucking kicker: I didn’t even like Teddy. At all.
when Emmy and Teddy graduated from college, Teddy wore this dark green dress that just…Never mind. The point is that I know Teddy is pretty. Beautiful, even. But beautiful like a lion or an elk or any other large and dangerous animal. Beautiful to look at, but you didn’t want to get too close because it’d rip your throat out or trample you or spear you to death with its giant horns.
I was a single dad, but I’d never had to be a single parent.
“You are many things, August Ryder, and some of those things aren’t great, I’ll be honest,” I said. “But a bad father isn’t one of them.”
Seeing them like that—already so comfortable—almost convinced me that this was a good idea. But as I was walking out, I heard Teddy say, “So when’s the last time you were arrested?” “Never?” Riley said. “Well, tomorrow you’re going to say yesterday,” Teddy said. “Lucky you’re mom’s a lawyer.” Jesus Christ, what had I done?
One thing about cowboys? After they’ve been working all day, you can hear them coming, so I knew when Gus was starting to make his way toward me. Leather chaps, and all the buckles they require, are not quiet.
Meadowlark had the same drawbacks as all the others. It was like a room with a low ceiling and no windows, but you wouldn’t know that unless you left and saw how big other rooms could be.
He was a little…dirty today—like actually. His face was smudged with dirt, and a sheen of dust covered his clothes. It was a reminder that Gus was a working man, and who didn’t love a working man? A man who knew how to fix stuff, didn’t mind getting filthy…Love?
Hot nerdy cowboy with a mustache was not something I thought would do it for me, but…
“Why do you have Midol?” I asked. Advil or Tylenol would’ve been fine, but a specific period painkiller? Gus shrugged. “I have a sister. This was always in the medicine cabinet growing up, so it’s always in my medicine cabinet now.”
“You try to carry everything by yourself even though you don’t have to. It has to be heavy, even with your arms.” Teddy glanced down at my biceps, and I flexed a little without thinking.
I wondered whether I could taste the sun on her skin. Jesus, Gus. Do you think you’re a poet? Check yourself. The longer Teddy was here, the less control I had over my thoughts about her. She was on my mind all the time now.
Enjoy your vitamin D, Teddy,” I called. “I prefer the other kind, but the sun will do,”
Gus looked at me, and there was a smile on his face, and goddamn if it wasn’t the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen. Those dimples.
“Tell me, Teddy…baby. Can I touch you like this?”
“August Ryder,” I breathed as I sat up. “Are you offering me a mustache ride?” Gus smoothed two of his fingers over his mustache and said, “Saddle up, baby.”
“Should we have a signal?” I asked. “Like if you need to breathe?” Gus laughed, and I preened at the sound. “If getting suffocated by your perfect cunt is the way I go, then let me,” he said. “Now sit on my face. I want my last supper.”
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.
We balanced each other out in a weird way. And the truth was, I’d rather fight with Teddy than be happy with anyone else.
God, I missed her. There was a Teddy-shaped hole in the house when she wasn’t here.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ve got myself into a bit of a pickle, haven’t I?” “Good thing you love pickles,”
The way she stroked Riley’s curly hair made my knees go wobbly. Riley slipped her hand into Teddy’s, and they walked hand in hand up to Teddy’s front door, and I thought I might collapse. I wanted to see that sight over and over again for the rest of my life.
If I wanted this thing with Teddy to go anywhere, I’d have to remember that she was built to shine and glow and shimmer, and I couldn’t take that piece of her only for myself.
“Out of my way,” and then I grabbed her by the chaps and hauled her mouth to mine. I kissed her like we were the only two people in the bar. She kissed me back with equal fervor, and I couldn’t have cared less that everyone was watching. I wanted them to. I wanted them to know that Theodora Andersen was mine.
I knew then that I’d never be able to tell this woman no ever again.
“Fan of the chaps?” I said. “Fan of the ass in them,” Gus said with a grin that made my heart hiccup. “A fan of the woman the ass belongs to, too.” “Are you going soft on me, August?” I scoffed. Gus made a show of looking down at his groin and then back up at me. “Pretty much the opposite, baby.”
“I can’t suck your dick in the kitchen if your pants are on, August.” I’ll tell you what: I’d never seen a cowboy’s pants come off faster.
“Fuck, Teddy, I never want to let you go.” “Then don’t,”
I wanted her so badly that her being gone felt like an open wound being doused with salt water.
“Luke is my fiancé, my partner, my everything. But you’re my soulmate, Teddy Andersen, and I’m the luckiest girl in the world because of it.”
“I want to marry you. I want to have babies with you—little copper-headed demons running around wreaking havoc”—a
“Wanting used to scare me so much, because I didn’t think I had the space to want anything more than what I’ve got. But wanting a future with you is the easiest thing in the world. And I want it all, with you.”
“I want you to be full of me while you wear this dress.” My hips rolled and Teddy pushed her ass back into my cock. Fucking tease. “I want every man in the room to be able to smell me on you.”
