Page 14 of Love Shots

Slowly dropping her hand, her head slumped onto the pillow. She already appeared visibly calmer from the knowledge that he wasn’t going anywhere. Teddy tried hard not to read too much into that. She was just shaken, and he was familiar. That was all.

Focusing on the task at hand, he removed Summer’s shoes and then, at her request, her jeans. Soon, she was in nothing but a tank top and bright red panties.

Now is not the time to drool. She’s scared. She literally just had a panic attack in your arms. She needs you to take care of her, not check her out.

The idea of Summer scared was enough to curtail his libido. Thank God. Once his own boots were off, he left his clothes on and joined her under the quilt. She came willingly into his arms and rested her head on his chest. Everything about it felt right. This was where she belonged.

“You’ll always be safe with me, Summer,” he whispered into her hair.

Feeling her snuggle deeper into him, he felt himself smile into the darkness.

***

“You know she’s staying, right?” Ivy was not being subtle. She hadn’t shut up about Summer since he’d arrived at Dotty’s diner.

Pushing his now-empty plate aside, he leaned back into the squeaky red booth and eyed his sister. “And?”

“And ... stop pretending you don’t give a shit.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and lifted a brow at her. “And what exactly makes you think I do give a shit?”

Ivy huffed and braced her hands on the steel-top table. Clearly already exasperated with him. She hadn’t seen anything yet.

“Don’t act dumb, Teddy. It really doesn’t suit you. You’ve been in love with Summer Willis since fifth grade.”

Love? Who was Ivy kidding? “You been reading those romance books again, sis?”

He felt her glare on him as he smiled up at a tired-looking Dotty who had chosen that exact moment to come over and clear their plates. The older woman took her time, and Teddy was thankful. It was the quiet before the storm if he was reading his sister’s face correctly.

He was right. Once Dotty was out of earshot, Ivy laid it all out for him. “She’s just as gone for you too, y’know? But you’re both just so darn stubborn. So stubborn you’re gonna miss the chance to actually be happy. Do you know how dumb that is, Teddy? Are you really gonna let your pig-headedness stop you from being with the woman you’ve spent your whole life loving? Huh? Are you? And don’t even pretend she’s not the reason you came back to Bluestone. Or bought her granddaddy’s bar.”

Teddy had stopped listening right after she’d said that Summer was gone for him too. Was that true? Or even possible? He thought back to two nights ago. The feeling of rightness that filled him as Summer lay curled up next to him all night. He’d snuck out in the morning, not wanting to embarrass her, but now he was beginning to think he should have stayed. Made sure she was okay. Seeing as she’d been avoiding him ever since, it was probably safe to assume he had done the wrong thing. Damnit. He was such a dumbass.

“Fuck.” He scrubbed his hand roughly through his hair.

“What?”

“I think I fucked up.”

“Um. Yeah! So ... you gonna tell her how you feel? Finally?” Ivy took another sip of her coffee, still not taking her eyes off him.

“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the other night. At Mickey’s. I spent the night with her but ... I left in the morning without waking her.”

Ivy spat out the gulp of coffee she’d just taken. Brown spray was now covering half the table.

“Jesus, sis. Drink much?”

“Teddy!” she screeched, bringing more attention to their table than he was comfortable with. “You can’t just say shit like that and expect me not to react. Jesus. What the hell is wrong with you?!” Her voice dropped as she leaned over the table. “I can’t believe you slept with Summer and sneaked out the next morning. That’s fucking low. How could you do that to her? I ought to kick your ass on her behalf. Not to mention for all of womankind too.”

Oh. He realized his mistake. Quickly. “Shit. No. Not like that. We didn’t hook up, Ivy. She was upset. That asshole ex of hers Colt decided to corner her at the bar. After I kicked the douchebag out, I took Summer upstairs and looked after her. She was feeling a little ... uh ... fragile ... and asked me to stay. So, I did. To sleep. Nothing more. But the next day, well, the last thing I wanted to do was embarrass her ... so I left.”

He was happy to see that his sister no longer looked homicidal as she relaxed back into her seat. But she wasn’t exactly thrilled either. Nor was he. Saying out loud what had happened drilled home just how much he’d messed up.

“You need to talk to her. Like yesterday. And apologize for leaving. Blame it on being a dumbass man, I don’t care, just say something. Hopefully ... she’ll forgive you. You should know that right now, I reckon she’s feeling way more embarrassed about you sneaking out than she is about breaking down.”

Fuck a duck.

He needed to fix this.

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