Page 18 of Love Shots

Teddy’s eyes lit up. “Is that so? So, I could say anything to you right now and you’d forget it in the morning?” He sniggered before draining the contents of his own glass.

“Let’s see, shall we ... Truth or drink? No harm if I’m gonna forget, right?”

“Hell yeah. That means I’ve got blackmail material for future use.”

She laughed right along with him while he lined up shot glasses and filled them to the brim. Maybe she was a little drunk. Teddy blackmailing her wasn’t very funny.

Shit. Was this a bad idea?

It was too late though. She’d have to chastise herself later. All she could do now was concentrate on not humiliating herself.

“Okay.” Teddy rubbed his hands together. He was way too excited. “We’ll start off with the easy stuff. I’ll go first.” Why wasn’t she surprised? “Best memory?”

A small smile tugged at her lips. “That’s an easy one. Senior year. Bobby Rhodes was spreading rumors about hooking up with me and I was about ready to lose my mind. You wanted to cheer me up, so you convinced me to play hooky and we spent all day driving around. We also ate a shit ton of junk and ended up in our spot, blasting Green Day and drinking some weird minty liqueur that you’d stolen from your pops.”

That was a good day.

Teddy stared at her so long she began to shift in her seat. His scrutiny was unnerving. She’d expected him to laugh, reminisce maybe, or at the very least crack a smile. He was doing none of those things. Instead, his eyes bore into her with such potency, she didn’t know where to look. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore.

“What?”

He stayed quiet for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, he managed to snap himself out of it. Shaking his head, he ignored her question and simply said, “Your turn.”

Did I miss something?

“Uh, okay. Fine. Biggest lie you’ve ever told?”

She watched his mind work as he contemplated her question. He did that thing he always did when he was unsure: he ran his hand over the top of his head, ruffling his short brown hair enough to make him look like he’d just woken up.

“Remember the day I left for the Navy, we had breakfast that morning?” He waited for her to nod. “You asked me if there was anything you could’ve done or said that would’ve changed my mind about joining up. I said no, but that was a lie.”

Summer’s breathing hitched. She remembered that day as if it were yesterday. The image of Teddy driving away, forever etched in her mind. She remembered asking him that question too. It was intended as a joke, even though a part of her was still hoping he’d change his mind.

Her heart pounded as she waited for him to continue. Suddenly she had to know the answer.

“Teddy ...” She trailed off, realizing she had no clue what to say next.

“The truth?” He paused for a moment. “You. The answer was you.”

“What?” Her voice was just a whisper. He wasn’t making sense.

“If you asked me to stay, Summer ... then I would’ve stayed. For you.”

Did he just say what I think he just said?

There was no playfulness in his tone. It was scarily serious. And back came that stare. She searched his features for a smile, a smirk, a lip twitch. Anything. But there was nothing there.

“Why?” The question was out of her mouth before she even had time to contemplate whether she really wanted to know the answer.

“You know why, dollface.”

“I do?” Has he lost his mind?

“You’re really gonna pretend that you didn’t know I had a crush on you?”

“What?” He had a crush on me?! “What are you ... I don’t understand ... how was I supposed to ... y-you never said anything? I mean, you dated other girls.”

Teddy let out a laugh. But there was no humor in it. “Dated? Who the hell did I date? Huh? Come on ... tell me? In all the years you knew me growing up, name one girl I supposedly ‘dated’?”

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