Page 35 of Love Shots

Teddy let out a content sigh as Summer continued to trace the tattoo across his chest. They never made it to dinner, not that he was complaining. He’d take Summer in his arms over food any day of the week.

“I never realized this was a tree. I always thought the strokes on your arm were like tribal patterns or something, like on the other arm ... I never would’ve guessed they were tree roots. It makes sense now though.”

The tattoo she was talking about was all black ink. The tree roots started on his forearm and worked their way up until they transformed into a thick trunk. Branches began to spread over his bicep, collarbone, and across his chest, with black birds emerging from the offshoots over his heart.

“Is that your nice way of saying it looks crap?” Teddy chuckled. Summer was never very subtle.

“No!” She jerked in his arms and shot up to face him, her hand still resting against his bare chest. “It’s beautiful, Teddy. Really beautiful.”

She was wrong. She was the only beautiful thing in the room. Her silky blonde hair was all mussed and hung in all different directions. Green flecks peeked through heavy eyelids. And her pretty pink lips were still swollen from hours of kissing.

Gently tugging her back down, she came willingly until her head was back on his shoulder. “Thank you, doll. I got this one when I left the Navy. See the birds that emerge from the tree?” He felt her nod against him. “Two are for my parents ... the other two are for Mason and Carter. My teammates.”

“The ones you lost.” It wasn’t a question, but he answered regardless.

“Yeah. The ones I lost.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “tell me about them. What were they like?”

Teddy dropped a kiss onto her hair. “They were good guys. Mason was a bit of a joker. Used to drive me and Ty crazy with his pranks. They were non-stop. This one time in Germany, he placed a load of bubble wrap under the bathmats in our hotel room. Of course we’d been out drinking the night before. The morning after, I go into the bathroom to brush my teeth and I swear to God I almost had a heart attack when the loudest goddamn pop had me ducking for cover.” A smile broke out as he remembered how hard Mason had laughed when he’d found him laid out on the floor of the bathroom.

“And Carter?”

“Carter was more reserved. The strong and silent type I guess. From what he told me, he had it rough as a kid. He grew up in foster care and was passed around a lot. He didn’t say much, but when he did ... people listened.”

Summer snuggled deeper into the crook of his arm, distracting him momentarily from the pang of grief that was now making his chest feel tight.

“I wish I could’ve met them.”

“Me too, doll, me too.”

Teddy ran his fingers up and down the smooth skin on Summer’s back as they fell into a comfortable silence. Thoughts of Mason and Carter eventually subsided, and for the first time in a long time, he felt at peace.

After a while he heard Summer’s breathing slow and a cute little snore escape her lips. He felt like he should pinch himself to check that this was real. His dream woman was asleep in his arms. In his bed. Naked. Goddamn, he was one lucky man.

“Sweet dreams, Summer.” He dropped a kiss onto her forehead and whispered, “I love you,” into the night.

***

“What you doing here, man?” Ace casually leaned against the wooden doorframe, narrowed blue eyes boring into Teddy and a hint of confusion creasing the mottled skin on one side of his face.

“Summer sent me.” Teddy gestured to the bed of his truck behind him. “I got some decking for the yard.” When his soon-to-be brother-in-law’s expression still looked perplexed, he continued. “For the platform, man. Y’know, for the ceremony? So you can marry my sister?”

“Oh shit,” he exclaimed, immediately straightening.

“Yeah. Oh shit. You gonna help me unload?”

With a nod, Ace was off the porch and circling the truck. They worked together to unload and carry everything around to the backyard.

This was not how Teddy imagined spending his day off. In between work and Summer playing wedding planner, the only time they’d spent together this past week had been at night. In bed. Not that having Summer in his bed every night wasn’t a good time. It was. A very good time. But he wanted more. Now that they’d taken things to the next level physically, he wanted to make sure they were on the same page emotionally.

Despite the lack of time they’d spent together, he could tell something was going on with her, and it was making him uneasy. He was hoping to talk to her properly today, but then he’d been summoned here. Maybe she was already aware that he was incapable of denying her? If not, it was only a matter of time. So here he was. Spending the day with Ace. Building a freaking stage.

Who are you kidding? You’d build a million stages for her if it made her happy.

After settling on a place to set up the decking, they got to work building a frame. They worked together quickly and quietly, only stopping to check on each other’s progress. So, he was surprised an hour in when Ace asked out of the blue how things were going with Summer.

“Good.” Teddy grunted, ignoring the churning in his gut. Things were good, right? They were more than compatible in the bedroom. And outside of it, everything was just so easy.

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