Page 31 of Single Teddy
I scanned the bar, looking for the culprit, and found him pretty quickly. He was hard to miss. I was surprised I hadn’t caught him earlier.
Mr. Crawford.
Wesley.
He stared right back at me, and even though there were several feet between us, I could feel his eyes piercing right through me as if we were only inches apart.
Before I could do anything, he waved at me and then turned toward the women at his table, leaving me feeling a little emptier than before. A little hollower. A little weaker. Which was bizarre in and of itself because I’d been in far worse, far more dangerous situations than this, yet as soon as he stopped looking at me, it felt like I was truly drowning.
No one had ever made me feel like that before, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it terrified the hell out of me.
“Here we go. One triple stack and one portion of some earth-shattering chicken nuggets.” I shook my head and looked at Autumn and the wonderful food in front of us.
My burger was juicy and inviting, and the loaded fries with bacon, cheese, and chili looked crispy, golden, and heavenly. But even Bear’s food looked amazing. His chicken nuggets were shaped like dinosaurs standing upright on the plate as if they were grazing, and his fries were all lined vertically in a tin container in the middle of the plate. But the best part was how taken Bear was by his plate.
“Now, Bear, what sauce would you like? We have ketchup, pink sauce, ranch, and a very special dinosauce that the little dino nuggets love. Which one would you like? I can bring them all if you want.”
Bear pinched a dinosaur off his plate and took a bite before he said, “Dinosauce!”
Maybe that was the trick to getting him to widen his eating horizons. Cookie molds and playful names. I needed to research ideas because he couldn’t live on nuggets and fries for the rest of his life, and the best time to start experimenting with flavors and textures was now, before he ruined his health.
“Dinosauce coming right up!”
As it turned out, Dinosauce was a mix of barbecue, mayo, and something sweet, like honey, but Bear gobbled it up.
I was halfway through my burger, casting glances every so often in Wesley’s way, when Slade appeared with his boyfriend and daughter in tow.
As before, Bear abandoned his food and jumped into my arms, and even though his fingers and mouth were dirty and sticky with sauce, I held him close.
“This is my boyfriend, King,” Slade said, pointing to a tall but lanky blond man with brown eyes and an almost smoldering expression. “And this is Mackenzie. Mac for short,” he said.
Mac was taller than Bear and a little more mature, so I assumed she was in her early tweens. She waved at me and Bear, and her dads tried to find a table, but they were all taken.
“You can sit with us. We’re almost done anyway,” I said, knowing I’d have to spend the rest of the evening with Bear in my arms.
“Are you sure? We don’t want to impose,” King said, and after I reassured them a couple more times, they sat down.
Mac dragged a chair from another table and sat next to me, placing a stuffed animal she’d been carrying on the table, a cute pink dragon with big eyes and glittery wings.
“This is Bubblegum and he’s a dragon,” she said to me, although the show she put on, flapping the toy’s wings and making it fly, was for Bear’s benefit.
Half an hour later, Bear was sitting on my lap, refusing to eat the rest of his food but facing Mac and watching over her dragon while she ate her pizza.
“Bubblegum loves pizza. Do you love pizza, Bear?” she asked.
Bear shrugged.
“You don’t know? How could you not know? Have you never tried pizza before?”
Bear shook his head. Mac gasped.
“Oh my god! Pizza is literally the best. Here. You want to try some? It would make Bubblegum so happy if someone elseshared his love of pizza.” Mac took the smaller slice from her plate and offered it to Bear.
I was about to thank her before Bear could turn her down when, to my surprise, Bear extended both arms and took the pizza slice from her. He took a bite, and we all watched with bated breath for his verdict.
“I like it,” he said, smiling so brightly it lifted a weight off my shoulders.
“You want more? I’m quite full,” Mac said and dragged her plate closer to him.
