Page 41 of Flagrant Foul
“No! We’re just…” I don’t know why I lie. It’s not even like Nate or I said anything bad about him.
Correction. I do know. Teddy hates it when we worry about him or monitor his mood too closely, and right now, he’s sitting so close to me and wearing so little that I have less than zero faith in my ability to keep myself in check if he chooses to unleash the contents of a bratty mood on me.
“Show me then.”
Nate and I have volleyed back and forth with enough ridiculous emojis that I feel safe to scroll up and show Teddy. Not super happy about it, mind you, but safe enough.
He scoffs and rolls his eyes when he sees my screen. “What else? You can’t expect me to believe that’s all you messaged.”
“I think you might be unpleasantly surprised by how low-brow our messages usually are,” I reply. Because I’m feeling daring, and maybe a little too full of carbohydrates, I scroll up until I get to the GIF I made of Lockie.I know it’s ridiculous, but I want Teddy to see it. I let it play a couple of times as he watches.
“You’re mean, Sev,” he says as though it’s a high form of compliment.
“I know.”
I put my phone down, letting it slide between the arm of the couch and the cushion, and return my attention to the TV.
Teddy doesn’t move.
He’s so close to me that I can feel his breath on the side of my face. Warm and sweet. More intoxicating than anything I’ve ever experienced. So close that if I turn my head forty degrees, our lips would touch. Maybe thirty degrees would do it.
He breathes in.
And out.
I taste him on my lips and my tongue. On my face and neck, and the back of my throat.
I want to kiss him so badly my teeth ache.
My gums itch.
My fingernails dig into my palms.
The sexual tension between us is a real, living thing. A thing with a name and a pulse. A thing that draws me to him with such longing that it’s almost impossible tostop myself from leaning in. I want to kiss him so badly that my lips part of their own accord.
Through it all, he doesn’t move. He stays where he is, kneeling beside me, looking at me with hope and sweet things radiating from his eyes.
“What do you want, Teddy?” I ask when I can’t stand the tension between us for one more second.
“The same thing I always want, Sev.”
“What’s that?”
“Kisses.”
21
Teddy “T-Dog” O’Reilly
Ishouldn’thavesaidthat.
Ugh, God.I shouldn’t have said it. I know he won’t do it.
Disappointment gathers like a storm in my chest. A flash flood. A cloudburst. Water vapor collects and forms heavy, swollen rainclouds that threaten to pour.
I’m suddenly overly aware of my proximity to Sev. That, and the fact I’m almost naked. It doesn’t feel like fun anymore. All the bravado I’ve wrapped myself in for the past week or so has dissipated, leaving me shivering and cold.
The living room is mostly dark. The TV is on, and so is the light in the hallway, but night has drawn in, throwing most of the space into blackness. Light and dark paint pictures, drawing stark shadows that exaggerate the masculinity of Sev’s gorgeous face. His hair is down, kinked and wavy from a day of being tied up. Hehas his face turned away from me, and he’s pretending to be engrossed with what’s on TV.
