Page 19 of Single Teddy (Mayberry Protectors #6)

SIXTEEN

WESLEY

D espite the fire I thought I’d lit under Goodman’s men’s asses, a week later, I still had no update. And while I had been too busy throughout the week to do anything about it, come the weekend, I couldn’t forget it.

Part of it was probably the fact that I was going through this week’s homework assignments, and while Bear was all caught up and on time for all of them, the Barnes twins were behind.

Like very behind. I usually didn’t care about homework performance and assessing students solely on how they did outside the classroom, but Valentin and Niko were struggling.

They were adorable and sweet, no doubt about that, but they always looked lost and distracted during class.

They couldn’t finish their math exercises, even though only a few weeks ago they were doing great, and their reading skills were nonexistent.

If it were any other kid, this wouldn’t be so much of an issue.

I could call up their parents, give them some exercises to do with them, like adding stuff up when shopping or reading picture books before bedtime, but I didn’t think the twins’ father would appreciate my suggestions.

Their father was a suspected drug mule. Connected to an even bigger operation.

“Agh!” I huffed and pushed the paperwork aside.

This was too frustrating. I hated having my hands tied. I couldn’t stand seeing a problem and not trying to solve it. And this was one that wouldn’t stop bugging me, no matter what I did.

I sighed and looked around my house.

“I need a break,” I told the room. I got up, took the watering can out of the cabinet, along with my gloves and shears, and went to work on the garden to escape reality for a little while.

Some of the lavender that lined the path to my house was starting to wilt, but most were surprisingly intact, considering fall was well underway.

Not that you would know it. The sun was still giving us high summer temperatures, and we were nearing October.

I pruned the wilted ones in hopes of getting some new flowers to bloom.

I cut some of the fresh ones and took them into the house until I decided what to do with them.

Definitely more lavender perfume, but perhaps I could make some lavender ice cream or some simple syrup for more adventurous concoctions.

“I could also dry some,” I told the flowers as if they could respond.

Yeah. I’d definitely dry some and make little key ring pouches for the kids. Lavender was great for calming and concentration.

“Ooh. I need to order some keyrings. And pouches.”

Before I went back out, I ordered some of both and returned to pruning, watering, and caressing my plants and flowers. I even found some new beach plums to pick from my trees in the backyard.

“Maybe I can bake another pie,” I said, and immediately, images of Teddy and Bear accepting my plum pie and wolfing it down overtook me, which gave me new purpose.

So I washed my hands, rinsed the plums, and got to work.

When the pies were in the oven I video called Mom. My screen filled with her rosy, plump face, her round glasses and her kind smile while her strawberry-blonde hair looked as if it had been through a tornado all on its own.

“Long night?” I asked her.

She sighed and took her glasses off with a sigh.

“If I don’t kill my editor after this book I don’t know that I ever will.”

I laughed. “Uh-oh. What changes is it this time?”

“She wants me to change the entire second act to include a brand new character because she thinks she will be a great red herring. Are you freaking kidding me?”

I bit my lip before I chuckled again and offered her my sympathies.

“You know it’s just a suggestion, right? You can ignore her if you want.”

Mom sighed again.

“No. I know. But she’s right. It would make the book better. That’s why I’m annoyed. That woman is always right.”

“That’s why you’re paying her.”

“Well, my publisher does. Anyway, what’s up with you? Is this what it’s come to? You get your own house and I only get to see you through a screen as if you’ve emigrated to Mars?”

“Hey!” I exclaimed, but she was right. I was having too much fun being independent. “How about dinner tonight? I can bring pie!”

Before Mom could answer, my larger-framed dad appeared behind her and leaned over her shoulder.

“Who is that?” he said with a confused frown. “Is that…does that look like our son, honey?”

Mom slapped his hand playfully and chuckled.

“What? Don’t blame me. It’s been so long I’ve forgotten what he looks like.”

I rolled my eyes with a snort.

“Love you too, Dad. So…dinner tonight?”

“That depends,” Dad said. “How many pies can you bring?”

“Well, seeing as my beach plums are still fruitful…a lot?”

“Perfect,” Dad replied and walked away, passing me back to Mom.

“So, sweetie. How is your new boyfriend?”

“Boy-boyfriend? I don’t have a boyfriend,” I said.

“That’s weird. Ruby said?—”

I groaned. Fucking Ruby! Next time I saw her I’d have to kill her for real.

I reassured Mom there was no boyfriend and gave her an update on my plants before I hung up to start making more pies for tonight.

Two hours later, the whole house smelled divine, making me salivate, but I resisted the urge to dig in and decimate a pie all on my own.

Instead, I jumped in the shower, dressed nicely, and drove to Chestnut Hill, and not only because I had a delicious warm pie to deliver. Because I also had a plan.

“Wesley! What a nice surprise,” Teddy said as soon as he opened the door and invited me in.

“Really?” I replied before I could catch myself. I mentally slapped my forehead.

Thankfully, Teddy wasn’t given a chance to respond because Bear jumped to his feet, ran from the coffee table to me, and wrapped his arms around my legs.

“Mr. Crawford!” he exclaimed, and not gonna lie, that just about melted my heart.

“Hello, Bear, sweetheart. It’s so good to see you with that smile on your face. How are you settling in?”

Bear cocked his head and narrowed his eyes in confusion. After I explained what settling in meant, he dragged me to the coffee table where he’d been drawing and showed me all his sketches.

“Those are fantastic, Bear. Well done.” And it wasn’t even a lie.

For a seven-year-old, he was awfully skilled, and unlike other kids, he didn’t always draw houses, skies, and stick figures.

He constantly challenged himself in drawing all sorts of things—elephants, tigers, fruit, the whole lot.

Anything he learned in class became inspiration for his art.

Which was great to see because it meant he was absorbing all the information in his own creative way.

“What is that?” he asked after the initial rush of excitement passed. He looked down at my hands.

“Oh, I was just out in my garden this morning and found some delicious beach plums, so I made you guys a pie.”

“Yeah! Pie! I want pie with ice cream,” Bear screamed, and I was taken aback.

Not from the screaming, but from his demand for food that wasn’t nuggets or pizza.

“You shouldn’t have,” Teddy said, and as I turned to him, I noticed a box next to the couch full of wool and knitting needles.

“Do you knit?” I asked, and Teddy seemed confused for a second before he spotted the box too.

“Oh that? It’s from the old tenant. I was trying to decide what to do with it.”

“There’s a charity store in town that will take them,” I said. “Or you could use it.”

Teddy frowned.

“I don’t even know how to sew, let alone knit.”

“Oh, it’s super easy. YouTube it. You might like it.” The image of Teddy, a big god of a SEAL, sitting at home knitting scarves immediately flashed before my eyes. My heart swelled over how cute that would be.

But why would a big guy want to pick up a hobby that a lot of people thought was feminine?

“Oh well. Just a suggestion,” I said.

Teddy led me to the kitchen, where I put the pie down next to a loaf cake with white icing that looked absolutely gorgeous. I turned to Teddy.

“Did you make that?”

“Wh—or that? No, Zach made it for us,” Teddy said, scratching the back of his head. His cheeks went pink.

“Who is Zach?” Did that come out way too aggressive? Did it sound possessive?

I wanted to be the only one to feed Teddy cake. Preferably in bed. Preferably naked.

“He’s the next-door neighbor. He’s a lovely guy. Runs a bakery truck in town.”

I stared at the cake and tried to tame the roaring fire that had erupted inside me because it would be so terribly unseemly to explode over that. Teddy wasn’t my boyfriend. He wasn’t my anything. I had no right to be jealous.

And yet the crawling under my skin persisted.

“How wonderful,” I said after too long a pause.

“What do you say, Bear? Should we cut into Wes—Mr. Crawford’s pie?”

I stepped aside and let him do his thing when I realized the lemon cake was still untouched.

Huh. Take that, Zach !

I did my best to tame my grin, but I wasn’t sure how successful I was. Thankfully, uncle and nephew were too distracted by pie to notice.

As they sat down at the kitchen table to indulge themselves, my phone pinged.

Ruby:

Good morning, sunshine! Hope you’re spending your Saturday doing the horizontal tango with Baby Daddy.

I groaned and looked up, catching Teddy staring at me.

“Wou—want some pie?”

“Oh no. I’m okay. I’ve got, like, five more at home,” I started, but Teddy was already cutting a piece for me and scooping some vanilla ice cream on top.

“That’s so good, huh, Bear?” he asked after we all sat there, quietly digging in.

And it wasn’t even awkward. It felt…familiar. Friendly. Cozy.

Agh. I’m never going to get over this guy if I keep hanging out with him.

“It’s delicious!” Bear exclaimed, and I ruffled his hair in gratitude.

Coming from him, it was the highest compliment. Coming from his uncle, it was… Well, I wasn’t going to even go there.

“I…I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” I said after a few mouthfuls, and after casting a glance at Bear, I measured my words carefully. “About what we talked about last Sunday. The?—”

“Yeah. What about that?” Teddy cut in, catching my drift.

“Well, is there any update? I can’t just sit on my hands as you very well know,” I said.

“I know. I’m going to talk to Wyatt today,” he said with a solemn expression.

“Please do. Or I’ll go in without you guys,” I said.

Teddy opened his mouth, but Bear jumped up.

“All done!” He threw his hands in the air, and Teddy turned to his nephew.

“What a good boy. Now go wash your hands in the bathroom, okay? And don’t touch anything with those sticky hands,” he shouted after him, but Bear was already in the bathroom.

Teddy turned to me. “I swear, I spend half my time wiping his hands. Like, what is he touching? Where is the dirt coming from?”

I laughed.

“Oh they have a magic ability to get messy wherever they go,” I said.

Teddy sighed, but after a moment, he chuckled.

“Look at me complaining about that. A few days ago, Bear wasn’t even talking to me other than to answer my questions, and now my biggest worry is his sticky fingers.”

I smiled.

“Things are going well then?”

He glanced at the bathroom and nodded.

“I know we’ve only been here for a couple of days, but…it’s like he’s a new person.”

“That’s great,” I said. “You’d be surprised how quickly kids can adjust to a new normal.”

Teddy pressed his lips together and looked at me. “Thank you again. I want you to know I’m taking everything you said seriously. I’ve booked an appointment with a therapist as well. And I am going to talk to Wyatt. I can’t stop thinking about those boys either.”

“Well, they better have a plan by tomorrow because I wasn’t kidding. I will go in without them first thing Monday. Well, first thing after school.”

“I won’t let you go in alone. I’ll be there, no matter what,” he said with so much depth that my heart fluttered as if it had got wings all of a sudden and threatened to fly out of my chest.

“Thank you. And I’ve got a cover plan, so it’s all good on my end.”

He smiled seriously as if to say he had heard me and understood, and my phone went off again.

Even before I picked it up, I knew what it was, and I rolled my eyes.

Ruby:

You know I worry when you don’t reply. You better be eloping with hot Teddy.

“Is that your boyfriend?” Teddy asked, and I froze.

“Huh?” I asked when I managed to look at him.

“It’s none of my business, of course,” he said. “I’ve just noticed you get a lot of texts.”

I glanced down at my phone and almost burst out laughing. But not because it was that funny. It was because of my nerves. And because…was Teddy jealous or was I projecting again?

“God no. Do you really think I’d have a boyfriend?”

“Oh, sorry. Girlfriend.”

I laughed out loud.

“Oh no, I am gay. But I definitely don’t have a boyfriend.”

Teddy narrowed his eyes.

“Why definitely?”

“Because…” I said. “Come on. I couldn’t possibly have a boyfriend.”

“Why couldn’t you possibly have a boyfriend? What’s wrong with you?” he insisted.

Had someone turned up the temperature in here? Why was I getting all hot and sweaty all of a sudden, and not the good kind?

“What isn’t wrong with me? Look at me!” I said, but I immediately regretted it.

As if I needed to call attention to my imperfect body or all my visible flaws.

“I am,” Teddy said, and a knot formed in my throat.

His icy blue eyes were glued to me, threatening to set me on fire with their intensity. He looked at me as if I were important. As if I were beautiful. As if he wanted me. But he couldn’t possibly…

“Well, stop it.” I leaned in on the table to hide my fat and instinctively hugged myself to conceal more of my body from him.

“You asked me to look,” he said, all serious and growly, and I looked away from him.

Was it possible he liked me? That he wanted me? That he was queer?

Of course he could be queer, but wanting me? That made me want to laugh.

“Well, I take it back.” I pushed back my chair and stood.

I needed to leave here. Things had gotten…interesting. Too interesting. And I was sure it wouldn’t help my unhealthy obsession with this man.

I started to walk to the living room, and Teddy followed behind me.

“Are you okay?” he asked, and when I turned to look at him, he was still staring at me with a kind of fire in his eyes.

“Yup. Perfect. I’m good,” I said, barely able to articulate. “I should…I should go. Lots to do.”

I all but ran to the door.

“Talk to your…to Wyatt and get whatever you need ready. I’m going to that house on Monday afternoon, no matter what,” I said, leaving Teddy gaping after me.

As if he were in awe of me or something.

“Pfft! Get that out of your head, Wes,” I muttered under my breath as I made my way to the car. “That man doesn’t want you. He could never want you.”

And while that might be true, it didn’t mean my head didn’t take that spark of interest and run with it.

But I didn’t care.

If I couldn’t have Teddy in real life—and why would I—at least I could have him in my imagination.