Page 28 of Single Teddy (Mayberry Protectors #6)

TWENTY-THREE

TEDDY

I had no idea how I managed to get out of Wesley’s arms and bed and back home with Bear, but somehow, I did it.

It didn’t mean I could think straight. It didn’t mean I could concentrate on anything other than the memories of his body on mine, my tongue and lips tasting him, or my hands exploring every part of him.

“Uncle Teddy?” Bear asked during pizza dinner.

“Huh?” I turned to him and blinked to focus my vision back on him.

“Are you okay?”

God, get your head screwed on right, Teddy.

If even Bear noticed I wasn’t with it, then I was way too discombobulated.

“Yeah, of course, buddy. I’m…I’m just tired, that’s all.”

Bear seemed to buy the excuse and nodded before asking me to watch a movie before bedtime.

“Can we watch Lilo and Stitch ?” He looked at me with big puppy-dog eyes, and I couldn’t refuse him. I found the movie on Popflix, and we cozied up on the sofa, but it wasn’t long before I went back to thinking about Wesley.

By the time credits rolled he was fast asleep and I carried him to bed, moving to my own right after brushing my teeth and I tried to get some shuteye, only my head was too busy running through whole scenarios.

Why…why him?

And why did I want a repeat? What had he awakened in me?

It was no wonder I didn’t get much sleep or that I stayed in bed scrolling through pages and pages of articles, trying to figure out what had happened to me until the sun rose.

Words like asexual, demisexual, graysexual, aromantic, demiromantic floated around in my head, threatening to give me a headache, but despite all that, I found a couple of identities that might speak to me. Which only made me wonder how on earth I had never thought to look this kind of stuff up.

Regardless of what I called myself or which identity best described me, there was one thing I had no doubt about.

Wesley was special to me, and I wanted more of him.

And not just sexually. No. I wanted to spend more time with him, get to know him better, be surrounded by his kindness and wisdom, and his beautiful smiles and deep, inquisitive green eyes. I wanted to know what made him tick.

My alarm pulled me out of my internal mayhem and out of bed and into the start of another day.

We might have only just moved into our home, but our routine had become a thing of beauty by now. First, I woke up and showered, then I got started on breakfast before I woke Bear up and got him into the shower too. Then we ate our breakfast and were off to school.

But today was the weekend, and weekends were still wild cards.

And wild cards stressed me out. So while having breakfast, I went through my list of suggestions and tried to narrow it down to a couple for Bear.

The last thing I wanted to do to make my weekend less overwhelming was to overwhelm Bear with a myriad of options to choose from.

“Do you want to go to the park or pay Mac and her dads a visit?” I asked, and of course, he chose the second option, so I shot a message to Slade, and after cleaning up and being lazy for a bit, we set off for Slade and King’s house.

King was already at work, so Slade and I sat and had coffee while the kids played with Pixel, the dog, in the backyard.

My phone buzzed.

Wesley:

Did yesterday really happen, or did I have the best REM I’ve ever had?

His message brought a smile to my face because it was exactly how I felt.

Teddy:

It definitely happened.

“Who’s that?” Slade asked, and I turned my phone off before I glanced at my friend.

“Oh, erm, no one. Why?”

Slade shrugged.

“No reason. You just have this silly smile on your face.”

I tried to smooth my lips back to compliance, but I had no idea how successful I was.

My phone buzzed again.

Wesley:

Is it wild that I want to do this again now but also all the time?

“There it is again,” Slade said. “That no one you’re talking to seems to have the perfect skill of making you smile.”

I frowned, trying to hide whatever it was Slade was seeing.

“I have no idea what you mean,” I replied.

“Sure. Sure. You have no clue.” Slade pressed his lips together and turned to stare at his coffee.

I watched him for a moment and took a sip of my drink before realization hit me.

“Joey told you, didn’t he?”

Slade laughed out loud.

“He may have let something slip.”

I huffed.

“Like?”

He shrugged again.

“Like dropping you off at Wesley’s and seeing you talk ‘passionately,’” he said, doing air quotes on the last word.

“Talking passionately? Is that what we call it now?” I asked.

“I think he was trying to be sensitive.”

I laughed.

“If he were trying to be sensitive, he wouldn’t have said anything.”

Slade put his hands up and leaned back in his chair.

“Hey, man, you know I’m a judgment-free zone. I’m not going to force you to tell me what may or may not have happened. But if you do want to talk…then I’m all ears.”

I put my hands around my coffee cup to warm my hands and stared at the table for a moment.

“So…” I said. “I had sex with Wesley.”

“Don’t you mean you hugged ‘passionately?’” Slade chuckled. “Sorry. I had to. Go on.”

I took a sip and continued.

“Well, it was my first time with a guy, sure, but…”

“But? Was it ugly? Did it go wrong? Did you not like it?”

“No, no. I did. I liked it all right. That’s what…surprised me.”

Slade narrowed his eyes.

“Oh…kay.”

“I mean, I’ve never been sexually active, or sexually interested even. Which was why it was weird. After…well, after it happened, I thought maybe I’m gay and that’s why I’ve never been interested in the women I’ve dated in the past, but Wesley said something and it got me thinking.”

Slade nodded, his gaze unwavering, like a sign he was truly listening.

“I think I’m graysexual…or something.”

“Okay. And how do you feel about that?”

I put my cup down and smiled.

“I feel good about it. Well, kinda. I’m not sure it fits me exactly. I don’t know. I need to sit with it for a while before I can say for certain?—”

“You know these are all just labels, right? You don’t have to identify with anything or everything, and you don’t have to give yourself a label unless, I don’t know, it’ll make you feel better.

So I wouldn’t rush or stress about giving it a name yet.

Unless, like I said, that feels important to you. ”

I nodded along, and Slade held my hand as if to reiterate his point.

“I hear you. But…it does feel important. I’ve always liked having a plan. A name for things. But you’re right. There’s no rush in putting a label on myself.”

“Exactly.” He patted my back. “And I’d definitely experiment some more with Wesley. If he’s up for that.”

I chuckled.

“Oh he definitely is.”

“Well.” Slade’s smile brightened. “Then go forth, doctor. Do some further testing.”

“You’re right,” I said and grabbed my phone to shoot Wesley a reply.

Teddy:

Not at all. I feel the same way. So…

Wesley:

So…???

Teddy:

When are you free?

Slade laughed, and I looked up at him.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing. Go get him, tiger.”

I rolled my eyes and sat back in the chair while waiting for Wesley’s response, but trying not to show my impatience.

Who could have told me that barely a month into my life in Mayberry Holm, things would change so exponentially that I’d feel so…different. Like a whole new person. And even if they had told me, would I have believed them, really?

My phone beeped, and I couldn’t have grabbed it faster.

Wesley:

I think it’s a matter of when you are free.

I looked up at Slade.

“How do you feel about babysitting tonight?” I asked him.

Slade crossed his arms, furrowed his brows, and huffed with his entire body.

“Hm…” he grumbled. “Nah, I’m just fucking with you. You go get your dick and we’ll throw a pajama party.”

I smiled.

“Thank you so much. I’m so grateful I could kiss you right now.”

Slade grimaced.

“Save it for your hot teacher.”

“Will do,” I said and messaged Wesley.

After lunch, we drove home to rest. However, the mailroom offerings had other plans.

The first bills had arrived, so instead of chilling out or preparing for my date night with Wesley, I dove into balancing my checkbook and trying to figure out how I could afford everything Bear and I needed month in, month out.

Working thirty hours a week wasn’t going to cut it.

That was for certain. But I didn’t know what other options I had, considering I couldn’t afford childcare.

And I couldn’t rely on Slade for everything.

He was busy studying to get his teaching certificate, and even if he wasn’t, there were limits to free help.

There was the option of sending Bear to after-school clubs, but I didn’t know if he would take kindly to them. He had made leaps and bounds of progress in such a short amount of time, but I didn’t want to overwhelm him.

Besides, I didn’t know if a few extra hours a week would make a massive difference when I needed a whole extra income.

“Someone’s at the door,” Bear called out from the living room, and I shook my head back to reality.

“Huh?” I asked, but I made my way to the door.

“Hi. Is this a good time?” Zach beamed at me and held up a box that I knew held some real treats inside.

“Oh yes. Please,” I said and stepped aside to let him in.

He narrowed his eyes at me.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Fine,” I said.

Zach didn’t seem convinced, but he did make his way to the kitchen, where he put the box down and opened it in record time.

“Something tells me you need this.”

He offered me a muffin and I wasted no time biting into it. My tastebuds exploded with flavor on impact. The sweet spiced notes of apple were complemented by the gooey custard filling, and in my eagerness to swallow the thing whole, I made a mess of myself.

“That’s delicious,” I said, but Zach reached for the kitchen towel and passed it to me, laughing.

“I’m pretty sure Bear would make less of a mess,” he said.

“Why don’t you test that theory?” I told him with a raised eyebrow, and Zach called Bear in and handed him an apple custard muffin.

Little shit proved Zach right. Which made Zach all smug.

“Can I help you with something?” I asked.

Zach burst out laughing.

“Just checking in on my neighbor. Is that a sin?”

I grabbed another muffin and sat down, and Zach mimicked me.

“Of course not. Busy day?” I asked.

“I was rushed off my feet. I had to close an hour early because I was exhausted. How was your day?”

“Slow. And I’ve got a headache.”

“Why?” Zach narrowed his eyes.

I looked down at the paperwork in front of me, and Zach bit his lip.

“What’s wrong?”

I sighed and sank into the chair.

“Money.”

“What about it?”

“I’ve got none. I thought I could afford this place.

I didn’t even think about utilities, groceries, shopping.

And don’t even get me started on Bear’s therapist bill I’ve got coming up.

” It felt weird saying that, sharing it with someone, not only because I usually kept quiet about these things as was expected, but because I sounded older all of a sudden.

But it wasn’t that. It was simply that I had a different set of responsibilities now.

“What about the job at Bubble Bubble?”

“It’s not enough. And there’s not much I can do with Bear. Maybe a night job stacking shelves, but I’d still need someone to babysit, which defeats the point of getting a second job.”

“How about weekends?”

I glanced at Bear and sighed.

“What if you could have him with you?”

I grimaced.

“What kind of job is that?” I asked.

Zach shrugged and pursed his lips.

“The kind where you’d be helping a busy young baker keep his sanity?”

I pointed at him and he nodded.

“I need help with the food truck on the weekends. You’ve got a pair of hands and a charming smile. You’d be perfect for it.”

“But I don’t know how to bake,” I said, ignoring the part about the charming smile.

“I’ll do the baking. You do the selling.”

“Okay,” I said and gave him my hand, but I paused halfway. “You’re not doing this because you like me or something, right?”

Zach laughed.

“If I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t offer you a job.”

“No! I meant…like, like me in a romantic way.”

Zach’s eyes went wide, and he stared at me for a couple of seconds before he shook his head.

“Did you think I was hitting on you?” he asked.

“I honestly have no idea.”

“Don’t worry, Teddy. You’re a cutie, but I’m in love with someone else.”

It was my turn to lean forward and smirk at my friend-slash-new employer.

“You are? With who?”

Zach frowned.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll keep that to myself.”

“Mysterious, huh? You’re only making me more determined to find out.”

Zach smirked.

“Good luck with that. I keep my cards close to my vest.”

“We’ll see about that,” I said and offered Zach my hand. “I’m hired.”

Zach raised an eyebrow before he shook my hand and laughed.

“You are indeed. Are you free tomorrow?”

“Oh, I’m free tomorrow.” It was tonight that was out of the question.

Tonight!

“What’s the time?”

Zach stared at me for a few moments before he checked his watch.

“Almost eight.”

“Shit. I’m going to be late.”

I scrambled to my feet and started running to the bathroom when I remembered I had a guest.

“Do you…? I need to have a… You can stay.”

Zach smirked.

“What’s happening?” he asked.

“I’ve got a sleepover,” Bear answered without looking away from the TV.

“And what do you have?” Zach asked, turning to me all sass and snark.