Jensen

AFTER TEDDY HANDS THE CLASS OFF TO Vivi for snacks and crafts, I snag her hand and pull her into my office. I close the blinds, the room falling slightly darker but much more private. Then I stalk toward her. With each step I take toward her, she takes one back, until she runs into the wall.

"Pinned again, I see," I whisper, tucking a loose tendril of hair behind her ear.

"I thought we talked about this already. Work. Appropriate behavior. Ring any bells?" She palms my chest, attempting to inch some distance between our bodies, but I don't allow for the space. Instead, I press closer. The strawberry scent of her hair is intoxicating this close to her; I can't help myself and inhale as I press my nose into the top of her braid.

"I remember those words coming out of your mouth, but I don't remember ever agreeing to them," I hedge.

"Jensen," she warns. Her hands fist my shirt having given up the fight to push me away.

Pressing my leg between hers, I'm able to wedge our bodies closer together. "Teddy," I mimic her tone.

"Maybe you want to confess something about a certain teacher while you have me compromised like this?" She hooks her fingers in my belt loops and hauls my hips into her. Her eyes widen when the evidence of my growing erection rubs against her.

I groan against her neck. "Teddy, that is the very last thing I'm thinking about right now."

"Good answer." She grins at me. "She was pretty thirsty, though, right? You must have left quite the impression on her."

I cup her cheek and run a thumb over her bottom lip before lightly kissing her. "We went out once forever ago. Nothing memorable."

"Hmmm." She blinks at me. Jesus, she's cute when she's jealous. Before I can control the urge, I bend to take her mouth in a possessive kiss, showing her with my actions what my words obviously couldn't.

"Now that's memorable." I smirk at her when her eyes flutter open.

When there's a knock on my office door, Teddy pushes us apart. She wanders over to the windows and reopens the blinds.

"Come in," I call as I watch Teddy cross the room to sit in one of the chairs I have situated in the corner for guests.

A young man dressed in grubby clothes and a backward baseball cap strides in and then stops when he spots Teddy. Without bothering to hide his knowing smirk, he removes his hat and runs a hand through the unruly curls before replacing the hat on his head.

"Yes, Cameron?" I ask my employee, urging him along.

"I can come back. I didn't realize you had your lady friend here."

Teddy snorts. "Shut it, Cam. You're an asshole."

He chuckles. "Sorry, Teddy. You know this place is worse than a hair salon. Fucking Chatty Cathys."

"Yeah, yeah." I wave my hand in a circular motion.

"Just wondering if I can have next Friday off? My girl wants to take a trip to the Twin Cities. Long weekend, ya know?"

"You know Rylie handles that shit."

I usher him out of my office and start to close the door as he says, "That chick scares the fuck out of me. Last time she gave me tips on how to please my girl. Like in depth tips. Pretty sure the HR lady should take her own sexual harassment classes."

I hear Teddy giggling behind me. "Good luck, pal," I call to Cameron before I shut and lock the door.

"You," I say, pointing at Teddy, "are in trouble. Maybe we're even in a fight."

"What? Why? I can't be held responsible for Rylie. She's her own person." Teddy folds her arms across her chest defiantly.

I cross the room and stare down at her in the chair. "I don't give a fuck about Rylie. I care about you. And the way you just acted. What the fuck was that, Teddy?"

"What do you mean?"

I pull her to her feet so I can look in her eyes. "Are you wanting to keep this secret? Because the way you practically hid in the closet feels like maybe you're not wanting people to know about us."

She gestures toward the door where Cameron just left. "Everybody knows, J. Chatty Cathys, remember? And I'm sure Marg will print it in tomorrow's paper."

I reach for her hand and hold it between both of mine. It feels so small and delicate compared to mine. Teddy's presence feels so big to me. It always surprises me when her actual size sneaks up on me.

"Teddy," I say softy, peering into her eyes, "can I hold your hand in public and kiss you and touch you? Can I claim you as mine so the jackoffs stay away?"

She rolls her eyes at me and tries to pull her hand away but I only squeeze tighter. "Is this your possessive caveman jealousy talking?"

"No, Teddy. I'm just sick of holding back with you. I just want to be us."

"And what exactly is that, Jensen?"

I relinquish her hand to grab her waist, running my hands up to her ribs and back down before settling with a firm grip on her hips. "You want to put labels on it, Teddy?"

"Yeah. Maybe I do." She cocks an eyebrow in challenge.

I squeeze her hips and rock her toward me. "Fine. You're my girl. Happy?"

"Jesus, J. You can't even say it, can you?" She fists my shirt as if to curb her irritation.

"What? Girlfriend. Yes, I can. I just did. See?" I offer her a crooked smile.

She shakes her head, biting her lip to hide her smile. "Practice. Pretend like you're introducing me to someone."

"To who?" I demand. "Everybody knows you."

She smacks my chest. "Pretend, dummy."

"Fine." I sigh heavily before giving in. "'Hey, Chuck. This fine piece of ass is my girlfriend. Stay, the fuck away from her.' There. You happy?"

"No. It's my turn." She flashes me a wicked smile before she bats her eyes and coos, "'Hi, Chuck. You're pretty hot, but I can't fuck you because my boyfriend here might kill you.'" She grins up at me quite pleased with herself.

"Oh, I'd definitely kill Chuck. I already hate this Chuck dude. How do we know him again? And is
he really that hot?" I grab her ass with both hands and haul her against me, clenching my jaw.

Rolling her eyes, she chuckles and declares, "J, you are ridiculous. He's fake. There's no Chuck."

"That's right. There's only me. You're mine. Everyone else can fuck off."

"Ladies and gentleman, my boyfriend. The caveman."

-

ME: We're going out Saturday.

TEDDY: Is this our date do-over?

ME: Damn right it is.

TEDDY: You know I thought our date was perfect, right?

ME: Teddy. Your damn dog trampled our food. How was it perfect?

TEDDY: Just was. Perfectly imperfect.

ME: Fine. It was perfect.

ME: We're still going out on Saturday.

TEDDY: If we must.

ME: We must.

ME: Dress up. Something tight.

ME: But not too slutty.

TEDDY: Let me guess. So the jackoffs don't get any ideas?

ME: Damn straight.

I pull into Teddy's parking lot Saturday night under the glittering stars. Before exiting my truck, I quickly glance into the rearview mirror to make sure my hair is behaving. I'm not used to the length yet. It seems my hair has a mind of its own, wanting to go any which way it pleases. Since Teddy seems to like it longer judging by the way she's constantly running her hands through it, I'm trying to learn to like it, too.

Stepping out of the truck, I wipe my sweaty hands on my dark khakis, trying to talk myself out of the nerves flittering around my stomach. It's just Teddy, I tell myself for the 1000th time.

Except it's not just Teddy, my friend. It's Teddy, my girlfriend.

And, although I love the fuck out of the sound of that, it's taking me a bit of time to reconcile the transition from friend I've lusted over in secret to the girlfriend I get to lust over in public.

I knock on her door and wait with the bouquet of flowers in my hands. This batch wasn't destroyed by the overzealous puppy. One point in favor of Date #2 already.

The door breezes open revealing Teddy in the glow of her apartment. I'm startled speechless. In place of her usual jeans and hoodie is a form-fitted black dress that snugly hugs all her curves, curves I didn't even know existed until just this moment.

"Fuck," I finally manage to whisper. "Teddy. Jesus. Are you trying to kill me?"

I shove the flowers into her hands and push her back inside, sealing the door shut behind us. I watch her backside as she walks the short distance to her kitchen to fetch a vase. The curves just don't stop.

"What is this thing you're wearing, Teddy?"

She chuckles as she fills the vase with water. "A dress, Jensen. It's called a dress." She arranges the daisies in the vase, pausing to sniff them. "Rylie made me buy it forever ago. I only just cut off the tags tonight before I put it on. I almost chickened out and wore something different, but Rylie Facetimed me just as I was about to change and demanded I keep it on. She's really bossy sometimes."

She's nervous, I realize. Is it for the date itself or because she's wearing something completely out of her comfort zone?

I come up behind her, nuzzling my front to her back, and I trace my palms over all the mouthwatering curves. Her hair is down in soft waves, the strawberry sent invading my senses. I brush her hair over one shoulder to reveal her neck and place light kisses over her skin.

"Teddy," I whisper. "You. Are. Fucking. Gorgeous." I nip her neck between each word, punctuating their meaning. "Stunning."

I twirl her around to face me and wrap a light hand around her throat before placing three soft kisses against her mouth. She stands on her tiptoes, throwing her arms around my neck for leverage, and takes my mouth for a deeper kiss.

"Thanks," she eventually responds a little breathlessly. She falls back onto her feet, her hands still intertwined around my neck. "You don't look too bad yourself. Very handsome, actually."

When she tries to pull away, I tug her back. "You have a shawl or something, though, right? Like one of those cover up thingies?"

Her face falls onto my chest, stifling her laugh. "Oh, Jensen. You're seriously so predictable. I told Rylie you'd ask that."

"Babe," I say defensively. "Have you seen yourself? I'm going to have to worry about jackoffs checking you out all night."

"I'm not wearing a shawl because I'm not matronly quite yet. You're going to have to suck it up, big guy. You can do your whole possessive caveman glare the whole night if you need to, though."

She pulls out of my grasp and starts collecting her things to leave, one of which is a long, knitted black sweater. She drapes it over her arm with a smirk. "Ready?"

I eat up the space between us, take the sweater from her arm and hold it up to help her into it. She laughs at my antics but relents and stuffs her arms through the sleeves.

"Better?" she asks once it's situated on her body. The yarn stitching in the sweater is so loose that the holes are large enough to see quite a bit of the dress under it, but it's better than nothing.

I grunt my response and walk my date to the truck.