Jensen

ONCE WE PULL UP TO THE RESTAURANT TEDDY glances out the window with wide eyes. "Giovani's?" she squeals.

I shrug. "Sutton suggested it."

Giovani's is an Italian restaurant in Maybury, about a half an hour away from Lake Hope. It sits right along the shore of a lake giving it a fancier feel than your average Italian restaurant. The price tag limits how often people tend to patronize the establishment.

After our botched first date, I decided Sutton's original idea of bringing Teddy here didn't sound so bad. Not that I admitted that to my sister. I wasn't about to ignite a series of texts in the group chat again.

I lead my girlfriend into the restaurant with a possessive hand on her lower back and I give the hostess my name. We're seated almost immediately at a table overlooking the lake. The moon's reflection sparkles in the water, and I tally another plus in Date #2's column.

"This is a little weird, right?" Teddy asks once the waiter takes our order. She's fingering the condensation on her water glass.

"Which part? That we're on a date together? Or that the date is fancy?" I question her, taking her fidgety hand into mine over the table. I caress my thumb over her palm, noting it's a bit clammy.

"Both maybe?" she phrases it as a question, then shrugs.

She's silent as she looks out at the water, thinking. "Actually, no." She turns back to me. "It's not weird for either of those reasons. Maybe weird isn't the right word. It's more surreal. Like I want to pinch myself to make sure it's real, you know?" Her eyes twinkle as they peer into mine.

I wish there wasn't a table separating us because I really want to kiss her. Instead, I bring her hand up to my mouth, placing a soft kiss on the back of her wrist. "You feel that, right?" When she nods, I kiss her palm. "And that?" She nods again. "You don't need to pinch yourself, baby. It's real."

Our sweet moment is interrupted when the waiter drops our drinks off with a basket of bread. Teddy snatches a buttery slice of bread and breaks off a big chunk in her mouth. I laugh, shaking my head. "You're really living up to your nickname right now, Chipmunk."

She chucks the bread at me and pretends offense. "You can take me to a fancy restaurant, but you can't expect me to be all prim and proper."

"Would never dream of it," I say, popping the remainder of her bread into my mouth. "I happen to like my Chipmunk as is."

Dinner goes by smoothly, my mental tally of Date #1 versus Date #2 continuing to add points to the latter's column. Once I pay the bill, I escort my date out of the restaurant, pausing outside the passenger side of my truck.

Teddy straightens the collar of my shirt, smoothing her hands down my chest. "That was really nice, Jensen. Thank you." She raises onto her tiptoes and lightly brushes her lips over mine. "Although I still maintain that the first date didn't need a do-over. This is just our second date."

I open the door and help her into the truck, leaning in to steal another kiss. "You can get used to it because I plan on spoiling the shit out of you."

Before I can back away, she rakes her fingers through my hair, pulling me back in for a deeper kiss. Her tongue swipes across my lips and I instantly let her in, but I allow her to lead the kiss. Her style of kissing has quickly become my favorite addiction. When she pulls away, I nip at her bottom lip and then smooth my tongue over the sting.

"Ready?" I ask before closing the door.

The drive back is mostly quiet. She fiddles with the radio a bit before giving up and settling into the seat. I reach over the center console to take her hand and she smiles at me.

"How many times have we drove in your truck just like this, Jensen? Minus the handholding, of course." She squeezes my hand. "It's crazy how long we've been in each other's lives, isn't it?"

"The only thing crazy is how often I wondered what it would be like to drive just like this while holding your hand." I sneak a glance at her, the light from the dash softly illuminating her face. The smile I see causes a whoosh of butterflies in my stomach. "Fuck, Teddy. Tell me you thought about it, too?"

"Of course I did, Jensen. Only about 300 million times."

I'm pretty sure the smile doesn't leave me face the rest of the drive.

I shift the truck into park once I pull into Teddy's apartment lot and turn to her. Before I can say or do anything, she vaults over the center console and straddles my lap, the black dress riding up her thighs.

Without thought, I rub my hands up her thighs, dipping under the dress to feel her creamy skin. When my thumbs graze the seam of her panties, I quickly withdraw my hands and place them behind my head as if under arrest.

"Shit, Teddy. What are you trying to do to me?"

She tries to coax my hands down, but when I don't relent, she sags back against the steering wheel. Blowing out a deep breath, she fixes me with a heated glare. "Jensen, this is stupid. We already know each other. You know me better than anyone."

"I know you as a friend, Teddy. Not like this. Not as a girlfriend," I defend myself. I settle my hands on top of her thighs, keeping them stationary so as not to tempt myself. "I don't know what you look like when you come. Or what you sound like. Or, Jesus, what you feel like. I don't want to rush into anything. I don't want to skip all the firsts. All the good stuff in the beginning. Those things are important, Teddy. We have the rest of forever. Let's just slow down and enjoy this beginning stage."

She huffs out a sigh, placing her hands on my shoulders, brushing them up my neck until her fingers are combing into my hair. I never knew having my girl's hands in my hair could feel so good, but I am definitely a fan.

Tugging on my hair once, she halts her movements to ask, "You sure you're the guy in this relationship?"

I glare at her. "Shut up, Teddy. You know I want you."

To prove this point, I glide her over the front of my tented khakis. "Fuck, you know I do. I've wanted you for so long. Since we almost fucked on New Year's Eve. And to be clear, this is torture for me too. Don't think I don't want to strip you down right the fuck now and discover for myself just what you look, sound, and feel like. What you taste like. Fuck, Teddy. I'm barely hanging on. You are killing me."

She groans and face plants in my chest, grumbling something I can't quite make out, but it sounds like she's mad at herself. When I ask her to explain, she groans again, burying her face deeper into my chest.

I peel her away from my body and force her to look at me. "What's going on right now?"

Sighing, she finally admits, "I'm just mad at myself for being so bad at the plan Rylie made. She called it Project Seduce Jensen. Basically, I'm supposed to..."

I place a finger over her mouth, interrupting her explanation. "You know I love Rylie, but..." I decide to abort my sentence before putting my food in my mouth.

"But what, J?" she asks with my finger still on her lips. She pulls my hand away before continuing. "You talk to Kelly. How's he any better?"

"Kelly is your friend, too," I remind her.

"He's more your friend."

I scrunch up my forehead in question. "What? You've known him since we were kids. We were inseparable."

Shrugging, she responds, "Yeah, but always with you. It's not like we hung out by ourselves. I wouldn't call him up today to hang out just the two of us."

"You better not," I declare hotly.

"You're such a jealous ass," she hisses, swatting my arm. "You don't think guys and girls can be just friends? I've always had more guy friends than girl friends."

"Teddy," I say pointedly, thrusting my hard dick into her. "Exhibit A. How's that theory of yours working out for you now?"

"Shut it, J. Just because you and I ended up as more than friends, doesn't mean guys and girls can't be just friends. We're different. We were always supposed to be more. We were just stupid."

"Is this your way of trying to ease me into being ok with you and Ajax being all buddy-buddy at work?" I grunt angrily, wrapping a possessive arm around her waist. "Because I'm going to stop you now and say that isn't fucking happening. That jackoff wants you and no way is it just friendly between you. For him anyway." I raise my eyebrows in a silent question.

"Yes, Jensen," she answers, rolling her eyes. Her hands find their way back into my hair and I moan in pleasure. "God you're insufferable. There's nothing between me and Jackson. I don't even think he likes me. I think he just likes pissing you off."

"Maybe that's true," I relent, dropping my head back and closing my eyes, reveling in the feel of her fingers massaging my scalp. "But he definitely wants you. I want to rip his eyes out every time he checks you out." At this admission, I sit up straighter, my eyes flying open to gauge her reaction.

"Calm it down, J. Your caveman is showing."

"I'll show you my fucking caveman." I nibble at her bottom lip while thrusting up into her.

In response, Teddy extricates herself from my lap and returns to her seat, which pisses me off. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Granting you your wish," she answers with an edge to her voice. "Slow, remember, Jensen?"

"Babe." I look at her with what I can only assume is my best grumpy face. When that has zero effect on her, I scrub a hand over my face in frustration. "Fucking Rylie. If I were to really show you my caveman, I'd say you can only be friends with the quiet mousey type women who don't give shit advice."

"Babe." She copies my grumpy face, except it's cute when she does it. I decide to keep that opinion to myself lest I upset her more. "Wasn't the advice you got from YOUR friend," she continues with a hint of sass, "to shit or get off the pot? Well, you can thank Kelly. I got off the pot."

I scoff. "That doesn't really work here, Teddy. It's like you're saying my dick is the pot and rubbing your sweet pussy on it is like shitting." I raise my eyebrows in challenge.

She gives me her best impression of an evil smirk, which I must admit feels pretty spot on when paired with what she says next. "I don't know. It kinda seems like it works."

I lunge at her, my hand gently circling around her throat. I nuzzle her neck before planting a rough kiss on her mouth. With a heated look, I declare, "You won't be saying that once you finally have my dick, Teddy."

We share a heavy and tense stare down. Then she grabs my face with both hands and demands, "And when will that be, Jensen?" Before she allows me to answer, she kisses me long and hard in that special, addictive way only Teddy can.

I reluctantly pull out of the kiss a few minutes later and nip my way over her jaw to her ear. "Soon," I whisper. "If you're a good girl."