Jensen

WE REJOIN MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS AT our table, and I take a long drink from my warm beer, refilling it with cold stuff from the group pitcher. A few minutes later, Teddy leans toward me in her chair. She combs her hand in my hair at the nape of my neck, rests her chin on my shoulder with her face turned toward me and whispers, "J, we didn't use a condom."

My eyes grow big, and I whip my whole body to face her. "Shit!"

Before I can say more, she places a finger over my lips to shush me, and whispers in my ear, "Don't worry about it, baby. I'm on the pill. But I need to go to the bathroom. You're leaking out of me."

"Teddy," I groan, ducking my head and scrubbing a hand over my face.

She cackles. Like the witch she is.

Rylie points between us. "This? What's this?" Her eyes widen and mouth falls open. "Shut. Up. You didn't!"

Teddy nods toward the bathroom. "Come with me."

The two girls disappear into the crowd, and Kelly gets my attention by kicking my chair under the table. "Really, J?" He raises an eyebrow; and when I just smirk, he chuckles. "Where? Where did you even do it? Tell me it wasn't in the bathroom?"

"Don't worry about it." I take a drink of beer, unable to remove the smirk from my lips. "But it definitely wasn't the bathroom."

"It was probably that storage closet," Finn pipes in. "You know, the one right off the bathrooms? It gets plenty of use, trust me."

I groan, not loving the fact that I stooped to my stepbrother's level of debauchery, but it's hard to deny the hotness factor of the whole experience. Maybe, just maybe, my player brother knows a thing or two.

I notice Teddy and Rylie approach the bar; they order drinks, then immediately return to whatever conversation they had paused, their heads thrown back in laughter. I smile at the scene. The two friends couldn't be any more different, but for whatever reason, they just work.

A guy approaches them, and I grit my teeth. He looks familiar. It takes me a minute to place him; he was in Finn and Charlie's grade in school—Chris, I'm pretty sure that's his name. The girls eye him with bored looks, and then turn their attention back to each other; but Chris is persistent. He continues talking to them, disregarding their uninterested signs.

I fist my hands on the table, fighting my instincts to storm over there and intercede like I normally would. I told Teddy I'd be better; and this is me trying, even if I hate every single second of it.

Kelly notes my fists and turns to see what's got me worked up. "You aren't going over there?" he asks, eyebrows raised.

"Ah, shit." Finn is now looking at them. "Is that Chris Wilson? I hate that greasy cocksucker. Ten bucks he's going to put the moves on one of our girls. Probably Rylie. No offense, J, but Rylie is more his type. Plus, the whole town knows Teddy belongs to you. He'd be real dumb to mess with your girl."

Kelly points at Finn as if that's solid proof of something. "Still not going over there?"

"Fuck." I rake my hand through my hair and try to talk myself out of doing the thing I really want to do. "No. I can't. I promised Teddy I'd quit being a possessive asshole."

"Is this because you sent Dylan home for checking out her ass? I heard she ripped you a new one for that and then refused to talk to you for a whole day." Finn chuckles, obviously not caring about his own welfare. I kick his chair under the table, and he steadies himself by grabbing the table before the chair can topple over. "Don't get pissy with me just because you can't go over there and beat that guy's ass for talking to your girl. That's your issue."

Kelly smacks Finn upside the head. "Shut it, dude." Then he turns his attention to me. "Really, J? You sent him home for checking out her ass? What's wrong with you? Even I know that's a huge no-no." He laughs. "Man, you suck at this relationship shit."

I don't bother with a response to his remark because Chris grazes his hand over Teddy's hips, settling over her waist as if he has every right to touch her. I'm on my feet, my chair toppling over in my wake, and I cruise through the sea of people, my eyes never leaving my girl. Fuck standing by. The minute he touched her is the minute I stopped following Teddy's wishes.

Teddy struggles to push him away, wiggling under his grasp. Rylie shoves Chris in the shoulder, and he stumbles back a few steps, obviously drunk and unsteady on his feet, but he quickly recovers and crowds their space again.

"Walk away, fuck nut," Rylie yells. "We're not interested."

Chris waves Rylie away. "Shut it, Red. I'm not interested in you. It's this one I want." He grabs a handful of Teddy's ass and hauls her into him. She screeches, kneeing him in the groin and is about to continue her assault when I intercept and tackle him to the bar, a loud clatter echoing around us as the nearby stools crash to the ground.

I hover over him with my hands fisted into his shirt, my face inches from his. I'm vibrating with anger that's dying to be released. "Don't you ever put your hands on my girl!"

I feel Teddy's small hand on my arm as she shouts my name, a distant sound above the roar in my ears, but Kelly protectively tugs her behind him. She peers around his large frame, calling my name again to get my attention, and when I look at her, she shakes her head at me. "It's not worth it," she says. "He's not worth it."

I press him hard against the bar, glaring down at him. "Stay the fuck away from my girl. And my sisters. And all their friends. They are off limits to you. Do you understand?"

When he laughs in my face, I throw him to the ground. "It's not a fucking joke, you clown. I see you anywhere near them, I'll kick your ass."

He scrambles to his feet and looks at the crowd gathering around us. All my siblings and their friends surround us in a protective ring. When his eyes land on Teddy, who has emerged from behind Kelly, he smirks and licks his lips. Kelly tucks her behind him again. "I'm going to go home and jerk off to the feel of your hot ass, pretty girl."

He doesn't get another word out, though, because I slam my fist into his face. I want to keep going, unleash all my anger, but hands grab me from behind and haul me away.

Chris laughs as he wipes the blood from his nose, smearing it across his face and knuckles. "She must be one fine piece of ass for you to be so possessive of her, Anderson. How long are you going to hog her, huh?"

Kelly releases his grip on me, and quickly side-steps me to reach Chris before I can. With one hand around the back of Chris' neck and the other fisting into the back of his shirt, Kelly pushes him out of the circle. "Do one smart thing tonight, man, and shut the fuck up," Kelly demands as he escorts him out of the building.

A big breath whooshes out of me, and I bend in half, supporting my weight with my hands on my knees, suddenly depleted. Teddy runs her hand up and down my back in reassuring touches. "Hey," she whispers, bending to talk into my ear, "let's head home, ok?"

I straighten and pull her into my arms, pressing her face firmly into my chest. "Sorry, baby. I know I promised, but fuck! He put his hands on you."

"I know, Jensen. I'm not mad." She pushes us apart a few inches to look up at me. "But if you didn't notice, I was handling it. I got him pretty good in the junk."

I laugh, smoothing her hair out of her face. "I saw. You did good." I kiss her on the forehead, taking a beat to ground myself; I can still feel the anger buzzing through me. "I really didn't like the way he touched you, Teddy. I think the sight will be branded into my brain for all eternity. And the shit he said? Fuck, baby. It's messing me up. Maybe if I would have gotten one more good punch in."

She strings her hands through my hair and yanks my head down to hers, silencing my thoughts with her demanding kiss. When she breaks away, she says, "Come on. Take me home. I can make you forget all about that creep."

-

WE PAUSE ON THE LANDING outside my apartment door, and I stare down at Teddy as I hold her face in my hands.

"What?" she asks. "What's going on up there?" She taps a finger to my forehead.

"It's just been a crazy day." I sigh, bringing her body into mine for a hug, burying my nose into her soft curls and inhaling the hauntingly familiar and comforting scent. Her arms snake around me, squeezing my waist in a vise-like grip. Her concern for me is obvious, and I know she's biting her tongue, waiting for me to open up when I'm ready.

I pull away, planting a soft kiss on her lips, and then lead her inside, where we're immediately greeted by our dog. He prances toward us with something in his mouth and I groan in frustration before I even identify what it is.

"Bad!" Teddy scolds, hiding a smile behind her hand as she bends to take the item out of Scout's mouth with the other. She holds up one of my socks, dotted with holes, and laughter bursts from her mouth.

"Why is it always my shit? And never yours?"

Shrugging, she pats my stomach as she passes by me to discard the sock in the garbage. "Come on, bad dog. Let's do this." Scout follows my girl out of the apartment, and I can hear them stomping down the stairs as she lets him out to do his business.

"Shit," I whisper as I fall onto the couch, propping my feet onto the coffee table, and I lean back and throw an arm over my eyes. A barrage of feelings barrels through me, and I struggle to separate myself from them. Admittedly, I've never been good at confronting my emotions. I'd prefer to tuck the pesky things away in some dark recesses of my mind, but there are too many stacking on top of one another for me to compartmentalize so easily tonight.

"Jensen." Teddy's soft voice interrupts my thoughts. The couch dips as she sits next to me. I didn't hear their return, and her sudden appearance startles me, my body immediately tensing. Her hand on my thigh is grounding, and I concentrate on her touch.

"Hey." Her voice is close to my face. "Baby." She tugs my arm away from my face, taking my hand into her lap. "What's going on?"

I blink at her, noting the concern on her face. I try to dust it away with my fingers, but it stays after I remove my hand. I close my eyes again, shaking my head, stalling a few minutes as I gather my thoughts.

"You've been off all night, Jensen." She tickles her fingers up my arm the way she knows I like, igniting goosebumps from her light touch. "More hot headed than usual. And can we talk about what that was in the hallway at Roxy's? I mean, I'm not exactly complaining..." I open my eyes to see her turn her face away, trying to hide the blush creeping across her cheeks.

With my fingers on her chin, I turn her to face me. "Then what, if it's not complaining?"

She laughs, ducking her head. "It was just unexpected is all. But..."

"But..." I prompt, again moving her face to look at me.

"It was hot. I'm not going to lie. But...damn. Where the hell did that come from?"

"I just wanted you. I saw you walking away, and I just really fucking wanted you." I sit up on the couch, cupping a hand on her cheek. "Was it too much?"

Placing her hand over mine on her face, she subtly shakes her head. "No. Just...surprising, I guess." She bites her bottom lip, suddenly shy. "Maybe next time...just not in the hall like that, ok?"

Chuckling, I lean down and take her mouth in a slow, unhurried kiss. Before pulling away, I capture her bottom lip in my teeth in a gentle bite. "Ok, baby. Less public, more private next time. I promise." I peck her on the mouth and lean back against the couch again with a heavy sigh.

She resumes her light tickles on my arm, patiently waiting for me to divulge the rest on my own time. My eyes fall closed, her touches hypnotizing, and I sigh again. "I love when you do that, baby."

She relaxes next to me on the couch, throwing her legs over mine, and I absently rub her thigh. We sit in silence like this for a handful of minutes before I finally voice aloud the secret my grandpa accidentally spilled this afternoon.

"Teddy," I begin, opening my eyes and turning my head to face her. "You know how I visited my grandpa today?" When she nods, I continue, "Well, he dropped some information on me that has rattled me to the core and I'm not quite sure what to do with it."

She looks at me while she waits for the confession, still brushing her fingertips over my arm in soothing, circular motions.

I blow out a breath, squeezing my eyes shut. "He thought I was my dad, and he told me to take care of the other girl. That my mom deserved better. And that he should learn from the lesson he learned when he cheated on my grandma."

When she gasps, her movements stalling, I open my eyes to see her wide eyes gawking at me. "Jesus, Jensen. That's a lot to take in."

"You're telling me. I've been trying to make sense of it all night. I just can't wrap my head around it. Sure, my parents fought. But it was just about regular stuff. Taking the garbage out, that kind of thing. They always seemed so happy. Laughing and kissing. They settled debates with basketball, for fuck's sake! It just doesn't add up that he would cheat on her. I'm so confused. And pissed. I'm fucking pissed. How dare he do that to her? Did she know? Do you think she ever found out? Fuck, is it worse if she died never knowing or having to have lived with that kind of betrayal?"

I suck in deep breaths after word-vomiting all my thoughts in one go.

Teddy resumes her light touches, her forehead crinkling in thought. "I don't know, J. To all the questions. I don't know. It's really shitty, though. No matter the details, it just really sucks."

I tuck her into my side and when she cuddles into me, I kiss her head. "I promise I'd never do that to you, Teddy. I swear it."

"I know, Jensen. You might be a hot-headed, possessive caveman who avoids emotional confrontations, but you're an honorable man. Plus," she says, booping me on my nose to lighten the mood, "you're kind of obsessed with me. You admitted it yourself. And all of Roxy's bore witness to it tonight when you defended my honor."

I chuckle, tucking her back into my side. "I fucking love you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, baby. I know it. I love you more."

"Doubt it."

"J," she says after a few moments of silence. "I think you might need to talk to your dad. To clear things up. I'm not defending him. But I think it'd be good for you to get more information. Not let it stew and fester, you know?"

I let out a deep sigh before standing and then pulling my girl to her feet with me. I smack her butt. "But first sleep."

"Sleep?" She waggles her eyebrows at me. "I thought you wanted me to help you forget all about that jackoff at the bar?"

I pick her up and throw her over my shoulder, spanking her ass again. "Oh yeah, let's do that first. Then sleep."

She giggles as I run the short distance to the bedroom and drop her onto the bed, pouncing on her and rolling her so she's on top of me. "Distract me, woman."