A few more thrusts and I’m done. I arch my back as cum shoots across his stomach and chest.
“Fuck,” he moans, letting me slide my softening cock out from his fist. He strokes himself a couple more times and then his whole body shudders, ropes of cum shooting up his body, mixing with mine. He barely has time to catch his breath as I lean down to kiss him, trapping his bottom lip between my teeth. My mind is blissfully empty—it’s just him and me. No one can separate us again.
Once we’ve calmed down, we take turns in the shower and get dressed. I put on his tracksuit bottoms and hoodie againbecause even though I have my own clothes here, I like the way his are slightly too big. His smell is so deeply ingrained in the fabric, it feels like he’s holding me.
He lifts the lid of the cedarwood chest at the end of his bed and starts rooting around inside. He used to have one when he lived in Surrey, too. “She’s still knitting you jumpers?”
“Yeah, every birthday. Pretty sure I have thirty. Ma kept all the ones Gran made when I was a baby, and I haven’t got rid of any since I moved back to Skye, so there are thirteen in here.” Pausing, he squints at me. “Actually, there are twelve. My ex-boyfriend ran off with the one I got for my eighteenth birthday.”
I feel hot all of a sudden, remembering I’d picked it up from the bed as I packed my things the day I dumped him. He’d worn it a couple of days in a row, and it smelled of him. “That’s not funny,” I mutter, my throat tightening at the memory. “I still have it.”
He finally pulls out a dark green cable-knit. “You do?”
“Yeah. I can send it back to you when I get home,” I say, trying to ignore the pain I feel at the thought of leaving him.
“You can keep it … but maybe the next time I see you, you should wear it.”
The next time … I swallow, not wanting to hope for that. This is already more than I could have ever hoped for—finding him again, fixing things between us and having a few days alone together. I’m not sure how things would even work once our lives settle back into their normal routines, or whether I’m getting ahead of myself thinking Teddy would even want more.
“I want to take you out for the day,” he says, cutting through my thoughts. “Some fresh air might do us good.”
I side-eye him. “I’m not climbing trees.”
“Why would we—” He groans, rolling his eyes. “It wasonetime.”
“You almost killed yourself.”
He scoffs. “I did not almost kill myself.”
“Looked like it from where I was standing,” I say, grinning.
“From what I recall, that day ended pretty well for both of us.” He smirks, grabbing my waist, pulling me in for a kiss. It’s short and sweet, with an ease so familiar it steals my breath away.
“Come on, we’re going to the Fairy Pools.”
We traverse steppingstones and planks as we follow the trail along the stream. There’s a slight chill on the breeze today, and by the look of the grey skies, the weather might be on the turn. I’m so busy concentrating on where I’m treading that I jump when Teddy slips his warm hand into mine. There are groups of people walking all around us, but when I look at Teddy, he doesn’t seem bothered by the public display of affection.
“Are you out?” I ask cautiously. When we went to the pub, Isla and Robbie didn’t know that Teddy was queer, yet out here he doesn’t seem to care that everyone can see us.
He frowns at me, then looks down at our hands. “I haven’t exactlycome outto anyone other than my parents, but it’s not because I’m closeted; I just don’t date men.”
“Oh?”
“I don’t really date anyone, actually. I’ve tried over the years, but it never works out.” He pulls me to the side to let two kids run past. “I dated one woman for a year when I was twenty-five, but we both agreed it wasn’t working and split up amicably. The other women I dated, it either didn’t work out, or they didn’t like to wait.”
“Wait for what?” I ask as I continue to walk, jumping unsteadily from one stone to another to avoid a large puddle, gripping Teddy’s hand for stability.
“It takes me a while to feel comfortable enough to be intimate,” he says, cheeks tinged pink.
“You like to wait before having sex?”
“Kind of. If I don’t have strong feelings for them, then I can’t.” He stares straight ahead, refusing to look at me. “I’ve forced myself before, but I don’t like it.”
“How come you haven’t dated men since, you know …” I trail off, not wanting to mention our breakup again. “Would it make a difference?”
“No. I tried once and it was a shit show. I freaked out on him when he tried to kiss me goodnight, and then he called me frigid, got in his car and drove off.” He shrugs it off, like it wasn’t a dick move. “After what happened in Surrey, I didn’t feel safe being alone with men anyway, so after that, I didn’t try again."
My mind paints a vivid picture of Teddy tied up in that shed, with Shane holding a knife to his throat. I see red, hating that my brother affected him so badly. I squeeze Teddy’s hand tight, and he winces.
