“Sure is,” Teddy says. When I turn my head, he’s looking right at me.
“Shut up.” I smack his chest, and laughter bubbles up, bursting free. I forget for a moment that this is temporary.
“What are we doing?” I ask.
He rubs the back of his neck and hums. “I get that maybe we’re rushing things, but?—”
“I’m going back to Cumbria,” I say, cutting him off.
He frowns. “I know that. You have a life there, and I have a life here. It doesn’t matter to me. We were never finished, Bay.” He steps into me, cupping my face, forcing me to look up into his dark eyes. “You ended things between us because Shane forced you to, not because you didn’t love me anymore.”
I nod without thinking.
“And I ran away from you because I was scared, not because I didn’t loveyouanymore,” he says with sincerity.
My heart pounds in my chest as I cling to every word that comes out of his mouth.
“Did it ever really stop for you?” he asks, eyes flicking between mine as he holds me prisoner between the palms of his hands.
“No,” I breathe out. I can’t look at him without my chest swelling with want. The thought of actually leaving him, of having to say goodbye when we head back south … It makes me feel sick. I’m certain I still love him. There’s a familiar prickling behind my eyes, and I blink rapidly to try and hold back the tears. “I wanted to look for you, but I-I couldn’t. I needed to set you free because I didn’t think I was good for you,” I choke out.
Teddy swipes a thumb across my cheek. He doesn’t look sad at all; he’s got a massive grin on his face that makes me want to smack him. “But you found me anyway. It took a long time, but you found me, and I never needed to be free of you. I don’twantto be free of you, ever. You’re good for me, Bay. So good.”
I shake my head. I’m not.
You’re never good, Bailey.Never.
“Yes, you are, you’re good, and you’re home,” Teddy says unwaveringly. “Your home is with me. It has been from the moment I met you, and I never should have let you go.”
I try to look away, but he lifts my chin. “Hey …”
“What?”
“Would you do it again?”
I almost laugh, remembering our first kiss in the woods. I cough to clear my scratchy throat. “Would you?” I say with more confidence than I feel.
His lips curl into a beaming smile, and he leans in until I feel just the ghost of his lips against mine as he says, “Always.” Then he kisses me with such force, I stumble backwards slightly. There’s a finality in his kiss, a promise that this time, it will be different.
BAILEY
Drops of waterhit my nose, and I jerk away from Teddy, looking up at the darkened sky. He grabs my hand and we run all the way back down the hill just as the rain gets heavier. We make it back to his car soaked through. I take my shoes off and sit in the passenger seat, shivering. Teddy slams the driver's door, turns the heat on high, and starts the engine.
When we get back, the cottage is silent except for the sound of our bare feet slapping on the hardwood floors as we rush upstairs to the bathroom. Teddy switches on the shower and strips out of his wet clothes before turning to me. “Arms up.” He grabs the hem of my shirt, and I lift my arms above my head as he peels it off. I feel his fingers brush against the scar on my ribs, and I freeze.
“This doesn’t look like the rest of them …” he mutters.
I catch my reflection in the mirror. It's barely visible now. Something so small should be forgettable, but I can still makeout the jagged lines of the ‘S’, recalling the way the knife pierced my skin.
“When I stayed away from you for a month,” I say, mouth drying as the memory hits me vividly. “Shane, h-he gave me an extra punishment because I ran away to live with you.”
“What did he do?” Teddy asks through clenched jaws.
“He carved an ‘S’ into me with a knife. Said it would remind me of him, because when everyone leaves me, he’d still be there. After he did that, I think I started to realise it wasn’t just about helping me. It felt like ownership, and I—I just wanted to leave the next day and come home to you, but I didn’t want you to see the burns.”
Teddy is silent as he strokes the scar gently. “You don’t belong toanyone, Bay.”
I’m shivering again. My lip wobbles and I clasp it between my teeth, not wanting to ruin the day by thinking about Shane. Teddy bends down, kissing the puckered skin on my ribs, then around my hip to my back. “Fuck them,” he says, standing back up. “You’re home now, that’s all that matters. I’m not willing to let you go so easily again.” He nudges me into the shower and steps in behind me, quickly closing the distance, pressing his naked body against mine.
