Page 291 of Tease Me


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MIA

The walk to the coffee shop was quick. Hearing Teddy’s voice brought back a rush of memories. Most of them were good, but some of them were not as pleasant. Like from when he and Cruz would get into trouble, which was often.

Teddy was the first person who could get me to loosen up from my tight rein on life. And, God, that hadn’t happened in the twelve years since I’d seen him last; when I was sixteen and he and my brother left to join the service.

Through the years, I figured we’d all stay friends and in contact with each other, but life had other plans. Time moved forward and without seeing each other daily as in high school, we lost track.

In many ways, I was naïve about the sense of comfort Teddy provided. Even though I had two brothers, I felt more protected when he was there, like he always had a watchful eye over me. Or maybe it was me being young and timid, scared to step an inch outside of my comfort zone for fear of getting into trouble or hurt, so I relied upon them to keep my good girl image unscathed.

Yet, when he was around, I pushed the limits more, feeling alive and carefree. I tested the boundaries with him watching over me. And now I waited in line a foot away from him at the coffee shop, breathing in his cologne, the same as it was yesterday in high school.

“Ted—I mean Theo, sorry,” I fumbled over the new name. He placed his hand gently on my forearm.

“It’s okay for you to call me Teddy. I’m sorry about the class. I don’t like other people adopting it. Hearing the name from your lips, though, makes me smile. It brings good thoughts from happier days to the forefront of my mind,” he confessed, as my cheeks heated to probably an embarrassingly deep shade of pink.

“Okay, Teddy,” I swayed and tapped his forearm with my shoulder, and tried to contain the smile on my face. “When was the last time you talked to Cruz?”

“Oh, man. It’s been a while. Too long, actually. A few years?”

My head reared back, and my eyes widened. “Really? I’m so sorry you guys didn’t stay connected all these years.”

He shrugged a shoulder with a grimace marking his face. “Mia, military life is rough. Having close friends is not something we typically do outside of our unit. We don’t have a choice but to build bonds with those guys so tight that we would take a bullet for one another. Thoughts of how to get ahold of people on the other side of the world who are God knows where is something we aren’t afforded time for, unfortunately.”

“I bet. It’s sad, though. You and Cruz were inseparable.”

“When I went Navy SEAL, and he didn’t, we had no choice but to part ways.”

We reached the counter, and I ordered two lattes with all kinds of wordy instructions amounting to a sugary sweet drink, versus his Americano with nothing added to it. Basically, watered down espresso, black. I chuckled to myself. With the amount of work I faced tonight, maybe I should have picked something strong like that as well.

He paid for the order and we took the only two-seated table we could find, right in the middle of the shop next to the line. I took the seat facing the door so my back was up against the line, giving him the open space for his large frame on the other side. And what a muscular frame he was to fawn over, er, if one was fawning.

The longer we sat sipping on our coffees and filling each other in about our lives, the more inspired and in awe I was of the man Theodore Delfino, American Veteran, had grown into. He’d definitely filled out his clothes now, from the baggy sweatshirts and jeans of high school dude leisure-wear to the form-fitting Henley long-sleeve shirt that did little to hide the large biceps.

Why, he could pick me up with ease and place me anywhere he’d like to have his way with me. If I had to guess, the masterpiece before me now was a well filled out two-hundred pounds, at least six feet tall, with his dark hair cut short.

Those eyes, though. They had remained the same warm brown which, with one look directly into mine, could melt me or put me at ease. He did that tonight, melted me. No matter how much I reminded myself, this was nothing more than reuniting friendship.

Once we’d caught up, memories were next. “Remember the time when Cruz skipped school, but then my dad saw you two eating at an ice cream shop?” He leaned back in his chair and laughed a full belly laugh.

“What possessed you two to miss school just for ice cream?” I asked, chuckling at the memory of them sitting on the couch with both my parents and Teddy’s mom presiding over the scene with their hands on their hips. As soon as Diego and I walked in, we were sent to our rooms, no doubt for the punishment sentencing to ensue in the living room.

“Two rambunctious boys in a boring small town? Nah, we weren’t thinking half the time, which was the problem.” He laughed some more, a hearty laugh so genuine it brought out his dimples, and I wanted to reach out and squeeze his face. Why did he have to be too damn cute? “Cruz and I were sitting in math class the hour before that and we both started thinking about ice cream. So, we left and got some. What we didn’t know before we left was how the ice cream shop owner was in talks with your mom on the phone about buying some tamales. When we walked through the shop’s door, the owner told her. She instructed him to keep us there until she could arrive.”

“Perfect timing.” I laughed. It wasn’t often we got away with much, since we had parents who watched us like hawks.

“Yep, we thought we were big shots, stealing away from school, eating ice cream midday. I think with every mouthful, our heads grew bigger and bigger—Until your dad walked through the door.”

Seeing him laugh so hard his eyes watered, God, he was the hottest man I’d ever been face to face with. And wow, I needed to rein in all these thoughts and keep my libido in check around him.

Suddenly, the warning from Dean Perez echoed through my head. As the professor, he was my student. All this could be was a friendly and professional relationship with Teddy.

I’d worked way too hard getting this far to lose the position over some sexual desire I briefly held for a man from my past. The feelings would surely die down after we’d caught up on life and the reminiscing finished.

I took another sip of my coffee and almost choked, peering at the woman who walked through the door. Here I was with lustful thoughts toward Teddy while Dean Perez strutted through the glass front door and headed straight for us. Rather, she headed to stand in line, but our table was near her path.

“Mia, are you okay?” I heard Teddy’s smooth, deep voice and felt his hand touching mine while the dean’s words repeated through my mind. “You’re as white as a ghost. Talk to me, please.” He snapped me out of my daze. I yanked my hand out from under his, scooted my chair a little farther back from the table and sat up tall, trying to look professional.

“That’s the dean of the college,” I explained under my breath.

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