Eventually, about the time Teddy and his guests were finishing dessert at the dining room table—he was in trouble with Blaise’s bakery so close—the game of tag came to an end as Nora and Smudge curled up on the rug in front of the sofa.
They made it look so easy—the chase, the give and take, all ending in a contented cuddle.
“Tell me, Carlos, how did you end up in a beach town?” Erina asked, swirling her remaining wine.
Teddy was on glass number two, only because he knew it would pair well with thetres lechescake like it had the shrimp, and he hadn’t gotten any warning looks.
“I grew up here,” Carlos said. “Been other cities and towns, but there’s no place like home.”
“That explains the perfect beach hair. What about you, Finn?”
“I’m from the city. Needed a change. All that chaos can be overwhelming sometimes, but out here, I feel like I can really make a difference. Plus, a bad breakup had a little to do with it.”
“Oh?” Teddy prompted, surprised to learn that. “You hadn’t mentioned that before.”
“It’s not my best opening line.” Finn smiled. “Nothing horrible like cheating or a giant fight, more long-term and hard to let go. I knew he wasn’t the one, but I was afraid to start over. So much wasted time, when we get so little of it.”
A flicker of pain crossed his face, but Teddy didn’t think it was only because of his ex.
“Moving here reminds me every day to take chances and not waste a second I’m given.”
“Sound advice,” Erina said. “Teddy used to be like that.”
“Used to?” Teddy shot her an annoyed look. “I moved out here, too, didn’t I?”
“You were a dancer like Erina, right?” Carlos interjected, which was just as well, since Teddy hadn’t drunk much lately and could easily skirt the edge into buzzed territory and being catty with his sister.
“More recently a choreographer,” he explained.
“You two ever work together?”
Teddy and Erina both laughed.
“Uh, no,” she said. “Normal people can barely stand to work with Teddy. I certainly wasn’t going to try. I saw him make someone cry once.”
“You made someone cry once?” Finn gaped at him.
“No, I made someone cry multiple times. Erina just witnessed it once.”
They all chuckled.
“Don’t think me cold. I was only tough on my dancers because I knew they weren’t living up to their potential, while at the same time strutting around and acting big as if they were….”
“The shit?” Finn offered.
“Exactly.”
“Oh!” Carlos exclaimed. “You’re Gordon Ramsay!”
“Excuse me?”
“You know,Hell’s Kitchen,Kitchen Nightmares. Take theMasterChefseries. Ramsay seems like this huge dick whenever there’s some cocky jerk who thinks they know everything about cooking, and really, they should—they’re a chef and have their own restaurant most of the time. He just brings them down a peg to show them where they’re wrong. But when it’sMasterChef Juniorand he’s working with kids, he is the sweetest guy ever.”
Erina leaned back in her chair, crossing one long leg over her knee. “So, you’re saying Teddy’s only a dick to people who deserve it?”
“That isn’t always true,” Teddy said, meeting eyes with Finn in further apology for how he’d acted the other day, “but I try.”
“Maybe teaching kids could be your next career move,” Finn said.
