“It would appear so.” Teddy stroked Finn’s face, scratching through his soft stubble and staring into those bright teal eyes that had first entranced him.
Finn’s playfulness dropped to sweet contentedness as he hugged Teddy’s chest and then reached down to pull the covers over them.
They settled in like that, holding each other, not caring that so many lights remained on. Besides, there was a master switch beside the bed.
“You’re staying the weekend?” Teddy asked.
“I did bring enough clothes, if that’s okay. You show me your stomping grounds, I’ll show you mine?”
“With my luck, we’ll run into Oliver and a few of my exes while we’re at it.”
Finn’s chuckle said that Teddy had nothing to worry about even if that proved true. “You’ve jinxed us now. Oliver will totally end up being at whatever breakfast place we go to.” He hummed as if thinking about it, and when his eyes found Teddy’s again, there was a depth of emotion there that made Teddy feel very vulnerable, though without the fear he might have felt in the past.
“I don’t want to see Oliver,” Finn said. “I came to see you, but even if we did run into him, I never once felt this way about him. And the sad thing was? I didn’t realize what I was missing until….” A shock of wetness appeared that Finn blinked from his eyes. “Sorry, I don’t mean to get all….”
“Romantic?” Teddy said softly.
“Just not so soon.”
Intimacy had never been Teddy’s strong suit, and yet…. “Doesn’t feel too soon, just feels like what it is. You make this all… not easy,” Teddy said, looking down at his hip, “but possible. And I didn’t think anyone could do that.”
Finn breathed in sharply, but he was smiling when Teddy looked up. “I think that’s the sweetest thing any patient has ever said to me. Especially while I’m in bed with them.”
Teddy laughed and Finn laughed with him, and in the end, they sought each other’s mouths again to kiss soft and slow.
“I’m still sorry about that night on the beach,” Finn whispered while they were wrapped up close, “but I’m also glad. I’m glad you know my bad parts, my tragic parts, and that you didn’t mind seeing them.”
“Same. I will likely reveal my inner asshole again someday.”
“And I might get scared and act like an idiot someday. But….”
“We’ll deal with that as it comes.”
“Exactly.” Shifting to rest his head on Teddy’s shoulder, Finn said with tired humor, “Tell me another story about you, Rick, and Dan in your wild younger days.”
Teddy would have laughed again if he wasn’t mildly affronted. “That story was about Dan’s mesh tank top and inappropriate introduction. Rick and I merely had sword props. Now, if you want a story about me in a mesh tank top….”
“Seriously?”
“It was the 90s,” Teddy said like that was explanation enough.
“I’m all ears.”
“We have a problem, though.”
“What’s that?”
“I need to take out my contacts before we get too comfortable.”
Laughter came so easily between them. It was a new experience for Teddy, but he was starting to get used to it.
After a trip to the bathroom, Teddy returned, content with Finn in his arms, and regaled him with every story he couldthink of—his first audition when Rick got him obscenely drunk afterward, Rick and Dan’s joint bachelor party that somehow ended on a boat and to this day none of them knew how, even the time Teddy went home with a man dressed as a hot dog from a costume party and didn’t find out until morning that it was a dancer from his same company—until neither of them could keep their eyes open and they finally fell asleep.
nine
Theirtimeinthecity had been like a dream, brand-new for Teddy in many ways despite walking old, familiar ground. They had not run into Oliver or any of Teddy’s exes, only Teddy’s friends and family again as planned, and spent a good amount of time with just each other too.
On the flight home, they managed to arrange their seats together, and all the tension Teddy had felt on his flight there was blissfully left behind rather than returning to the beach with him.
