"Wow, that was some workout," he said admiringly. "I'm out of breath just watching."

I shook my head, taking a long drink from the bottle he handed me. "I'm so out of shape it's pathetic," I said.

"Not from where I'm sitting," he said with a grin, casting a sideways glance at me. I looked down at myself. My cleavage was moving up and down with every breath I took.

I sighed. He saw me sigh and sighed himself. He put his drink down, took my drink and put it down, and got in the water, pulling me with him. He put his arms around me, keeping me from floating away by wrapping our legs up together. He twirled the loose hairs at my neck around his fingers, driving me to distraction. This situation wasn't helped by seeing the droplets of water at his neck and on his shoulders. I had this overpowering urge to lick them off, to kiss his wet mouth. I stared at him, willing myself to hear his words, to stop thinking about things I wanted to do with him.

"Look," he said, sliding his fingers under the string of my suit, rubbing them back and forth. "You are a pretty girl. You can try to hide it, or you can embrace it. I personally don't see the point of hiding it. For one thing, it doesn't always work. Sometimes it does, but it's rare, and why? And don't say people like Landon, because people like that don't care what you look like; he sees a female, a pair of tits, maybe, and that's it, the rest doesn't matter to him. I suppose you could say me; I mean, I certainly don't care. Dress up, dress down, make-up, no make-up, makes no difference to me, honestly. But I will say that I like it when people admire you, any part of you, and that includes the way you look. Does that make me a chauvinist? A caveman? Maybe, I don't know. I also like it when people admire how smart you are, how well you play the piano, how well you speak Japanese, hell, I like it when people admire your handwriting; remember at the hotel in Nikko? My point is I feel pleasure when people think well of you, including how good you look. If that means on some level I've objectified you, well, then, so be it, I guess it's something I'll have to work on, but in the meantime, I can't help it, I'm happy you look so good in that damned yellow bathing suit. So if that matters to you, then there you have it."

He kissed me, eyelid, eyelid, nose, mouth. "If it makes you that uncomfortable, go and take it off, put on your clothes, and let's just take our drinks and talk to Keith for a bit. He wants to hear about Japan. Then we can get going. okay?"

I boosted myself out of the pool again, turned and sat, pulling him between my legs, stroking his hair back as I looked into his beautiful eyes. "No, I'm fine," I said. I finished my wine cooler. "In fact, I'm ready for another one. How about you? Yeah?" I grabbed his bottle, stood up, took our empties to the recycling bucket next to the ice chest and grabbed two more, knowing he was watching me, both ways. I opened them up, came back to the pool, sat down, and handed his to him.

"I like knowing you think I'm pretty," I said. "If that makes me a cavewoman, so be it." I slid into the water and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling myself really close, so close my cleavage was practically under his chin. "You like the way I look in this suit? Hmm? Particularly this top?" I saw his eyes dart down for a quick second before coming back up to meet mine again.

"Yes, I do, very much," he said with a grin.

"Caveman," I said with a smile.

"I guess so," he agreed.

"What is it with guys and boobs, anyway?" I asked, giving him a little shake. "I've always wondered, but I never knew any guys well enough to ask.

"I mean, there was Ben, but he never understood the appeal, either," I continued with a laugh.

Teddy leaned his forehead against mine and pulled me even closer, tracing patterns comfortably against my back in the afternoon sun as we floated in the pool.

"Well, first of all, you can't just casually say 'boobs', when referring to such superior specimens as yours," he said seriously.

"What?" I gasped. I immediately began trying to extricate myself from his grasp, but he'd anticipated this and had a firm hold of me. I finally stopped struggling, and settled for covering my face with my hand. "I can't believe you said that," I said in a small voice.

"Birdie? Uncover your face, please," said Teddy. I felt him pulling at my hand, and eventually I just let him pull it away. "Listen to me, love, listen, okay?"

I nodded.

"I wasn't trying to embarrass you, and I'm sorry if I did, I am, okay? Hmm?" And he pulled me in and hugged me warmly, kissing my neck, stroking my hair. "I'm sorry, I am. But you're the one who brought the subject up, and in a joking manner, I might add, right?" And he looked carefully into my eyes, asking me to agree with him.

Reluctantly, I nodded.

"Also, you and I should be past embarrassment over those kinds of topics, I think," he continued. "You know how beautiful I think you are, and you certainly know how beautiful I think your body is, don't you?" He looked at me.

I nodded again.

"And," he continued with a grin, "among men in general, I happen to be one who appreciates, um, nice mammaries in particular, did you know that?" He dimpled at me.

"What?" I asked for the second time in five minutes. "Shelley, are you saying that you're a 'breast man'?"

He nodded. "All of us UK Crush boys are," he said with a laugh. "We burned many hours talking about yours and how beautiful they are."

"What?" I asked, aghast. I was turning into parrot. "Theodore Shelley, say it ain't so."

He was laughing so hard he couldn't speak, but could only continue nodding.

"Please, please tell me you boys didn't sit around discussing my breasts!" I was starting to feel faint.

"Only in the nicest, most respectful way, honestly," he hastened to reassure me.

"Even Matty?" I asked desperately.

"Afraid so," Teddy said with a smile. "But like I said, we were only singing their praises, because we thought they were so glorious."

I rolled my eyes at him, and he rolled his eyes back, pulling me in for another lovely hug, nice and splashy, making me feel all fluttery in my tummy from being so close to him.

I finally rewarded myself with the wet kiss I'd been wanting, and I could tell by his response that he'd been thinking about it, too.

"You taste yummy," he said when we stopped. "Like strawberries or something."

I looked at my bottle. "Strawberries and lime?" I asked.

"I think so," he said. "Lemme make sure." And he laid another big kiss on me, making me forget everything but him and here and now.

"Ready to get out?" He spoke with his lips practically touching my ear.

Using all the willpower I had, I shook my head. "No, I want to do a few more laps, I have a little tension I need to release, you know?" I wrapped my legs around him and squeezed, making him close his eyes and bite his lip. I boosted myself out of the pool, knowing he was watching me, and stood with my toes curled over the edge, waiting for him to get out of the way.

He got out of the pool and went to stand by someone who'd been introduced as Warren, and in one of those serendipitous turns of fate, I was able to read his lips perfectly as he turned to Teddy and said, "Dude, that girl you brought is smokin' hot."

I dove in and did twenty more minutes of hard swimming before I got out, breathing hard, and grabbed my towel.

I found Teddy, saying, "Maybe we should get dressed so you can talk a little shop with them before we go, huh?" And he nodded, following me into the changing room.

He simply pulled on a T-shirt, while I put on a pink sundress over my suit and slipped on some sandals. He pulled me to him as we were heading out.

"You smell good," he murmured, kissing my neck.

"Sunscreen?" I laughed, hugging him back.

"Hell yes, one of my favorite smells," he responded.

"Actually, it's one of mine, too," I admitted. "Sometimes, in the winter, I'll open up a bottle in the supermarket and smell it, just to cheer myself up."

"See, we were made for each other," he said smugly, kissing my scar, making me shiver all over.

"One thing I forgot about putting your prettiness on public display?" he whispered, tucking my hair behind my ear.

"Mm?" I responded, eyes closed.

"I love when people admire the way you look in theory," he said softly. "But when they start telling me how hot you look and they start touching you? That shit makes me crazy." He kissed my mouth, holding my jaw in the V of his thumb and forefinger. "It makes me want to tattoo my name all over your body or something."

"Caveman," I whispered, in between kissing him.

"Yeah, I guess so." He said complacently, moving his hand down to my neck. "Mmm," he exhaled through his nose, sounding very comfortable. "I guess we should go outside before they start wondering what we're doing in here."

"Teddy, I don't think anyone's wondering what we're doing in here," I laughed. "But let's go." I grabbed his hand and we left.

We grabbed fresh drinks and sat down. Keith had opened up his patio doors, and someone was playing the piano. It was a nice one, a scarred up Steinway that had seen some major action. They were jamming, talking music, some of them taking notes, a few of them off to one side, talking tech.

"So Theo, tell us about Japan, man, how was it? You guys made a movie while you were there? And Geth tried out a new guitar, right? How'd that go?"

From there the conversation entered a realm I didn't understand, so I wandered over to where Warren was noodling around on the piano. I leaned on the cover, watching what he was doing, asking questions where it was relevant, asking him to repeat things where I didn't catch what he'd done.

"You play?" he asked.

I nodded, qualifying my nod by adding, "Classical, though, I don't do what you guys do."

I heard harmonizing coming from outside, and I went to find the source. It was three-part harmony, and I recognized Teddy's bass. It was lovely, though nowhere near as tight and gorgeous as UK Crush's four-part tour de force.

They were sitting where I'd left them. They didn't stop singing, but Teddy lifted his arm and eased me into his lap, putting his arm comfortably around my hip and pulling me into his shoulder. They finished the chorus, and I clapped, kissing his cheek.

"That was beautiful," I said softly.

"Thank you, love," he said, kissing my forehead.

"There is something I've been working on," he said, looking around. "It's really rough, especially because I don't play very well, but I'd like to know what you all think, if you don't mind."

Everyone assented, of course, and he said he needed the piano to pick out the melody, so we all moved inside. I was extremely curious, as this would be the first time I'd heard anything he'd written; I'd heard all the other boys, especially Gethin, since he always had his guitar with him, but I'd never come across Teddy doing any writing at all.

He sat down at the piano and looked at me, asking, "Would you sit by me, help me if I need it?"

I was surprised. I didn't know how I could help, but of course if he wanted me there, I would be there. I took a seat next to him on the bench.