Jensen

ME: I need help.

FINN: Captain Obvious, folks.

VIVI: Shut it, Finn. What's up, J?

SUTTON: Judging by the way Teddy fled Roxy's about the same time J left with a blonde, I'm guessing it has something to do with that.

JJ: Shit, what'd I miss?

SUTTON: Come to Roxy's next time, cousin!

SULLY: Cut the shit. Let J get to the point so these texts stop faster.

ME: I'm taking Teddy on a date. I need ideas.

SUTTON: WHAT?!!!!!!!!

FINN: Well, shit. Didn't see that coming.

CHARLIE: About fucking time, man.

VIVI: Spill, J! Tell us everything!

SUTTON: No kidding. How did you go from leaving with a chick that wasn't Teddy to taking Teddy on a date?

SULLY: Focus. Date ideas. Go.

JJ: Sully, if you can't stand these texts, just ignore us for fuck's sake!

SULLY: If only it were that simple, Double J.

SUTTON: Jensen!!!

ME: It's none of your fucking business.

ME: But I know you won't shut up about it so.....

ME: We got into, ok? I sent the blonde chick home alone and was walking back to Roxy's. Teddy was in the parking lot. She yelled at me. Pushed me. Made me admit shit. Ok? Let's move on to the date ideas now.

VIVI: Not ok. You left out huge chunks.

JJ: Good for Teddy for yelling and shoving you. About fucking time.

SUTTON: No shit. That girl's a saint.

FINN: But did you kiss her? You did, right? You kissed the fuck out of her.

CHARLIE: He totally did. Now he wants more. Hence the date.

JJ: No one says hence, C.

CHARLIE: Just did. Deal with it.

SUTTON: He better have kissed her. With tongue.

FINN: Probably grabbed her ass too. Have you seen that ass? Damn.

ME: Finn, you little fucker. Fuck the fuck off.

CHARLIE: There he is. Our possessive, lovable, grumpy as fuck brother.

VIVI: So...there was a fight. Some kissing. Then you asked her out. Now you need ideas?

ME: Yes. I'm stumped. That's why I'm suffering through this BS with you fuckers.

JJ: By stumped do you really mean freaking out?

FINN: Fair call. I bet he's shitting himself. Finally made a move and now doesn't know what to do.

SUTTON: Ignore them, J. Take her to a nice restaurant. Maybe that one in Maybury that is right off the river.

JJ: Nope. That's not them. Do something more casual.

VIVI: A hike with a picnic. Nailed it.

FINN: I think V is right.

CHARLIE: Women like to be wined and dined. S's idea is better.

ME: I can't believe I'm asking this. But, Sully....?

SULLY: V's right. Do you and Teddy things.

CHARLIE: Bring Scout. Chicks love puppies.

VIVI: And flowers. Romance and all.

FINN: Bow chicka wow wow.

FINN: Do you need condoms, J? I know it's been a while.

ME: Fuck off. I'm out.

ME: Thanks for the ideas.

SUTTON: Wait, J!

ME: ??

SUTTON: Proud of you, brother. I like Teddy for you.

ME: I like Teddy for me too.

JJ: Took you long enough.

FINN: Now don't fuck it up.

-

THIS TIME WHEN I KNOCK ON TEDDY'S DOOR, the reason for my nerves is from a different source. It's our first date. I'm not nervous whether she likes me; I'm anxious for completely different reasons.

Will it be awkward? Should I kiss her hello? Or do I have to wait until the end of the date? Will we act differently? Can I check her out or is that inappropriate? Do I tell her how beautiful she is or is that coming on too strong? Fuck, maybe I'm more nervous today than yesterday for our talk.

All thoughts fall out of my head the moment she opens the door. A breath whooshes out of me. "Fuck, Teddy. You're gorgeous."

She ducks her head as her cheeks blanch, her hair falling over her face. I tip her head up with my finger under her chin and step into her, pressing my lips softly against hers, and then I push her back into the apartment with my hand against her stomach.

Once inside, I inspect her thoroughly. She's wearing a pale yellow sundress that falls just above her knees, the bodice tight around her chest and waist. I take her hand and spin her, the skirt billowing out around her. When she loses her balance, I scoop her body into mine, my arms going around her waist. I kiss her again, just a quick brush of my lips over hers, and pull out of the embrace.

"Come on," I say as I tug her through her apartment to her bedroom. I ruffle through her closet and toss items onto the bed.

"What are you doing, Jensen? Do you not like what I'm wearing?"

I back her up until she's pressed against the wall, my body covering hers. "Oh, I like it just fine, Teddy, but we must have gotten our wires crossed. You can't wear this on our date today. I'll make sure our next date is something fancy so you can dress up for me again and then I can spend the whole night staring at you."

When I go to move away from her, she wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me back. "What is it we're doing then?"

Brushing my nose along hers, I resist the urge to take her lips the way I've been longing to since I left her yesterday. "You'll see. Change and meet me outside. Scout is in the truck, and he doesn't do well being left alone for long." I kiss her on the forehead and then back out of the room.

When she emerges a few minutes later, she's wearing a tight pair of black leggings and my old basketball shirt that she has knotted up in the back to fit snugly and reveal an inch of the creamy skin on her stomach. I grin at her. She looked beautiful in the dress, but this is how I like Teddy best.

"What?" She's pulling her long hair into a ponytail. When I don't say anything, she glances down at herself. "Did you want me to change again? Is this not good enough?"

I fist the front of her shirt to bring her closer to me. "This is more than good enough. I was just thinking this is my favorite Teddy. The dress was nice, but you in my shirt and these tight ass pants? Nothing beats it." I skim my fingers over the exposed skin of her stomach and watch as goosebumps trail my touches.

"Well, aren't you friendly this afternoon? And here I thought you'd be all gentlemanly and I'd have to trick you into touching me. You know, like fake falling so you'll catch me in your arms or some shit like that."

Barking out a laugh, I shake my head at her. "I was nervous, to be honest. Not real sure how to act. But it's you, Teddy. I guess I can't help touching you. Is that gonna be a problem?"

"No problem." She reiterates this by circling her arms around my neck and then raking her fingers into my hair. Before I realize what's happening, she's up on her tiptoes with her lips on mine. We don't get too far into the kiss before there's a dancing, yipping dog at our feet. Teddy immediately abandons me for the dog.

"Hey, you," she coos at the furball. "Where'd you come from? Did you miss me? I missed you the mostest." She picks Scout up and hugs him to her chest, laughing at the slobbery kisses the dog gives her.

"He's a pain in the ass. Look what he did to your flowers." I yank open the truck door and pull out a bundle of flattened flowers, holding them out to her.

She takes the bouquet with a laugh. "Scout, you naughty dog. What did you do?" She sets him down and studies the flowers the dog trampled all over during the ride here. "They're still pretty. Thank you." She holds them to her nose and sniffs. "Let me just run inside and put them in some water, ok? Then we can go."

I drive us across town and park in the lot that leads to a walking path into the woods. It's a fairly secluded area since people often opt for the paved path around the lake instead.

The afternoon is warm, spring decidedly staking her claim. The smattering of color blooming everywhere is proof of that.

I snatch the backpack from my truck and secure it on my back, tucking Scout's leash in the front pocket in case we need it. He's getting better at being off lease in public, but sometimes the freedom proves to be too much, and he's sentenced to being tethered to me as a consequence.

The dog in question races around in excitement, sniffing everything in sight. He lifts his leg to pee on the trail sign and plops down to wait for his slow humans.

"Off leashing it today, huh?" Teddy asks as she joins me at the beginning of the trail.

I nod and hold my hand out to her. She takes it, lifting an eyebrow in question. "It's a date, Teddy. If we don't hold hands, it'll be like every other walk we've taken this psycho dog on before."

She laughs at this and tugs us into the woods. "I'm sorry I didn't realize the difference. Thanks for the clarification."

"That's one difference."

"Oh, there's more?"

"Obviously. Before I couldn't check out your ass. Today I plan on getting my fill." I slowly slide my eyes down the back of her to prove my point, smirking in appreciation.

"Mmmm. So romantic. Go on. What else?"

I twirl her around and press her back against a tree, crowding into her personal space. I glide a gentle hand around her throat, and I can feel the muscles work as she gulps. "I can do this whenever I want." Angling our heads to the side, I softly nip at her bottom lip, tugging it between my teeth, and then I lick across the seam, before diving in for a rough kiss.

Looping her fingers into my belt loops, she hauls me into her, lifting a leg up and around my hip. I scoop it up in my hand, falling into the open space between her legs, and revel in how good it feels to be with her like this. She pumps her hips into me, and I groan, feeling the swell in my jeans grow.

"Teddy," I warn breathlessly, but I can help the way my pelvis grinds into her, showing her just how much I like it.

"I think I prefer date walks better than regular walks." She brings the point home by rounding her hands around to grip my ass, using the leverage to force me into her again.

"Shit," I curse into her neck. "Teddy. You are making this really hard to take it slow."

"Jensen," she whines when I try pulling away, abandoning my ass to grab a fistful of my hair. I decide right then that I'm not cutting it to his usual short length. Feeling her hands in my hair is my new favorite thing. That, and the way her body feels in my hands.

I palm her round ass before giving it a light spank. "Be a good girl, Teddy. Stop being such a fucking temptress."

"Me? You're blaming this on me?" She scoffs. "You're the one who keeps shoving me up against shit and then taking advantage of me."

Scout growls off in the distance and we break apart to investigate. The little dog is on his stomach in the dirt, growling at a deflated red balloon caught in a tree branch. It flaps in the wind, the movements causing the hackles on Scout's back to go up. He growls again. Teddy and I exchange amused looks and break out in laughter.

"He's your dog," she declares, shoving me in the shoulder. "Scared of a big, bad balloon, huh, Scout?" She shoos him away from the balloon, and we continue on the path, Scout occasionally turning to check on the status of the balloon, as if he thinks it might follow us through the woods.

I link our hands together again, bringing them up to my lips to feather soft kisses across her knuckles. "Teddy." My voice is serious, and I wait until she looks at me before I continue. "I really do want to take this slow. It's hard when you look so fucking sexy; and I admit, I'm guilty of getting caught up in the moment. But...slow, yes?"

She shakes her head from side to side, a slow smirk forming on her lips. "I do not consent to this plan."

"Teddy." I throw my head back with a groan. "You're being a brat. Just agree. Please."

"Why, Jensen? We already know everything there is to know about each other. We've waited years—years—to do this, whatever this is." She gestures her free hand between us. "What's the point of going slow?"

I halt our steps in the middle of the trail, and as I turn to her, I notice the way the sun falls through the trees creates a golden halo over her head. I cradle her face in my hands, caressing my thumbs across her cheeks, peering down into her eyes. "You're right. We do know each other, but we don't know everything. We don't know these parts of each other. We don't know each other this way." I place a soft kiss to her nose and then rub mine against hers a few times. "Slow, ok?"

When she doesn't answer, I force her head in my hands to nod up and down. "Yes, Jensen," I singsong in my best imitation of Teddy's voice. "I promise to go slow. Because you're right and I'm wrong, like usual. I'm sorry I can't keep my hands off your sexy man body—OH!" I stop abruptly when she smacks my stomach.

"One, I don't sound anything like that." She holds one finger up. "Two, you're pretty much never right. Three, I don't recall ever saying anything about your sexy man body before. And, four, I haven't agreed to anything." She waves four fingers in my face. "But, fine, Jensen. We can do it your way. We can go slow."

I capture her hand in mine and tick down the raised fingers one at a time as I dispute her claims. "One, pretty sure I was spot on. Two, I'm pretty much always right. Three, you might not have said it out loud, but your hands have been speaking for you judging by the way you can't keep them to yourself. And, four, thank you for agreeing." I open her fingers and kiss her palm.

She palms the hand to my face, shoving me away. "You're ridiculous, J. That's the only thing my hands have been saying." She pivots on her feet and speeds ahead of me.

I chuckle loudly and jog to catch up to her, scooping her hand back up as we resume our leisurely pace. Scout trots ahead of us, circling back every so often to hurry us along.

Once we reach an opening in the woods, I veer us off the path. In the summer this area is overrun with colorful wildflowers, but now it's an open space, the dead grass trampled down from the heavy weight of the snow. Dandelions grow along the perimeter, the hardy yellow weed a cheerful precursor of the color yet to come.

Since we're not under the tree cover anymore, we're exposed to the full sun, and the warmth feels nice on my bare skin. I pull the bag off my back and unpack the items inside, setting to work spreading out the blanket and arranging the food containers on top of it. When I'm done, I sit down and extend my hand out to Teddy in invitation. "Sit," I instruct her.

She tucks her legs up under her as she falls next to me on the blanket, eyeing all the containers. "What's this?"

I set out bowls for Scout's food and water and then open our containers to reveal the picnic lunch. "It's nothing fancy. Just some sandwiches and fruit and veggies with that dill dip you like. And..." I produce two bottles from the bag. "Cherry coke."

Perching her hand on my leg, she leans in to place a soft kiss on my lips, lingering close to my face as she breathily thanks me. "Thanks, J. This is really sweet."

I steal a quick kiss, following it up by running my thumb across her bottom lip, before pulling away. "I can't take full credit. I did stoop so low as to ask in the sibling text chat for ideas."

She gasps, clutching her chest in mock alarm. "You did that for me?"

I throw a carrot at her. "Shut up, you brat. You know I hate that stupid group text."

"Who hates it more? You or Sully?" she asks, munching on a cumber slice.

"Sully. Hands down. I'm a close second, though. Pretty sure Finn likes it the most. He can stir shit without getting punched." She laughs, the sound making me smile in response. "Which reminds me, I owe him a punch for commenting on your ass, the little fucker."

"Good or bad comment? Because maybe I want to punch him."

"No one has a bad thing to say about your ass, Teddy. Have you seen it? It's a fucking wet dream. But my stupid brother only commented on your ass to piss me off."

She points a celery stalk at me. "Which it obviously worked."

"Hell yeah it did. He can find his own ass. This one is mine." I trace the outline of her butt with my fingertips.

She looks at me like she wants to take the lewd gesture further, but just then Scout dashes over to us from wherever he was exploring and tramples across the blanket, disturbing the containers. The food flies out, and before we can stop him, Scout prances all over the fruit and vegetables. The only thing safe is the sandwiches, which he suddenly notices and shoves his nose right into them, stealing the meat and cheese from between the slices of bread and trotting off with the scavenged loot in his mouth.

"Scout!" I holler after the naughty dog.

Teddy falls back as laughter shakes her whole body. I roll on top of her, my body spread over hers atop the blanket, and I shush her with a finger to her lips. "You think that's funny, huh?"

She barks out another burst of laughter, shaking her head. "No, no. It's just that I'm remembering how you wanted to call him Jackoff and how satisfying that would have been for you to yell that instead of Scout. 'Jackoff! Get back here with our food, Jackoff!'" Her imitation of my stern voice reactivates her laughter, and she scrunches her eyes closed as if trying to control herself.

Watching her giggle under me—the way her nose crinkles up and small snorts escape her mouth—is too much. I join her in her laughter, rolling onto my back beside her. I'm pretty sure I'm laying on the food, but it's already ruined anyway.

"So this didn't really go as planned." I shift onto my side to face her. "Want to come back to my place and I can cook us something instead? You still hungry?"

She rolls onto her side to face me as well, hooking her leg over my hip. I glide my hand up her thigh to grab a handful of her ass, before patting it once. Then I haul us both to our feet and collect the containers, stuffing them back into the bag. "Ready?"

As we walk back to the parking lot, I realize she never answered me. I let it go until we're sitting in my truck. "So...where to? You want to come over or am I dropping you off at your place?"

She bites her lip as she thinks, and I resist the urge to take her mouth with mine. "Maybe my place? Since you want to take things slow, maybe we just end it here?"

I lean over the middle console and drape my hand around the back of her neck, gently forcing her to meet me halfway. "Ok, Teddy," I say with our faces only inches apart. "I'll take you home, but only on one condition." I place a few tender kisses on her lips and then peer into her eyes questioningly.

"Yeah? What's the condition?" Her voice is breathy.

After a few more pecks, I answer, "I want a do-over. Let me take you out again."

"Ok," she says against my lips. Her hands find their way into my hair, and she massages my scalp. "Now are you gonna kiss me for real already? Because I don't want to do it and get yelled at again for going too fast."

"Brat," I whisper as my hand swivels around to gently squeeze her throat. Then I do as she asks and take her mouth with mine. Her soft moans prod me on and soon my tongue is swiping into her mouth deepening the kiss.