Unfortunately, he was wrong.
Soul-crushing, self-esteem toppling wrong.
Finding himself homeless and with no family, he escaped Manning Grove and tried to find his way in New York City, where, of course, he’d be accepted, loved and treated like normal. Right? Since NYC was progressive. A melting pot of every type of human under the sun.
He worked his way up from the streets by landing his virgin ass into a hairdresser’s bed, who took him under his wing. Teddy learned to do every job in his lover’s salon. He even got his cosmetology license.
And then his lover got a new lover, another “lost” virgin, since Teddy was no longer that.
Once again tossed aside, he tried to make ends meet in a city that wasn’t kind to those who had nothing. He accepted his failure and eventually went back to the place where he grew up, where he both felt comfortable because it was familiar and uncomfortable because he had no one.
But in a way, it was easier to build a life in Manning Grove, even if it was a life alone. Living close to his family, he hoped one day they’d reach out and try to understand who he was and how he couldn’t just change into what they wanted him to be.
He couldn’t live that lie.
Which meant he remained alone.
Until one day, he spotted a city girl who appeared lost and overwhelmed in a small town, trying to take responsibility for an adult brother she’d never met. A man who was looked at differently by society, just like Teddy.
Teddy got his claws in that city girl, who let him feel safe enough to be himself and allowed his personality to shine. If he had been straight, he would have married that girl, but he loved her just the same.
Because of her, he suddenly belonged somewhere again.
Somehow they both became a Bryson, swallowed up into that family like they’d been born into it. And he had family once more.
He owed Amanda the world. If it wasn’t for her, he might not have met his own soulmate, who slept soundly by his side, looking as delicious in sleep as he had in a well-fitted dark suit across that parking lot at Marc and Leah’s wedding.
A Type-A alpha. A cop. A Marine. Not embarrassed to love someone like him, who was, as some have called Teddy, “light in the loafers.”
Yes, he was. And he no longer cared who knew.
He was loud and proud.
He didn’t care if people hated him for who he was. Or talked behind his back. Or called him nasty names. He didn’t care because it was their problem.
Not his.
Not Adam’s.
And he was going to marry that man.
They were going to live and love the way they wanted and not worry about what others said. Or thought.
Life was too damn short for that.
They could now legally marry and that was what Teddy wanted. Nothing less. He had proposed to Adam and his lover had said yes without even the slightest hesitation.
However, two years later they were still “engaged” and every time Teddy brought up planning their wedding, Adam changed the subject. Or made an excuse of why the time wasn’t right or why they couldn’t plan it just yet.
Or he would simply say, “Soon.”
Teddy didn’t want “soon,” he wanted “now.”
If they were ever going to have kids, they needed to do so soon. At forty-five, he wasn’t a spring chicken and finding a surrogate, getting her pregnant through IVF, plus the months of pregnancy, took time. He could be fifty before their first, and probably only, child was born.
He was afraid he’d feel like a grandfather instead of a father.
In truth, Teddy would be okay with never having kids, but Adam hinted that he’d like at least one. And watching his lover around the Bryson babies showed what a great father he’d be.
He sighed and continued to stare at who he hoped would be his future husband.
Adam’s dark lashes were thick, his nose perfect, his lips... Well, the man was good with his lips. Extraordinarily good.
Superb.
And Adam never hesitated to reciprocate the attention Teddy gave him. Actually, Adam’s cock-sucking skills were two-snaps-and-a-clap worthy.
Teddy pursed his own lips as he traced Adam’s with the tip of his index finger. His fiancé could be intense and take life too seriously sometimes, so when he was sleeping, his body and face were relaxed, making him look ten years younger than he was.
Which would then make Teddy a cougar.
Rawr!
An overnight growth of dark whiskers covered Adam’s face. He’d grown it out on occasion, but normally liked his face smooth since it made him look more “squared away” for his position as a police officer.
Yes, Teddy’s man wore a uniform. Purr. And looked damn good in it, too.
Adam was so damn handsome, looking at him was sometimes like looking directly into the sun. Blinding.
It was more than his rakish smile. Or the Brysons’ signature crystal blue eyes. Or that tiny scar that marred his perfectly-shaped eyebrows.
Perfect because Teddy would force his cute butt into a chair and thread those thick bushy eyebrows. Though, Adam made him swear to never tell anyone that secret.
Of course, Adam Bryson’s eyebrows were naturally shaped that way...
Wink. Wink.
Teddy brushed his knuckles over the dark wiry patch of hair that divided his muscular pecs, the hair that funneled into a line that traveled down the center of his six-pack—yes, his man had a freaking six-pack!—around that cute little half outie/half innie belly button before blooming into the well-groomed patch framing all of his manly goodness.
Teddy loved to imagine he was Little Red Riding Hood following that dark and dangerous path until he came across the largest bear in the woods, who’d jump out, surprise him and gobble him up.
And, yes, he had his fairy tales messed up. He just didn’t care. It was his fantasy.
If they ever had a child, that was one fairy tale that would not be told. Not because of
