Starting With You

Epilogue. Merry Fucking Teddy Era, thank you very much.

Teddy

THE SKY IS A VIBRANT MIX OF yellows and oranges as the sun kisses the horizon. A slight breeze tickles my skin, drying the sweat from a busy day of lugging stuff up the narrow hallway that leads to Jensen's apartment.

Today was moving day. After the last boxes were dropped off and pizza and beer consumed, our friends and family disappeared one by one, leaving us alone with the mess of combining two households into one.

Instead of tackling the tedious job of unpacking the boxes, Jensen and I exchanged looks and seemed to silently agree to procrastinate. After filling a small cooler with beers, we headed to the back patio and sank into the chairs with a groan.

This is where we sit, gazing up at the sky as stars slowly start to show themselves.

"Baby," Jensen groans. "How'd you fit so much shit into that small apartment? And where are we going to stuff it into mine?"

"Ours," I correct him.

He swivels his head to look at me. "Huh?"

"You said 'your apartment' but it's ours now. Right?"

A grin slowly curls his lips up. "Yeah. Ours." He's full-on smirking now. "Because you finally moved in with me after only months of me begging and demanding it."

"A bit dramatic, baby, don't you think?"

"Uh, no." He tugs on my hand to bring me to my feet and then he sets me on his lap so I'm straddling him. "You were being a stubborn woman for no good reason. This is where you belong. You barely spent more than two minutes in your apartment in months. But, yet, you dragged and dragged your heels."

"Can't let you have your way all the time. What's the fun in that?"

He drags his rough hands under my shirt, rubbing over my ribs and cupping my boobs over my bra. The look in his eyes tells me the mood is about to shift when my phone vibrates in the pocket of my jean shorts. Jensen groans as I dig it out to see the number of my dad's favorite bar on the screen.

"Larry?" he asks as I silence my phone and toss it onto the table. "We need to go?"

"Nope." I shake my head as I reach behind me to unclasp my bra and guide his hands back to my breasts. "I'm in my Teddy era. Time to put myself first, self love and all that shit."

His thumbs rub over my nipples as he studies my face, but he doesn't say anything.

Sighing, I explain, "His toxicity has haunted me long enough. Time to let him deal with his own shit. It was never my job to begin with."

Jensen lifts my shirt over my head and lets it fall to the ground, my bra following it. He pinches both nipples roughly, causing me to hiss and arch my back.

"It's funny," he says in a gravelly voice. "Because I'm also in my Teddy era, and I never, ever plan to leave it. And I'm on board for promoting and endorsing your self love campaign."

"You mean orgasms, right?" I ask as I grind against his erection. "Like lots and lots of them? Because that's what the Teddy era stands for. The more, the merrier. As acting president, I demand the more to be very, very merry. Like Merry Fucking Teddy Era, thank you very much."

The breath from his gruff laugh tickles my face, and I grin at him. "What?" he asks, his fingers deftly untangling my hair from the braid it was trapped in all day. He combs his fingers through the wavy strands, and my eyes fall shut at the sensation. I'm pretty sure I braid my hair in the morning only so I can feel his fingers caressing my scalp like this every night.

He gathers my hair into a ponytail at the nape of my neck and tugs my head back. "What is going on in that head of yours, baby? Why are you practically purring like a kitty?"