Sorry, I Love You.

3.09

"There was a very real phase in my life where I thought guys like Ne-Yo, Akon, and Shane Kingston were the shit. Their swag and fedoras... I wanted to be them so badly," Teddy shamelessly admitted.

"No.. not the fedoras..." Zoe groaned, the agonizing reaction interrupted by her giggling.

Teddy laughed as he glanced at Zoe, who was laid beside him and tucked against him under the blankets. Both of them were still naked and didn't have any plans on dressing until they had to leave this room. For now, they just wanted to lay in each other's embrace and talk. And talk. And talk some more. It was something they hadn't gotten to do in months, and even before that, their relationship wasn't as free and comfortable as it was now, so they were indulging in this time together.

As their fingers tangled and detangled a thousand times, Teddy flashed Zoe a smile and continued with his confessions. "You can't even imagine the kind of embarrassing family photos my dad had tucked away somewhere."

"Oh my god! There is photographic proof of your deepest darkest moments? You haven't burned them?" Zoe asked in her laughter, staring fondly at Teddy. "Can I see them?"

"No! Not if you're going to laugh at them! I admit, they're terrible, embarrassing pictures but you're just being cruel," Teddy joked. He liked Zoe's laughter and the beautiful smile on her face so her teasing jabs didn't affect him one bit. She could rail on him for his embarrassing fedora phase as long as she was still smiling like this.

"I'm only joking! I'm sure you were the most handsome boy with the most swag and the nicest fedora in school," Zoe teased as she leaned forward to kiss Teddy.

"Cruel..." Teddy groaned before he reached to hold Zoe's face in his palm and close the rest of the distance between them.

Though gentle and shallow, the intimacy of their embrace was not lost in their kiss. Having her fingers playfully tangled with another, naked body laid together with a man's, and lips brushing a familiar pair, Zoe had never felt such a complex mixture of tranquility and passion before. It was strange to Zoe how a connection with another person could make her feel so calm and carefree but also so charged and overwhelmed with emotion.

Zoe had never felt anything like this before, which let her know this was real, unconditional love.

When their lips separated, Teddy brought Zoe's hand to his mouth so he could savor every touch of her skin. She let his lips graze across her knuckles before she curiously turned her fingertips towards his lips to gently glide her fingers across them. They were soft, warm, like perfectly sculpted pieces of art. It especially made her smile when he pressed his lips against her gentle touches to kiss her fingers. And then it made her laugh when he managed to capture a finger between his teeth.

Teddy was handsome, Zoe had to admit. A fedora probably wouldn't distract from his good looks too much. But such an embarrassing confession did make Zoe think about Teddy's previous romantic life, which was supposedly nonexistent before her. There was Kim, of course, which plagued Zoe's mind. Part of her wished she didn't know about his attempt to get with her because it only reminded Zoe that she wasn't his first kiss. But she was the first one he ever had sex with. And the first girl he ever loved.

What are the chances that she'd be his only or ever his last love?

"What about you?" Teddy tangled his fingers with Zoe's again, his dark eyes locking with hers. "Any embarrassing childhood phases I should know about?"

Zoe perched her lips as she thought about it, trying her best to dig up past memories of clothes or music or hobbies she really liked as a kid but would haunt her now. No matter how much Zoe thought about it, nothing came to mind. Her mother used to dress her in big dressed with even bigger bows on the back of them, but she was maybe five years old then so it was as cute as it was ridiculous. She couldn't even think of songs or movies that were really terrible that she loved.