“Sweet? I just need them to know this is all Felix’s fault.”
He laughs. I really love Teddy’s laugh. It’s deep and uninhibited, louder than he is any other time. I take a sip of the drink. It’s sweet, but the liqueur heats my throat as I swallow.
“Who would you email?” I ask. “Your dad?”
“First off, we’re fine. No one is dying tonight.” He winks. “But if I were in a near-death situation, I’d probably try to get ahold of my little brother.”
I smile because it’s such a fitting answer for Teddy. “How old is he?”
“Seventeen.”
“Does he play football?”
“Yeah, but he’s a QB like your brother.”
“Uh-oh, Felix better watch his back.”
Teddy laughs again, this time quieter. “He’s pretty good. I don’t know if he’s going to play college or not. He’s already had a lot of offers, including one from Valley U, but he can’t stop partying and hooking up long enough to pass his classes.”
“Anyone else you would email? A girlfriend, perhaps?” I feel braver the more I sip my drink, which is half-gone I now realize.
“Girlfriend?” One brow quirks up.
I pull my feet up underneath me and lean closer. “I don’t know. You could have one.”
“You know I don’t.”
A blush warms my face. I do know that, but I’m happy to hear him say it anyway. “Why not? You’re one of the good ones. Hot and nice. I see the way girls look at you.”
“How do they look at me?” He seems to genuinely not know that every girl on campus wants him.
“Like they want to tear your clothes off and climb you.” He’s so big with all those muscles to explore. My insides are on fire as my words hang between us.
Teddy clears his throat. “I don’t know what that looks like, but I’m pretty sure the girls I like aren’t looking at me like that.”
I want to ask what kind of girls he likes because I don’t know what his type is, but I’m not quite that brave yet. So instead, I say, “It’s something Stella said the other day, but she isn’t wrong. You’re a great guy, Teddy.”
He smiles at me, both of those dimples popping out. “You’re pretty great too.”
An hour passes without power. A neighbor came by to check in on us and tells us the entire street is out. He called the power company (something I should have thought to do) and apparently, the storm knocked down a power line. In other words, we’re in for a long night.
But he brought some wood when he saw our pitiful stack, and we now have a roaring fire to keep the main room warm.
Teddy and I settle in front of it on the couch with the plate of cookies and the bottle of RumChata. With the fire going and the lights on the tree, it feels intimate and fun. The alcohol is definitely helping. My insides are now warm and tingly and the initial awkwardness of being snowed in with my crush is gone.
“Do you want to watch a movie now?” Teddy asks.
“Reached peak boredom and no longer care about saving battery to send our final farewells?” I ask with sass I didn’t realize I was capable of.
“I saw some paper in the kitchen, you can write on that if it comes to it.”
“Okay, but if I don’t get to say goodbye to my parents and blame this all on Felix, then I’m going to haunt you in the next life,” I say as I get up to grab my laptop from the other room.
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” he calls.
I open the computer as I walk back. The battery is at 89%, plenty of juice to watch a movie or two. But the thing is, I don’t want to watch a movie. Not now. We’re talking and I finally don’t feel like such a bumbling mess.
“I must not have plugged this in,” I say, skirting the truth. “It isn’t fully charged.”