Page 43 of Lost and Lassoed

But that didn’t last very long, because when Riley called “Left foot green,” Teddy put her foot right where I was going to put mine.

When I looked up at her, she was grinning. I had no choice but to put my foot on the green circle behind hers. She kept her blue eyes on mine as I did so, and I swear to god, it was like all the oxygen left the room.

“Right foot yellow!” Riley called, and it pulled me out ofwhatever fucked-up trance Teddy’s blue eyes had put me in.She moved first, pivoting on her left foot so her back was toward me. I stepped on the yellow circle next to the one she’d stepped on—why I didn’t distance myself, I’ll never fucking know—and her back was only a few inches from my front.

My mind was going places that I shouldn’t let it go.

Especially because the gray sweatpants I’d changed into after my shower wouldn’t do much to cover me if any more blood started rushing south.

Fuck.

“Right hand yellow!” Being lit on fire would make me more comfortable than I was in this moment.

Even though it already kind of felt like I was being lit on fire. Maybe I’d have to get trampled by a horse instead.

When Teddy bent over to put her hand on the yellow circle in front of her, her ass brushed up against my dick, and I wanted to scream.

And fuck me, because that meant the only yellow circle that I could put my hand on was in front of her. I was not about to fold my body over hers—no matter how badly my body wanted to—especially right now. Not the time.

So I did what any self-respecting man would do.

I faked a fall. I bent forward a little, but not enough to have another ass-meets-dick situation, and then just collapsed to the floor.

What I didn’t expect was Teddy going down with me.

I couldn’t catch a fucking break with this woman, could I? My shoulder clipped Teddy hard. She stood up and tried to steady herself. I flipped to my back as I went down—an automatic reaction to my shoulder hitting hers—and then she came down on top of me.

She let out this giggle that sounded so shocked and happy that I started laughing too. Our bodies were pressed together, but I wasn’t focused on that. I was focused on Teddy’s freckles and her laugh that sounded like wind chimes on a summer day.

I reached up without thinking and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. When my skin touched hers, both of us froze.

Our breathing was in sync, and I could feel every spot where her body was pressed against mine. And I got an urge to do something I hadn’t done in a long time.

I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to grab her by the back of the neck and pull her mouth down to mine. I wanted to feel our tongues tangle. I wanted to know if she still tasted the same.

I might have done all of that if Riley hadn’t chosen that moment—thank god—to jump on Teddy’s back and yell “Dog pile!”

I rolled and Riley and Teddy toppled to the ground beside me. Riley put her arms around Teddy’s neck as they laughed side by side, and Teddy put her head against Riley’s.

I sat up and watched them, and shit, I never wanted this summer to end.

Chapter 21

Teddy

I think Gus and I have officially turned a corner. Or maybe we can at least coexist in a way that is less volatile?

When I woke up the morning after we watchedSchool of Rock,in my bed, with a glass of water on the nightstand and the heating pad over my stomach, I was convinced I was dreaming. The last thing I remembered was Jack Black’s monologue on the Man and then feeling like I was floating and then nothing.

Gus had carried me to my bed, and I didn’t know how to deal with that fact.

He wasn’t there when I got up the next morning, but he’d left a note that one of the soccer parents was dropping Riley off around noon.

I put the note in the book I was reading. I don’t know why, and I’m not going to deal with that either.

And then there was the whole Twister situation. I loved making Gus Ryder sweat.

At the end of last week, Riley and I had started our foragefor plants. We hadn’t found any rock jasmine, but we’d found a few others that the guide had pictures of—spotted coral root, lots of thistles.

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