Page 47 of Butterfly

Teddy didn’t take any down; he tried to arrange them so all of them could be seen. Even Ollie’s first attempts, which looked amateur after all his practising, Teddy refused to remove.

Most of all, what Ollie wanted to tell Leo about Teddy was that he was safe with him.

Teddy took care of him; he trusted Teddy would never hurt him.

He was happy with Teddy.

Happier than he’d been in his whole life.

There was another knock on the door, three gentle taps.

Ollie rolled his eyes, smiling fondly. “It’s your cell too.”

Teddy stepped inside with a shrug.

“I’m writing back to Leo,” Ollie said. “I’m going to send him one of my sketches, prove I’m not lying about being able to draw.”

Teddy’s eyes widened. He darted an alarmed look at the wall.

“Don’t worry.” Ollie chuckled. “Your collection is safe.”

Teddy exhaled, sagging down to the bed.

“I told him about you,” Ollie said. He raised his eyebrows. “Want to read it?”

He offered the letter, and Teddy took it, whipping his gaze back and forth across the page. The longer he took, the redder Ollie grew until he wished he hadn’t offered it. Over half the letter was about Teddy, and it had a gushing quality to it.

When he got to the end, Teddy smiled.

“What’s that look for?” Ollie asked.

Teddy shrugged; he pointed at the pen on the desk. Ollie snatched it up and joined him on the bed. “You think I should add something?”

Teddy grabbed the dictionary.Handsome.

“You think I should add that you’re handsome?”

Teddy lifted his chin, smiling smugly. He nodded.

“Okay. P.S. Teddy’s hot too, like Woody Harrelson kind of hot.”

Teddy nodded along to the comparison.

“He’s got muscles carved from marble and a beard Zeus would be proud of.”

Teddy tapped the wordTonguein the dictionary.

“No way, I’m not mentioning your skilled tongue to him. Or your hands or your mouth or your…” Ollie gave a pointed look to Teddy’s crotch. “He’s my little brother, for Christ’s sake. Behave.”

He got up to put the letter on the desk. Teddy wrapped his arms around Ollie’s waist and pulled him back. He snuggled his face into the side of Ollie’s neck, making him squirm.

“Later.” Ollie smirked. “I said I’d play pool with Green.”

Teddy growled against his neck.

“They need me for doubles.” He lightly slapped Teddy’s arm until he let go.

Ollie turned around, then rubbed Teddy’s head.

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